Estimating portion size is difficult for all of us, but developing rules of thumb will be handy. Because we have got used to larger portions in restaurants, our estimate of calorie content of a meal gets confused.
Research by Brian Wansink and colleagues has shown that everyone (normal weight, underweight and overweight, men and women) has difficulty in estimating the calorie content of a large plate of food, whereas they accurately assess the calories in a more normal portion.
If we are overweight, we tend to have larger portions. That means that those of us who are overweight are making these wrong estimates frequently. As a result, we are underestimating the calorie content of most of our meals and so we put on weight. What to do?
These researchers suggest that you should estimate the calories and then double them. A normal meal might be 500 calories. If you are overweight and you know that you are eating a large portion, then advise yourself that this meal probably contains 1,000 calories - half your day's allowance.
Counting calories is dull, but having a fair idea of the calorie content of your meals is handy. It allows you to develop useful rules of thumb when you are seriously trying to control your eating.
http://www.carolinebrowntherapy.com/
Showing posts with label Brian Wansink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Wansink. Show all posts
Monday, 18 January 2010
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Rules of thumb for estimating portions
We all use rules of thumb for estimating the right amount to eat.
For example, most of us pour out half a bowl of cereal. No matter how big the bowl is.
We pour out a half glass of orange juice or wine. Use taller thinner glasses. You will enjoy the drink just as much, and your waistline will be happier.
My hero Brian Wansink offers this rule of thumb for checking packaged food.
If the calories are a smaller number than the grams, the food has low energy density. This would be a great choice.
If the calories are equal to, or twice as much, as the grams, eat moderately and watch your portion size.
If the calories are more than twice the grams, limit your portions.
He has teamed up with other foodie colleagues to create a new website full of useful information.
http://www.carolinebrowntherapy.com/
For example, most of us pour out half a bowl of cereal. No matter how big the bowl is.
We pour out a half glass of orange juice or wine. Use taller thinner glasses. You will enjoy the drink just as much, and your waistline will be happier.
My hero Brian Wansink offers this rule of thumb for checking packaged food.
If the calories are a smaller number than the grams, the food has low energy density. This would be a great choice.
If the calories are equal to, or twice as much, as the grams, eat moderately and watch your portion size.
If the calories are more than twice the grams, limit your portions.
He has teamed up with other foodie colleagues to create a new website full of useful information.
http://www.carolinebrowntherapy.com/
Thursday, 10 December 2009
It's the environment making us fat
There is a new term, which came along in the 1990s. It's the obsogenic environment, which means that our whole environment is geared up to getting us overweight. Just knowing this can help us manage our weight better.
It is hardly surprising that we get fat. We have been designing our environments to expend as little energy as possible. All the shops are gathered together by the car park, so we don't walk to the shops. We don't even get up to turn the channels over on the telly.
And we are given food messages all the time. The TV channels are stuffed with them, not just adverts, but whole programmes. Magazines, even slimming magazines, are stuffed with food messages. And the presentation of food in the shops, as well as the kind of food they sell, gets us thinking about eating.
There are more subtle environmental cues. Food packages have got larger and suggest that larger portions are fine - we didn't ask for it. But we have got used to it. When we go out, it is more often to a restaurant or bar than to play bowls, dance or do a communal activity.
One way to control your eating is to control your own environment. We tend to want to eat when we see food. Research by Brian Wansink has shown that if food is in opaque packets we eat less than if it is in clear packets. And if we have to make an effort to get at the food (even a walk of just a few yards) we eat less. So, here are some good tips to modify your own environment:
It is hardly surprising that we get fat. We have been designing our environments to expend as little energy as possible. All the shops are gathered together by the car park, so we don't walk to the shops. We don't even get up to turn the channels over on the telly.
And we are given food messages all the time. The TV channels are stuffed with them, not just adverts, but whole programmes. Magazines, even slimming magazines, are stuffed with food messages. And the presentation of food in the shops, as well as the kind of food they sell, gets us thinking about eating.
There are more subtle environmental cues. Food packages have got larger and suggest that larger portions are fine - we didn't ask for it. But we have got used to it. When we go out, it is more often to a restaurant or bar than to play bowls, dance or do a communal activity.
One way to control your eating is to control your own environment. We tend to want to eat when we see food. Research by Brian Wansink has shown that if food is in opaque packets we eat less than if it is in clear packets. And if we have to make an effort to get at the food (even a walk of just a few yards) we eat less. So, here are some good tips to modify your own environment:
- Watch less telly - get another pleasurable activity into your daily routine
- Avoid magazines with loads of food ads
- Shop with a list and get out quick
- Don't buy and store in the house foods that you know you can't resist
- Keep biscuits and other stuff in tins or opaque boxes
Sunday, 8 November 2009
We are eating the same things, so why is my husband so skinny and I am overweight?
Women need less energy to run their bodies than men do, and therefore need to eat less than men, even of the same weight, height, age etc etc etc. So it follows that if you eat the same as your husband, unless he is really teeny weeny, then either he will shrivel away to nothing or the woman will put on weight.
Women 's portions need to be smaller than men's. How can we achieve this?
The easiest way is to use a smaller plate yourself. This will make it easier for you to estimate a healthier portion. Large plates give us a subliminal message that large portions are okay. Join the Small Plate Movement, run by my hero Brian Wansink of Cornell University.
When you have got used to using a smaller plate (it takes a weekend), you no longer have to think about food all the time. Your plate size does it for you.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Women 's portions need to be smaller than men's. How can we achieve this?
The easiest way is to use a smaller plate yourself. This will make it easier for you to estimate a healthier portion. Large plates give us a subliminal message that large portions are okay. Join the Small Plate Movement, run by my hero Brian Wansink of Cornell University.
When you have got used to using a smaller plate (it takes a weekend), you no longer have to think about food all the time. Your plate size does it for you.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
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