Downsize Me

Do you want to supersize that?" The familiar—and possibly fatal—phrase spoken at every fast food register. Supersize meals are not limited to your standby burger chains—portion sizes in many packaged foods are increasing as well. Exposure to such generous helpings when eating out can result in overeating at home too. ........


A recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition showed that when we're served larger portions, we end up eating more. Students at Cornell University were offered a buffet lunch three days out of a week, and told to eat as much or as little as they wanted. The following week, the students were divided into three groups and were served lunches that were either 100%, 125%, or 150% larger than the amount they had eaten the previous week. When more food was served, significantly more food was consumed. Similar studies using sub sandwiches and macaroni and cheese have consistent results.

It may be that those years of "cleaning your plate" have trained us to eat whatever is put in front of us.

Don't let supersize portions sabotage your weight loss efforts. Serve yourself smaller portions using smaller plates and bowls at home. Order a kid's meal, or share an entrée with a friend when eating out. Make it a habit to leave a few bites of food on your plate to break the shiny plate habit. Most of all, listen to your body, and stop eating when you're almost full. Set the timer for 20 minutes and tell yourself if you're still hungry then, you can have some more food. But chances are if you give your brain a chance to receive the signal that you've eaten, you won't feel the need to eat again.