“Americans have the highest per capita daily consumption [of food] in the world, eating 3,770 calories a day.”  Reuters July 29, 2008

How are you doing at controlling your portion sizes?

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.  (Prov. 23:21 NKJ)

I know we’ve looked at “Portion Distortion” in a former Daily Gram (5/15/08).  However, since there is so much that can be said about this topic, let’s revisit it once again.  Rather than looking at portion sizes from a health perspective, a recent Reuters article was scrutinizing American portion size in light of the world food shortage and the ability to sustain the world’s food supply.  As I quoted in the above, Americans have the highest per capita daily consumption [of food] in the world, eating 3,770 calories a day. 

Although that article approaches this subject from a different perspective, I still believe that eating less food could greatly impact the health of the people of this nation.  Several years ago a documentary film was produced called “Super-Size Me.”  If you haven’t seen this film, by all means rent or buy it!  Trust me when I say that it will impact your next trip to “fast-food Mecca.”   A young, fit, athletic male did an experiment of eating fast food, three times a day for thirty days.  He developed so many health problems that the doctors monitoring him urged him to stop the experiment before the thirty days were over.  Watching this young man’s health deteriorate on the screen was frightening, to say the least.

So, rather than playing the “Super-Size Me” game, let’s look at how to “mini-size!”  Eating out is one of the predominant ways that people overeat due to the portion sizes being served.  So, an obvious solution is to eat more meals at home.  You can control the portion size (and the ingredients in the food) when you prepare meals at home.  In a society that is moving faster than a speeding bullet, making meals at home seems contrary to everyone’s lifestyle.  However, if we are to become a nation of health instead of dis-ease, it’s not an option.

Begin to picture your portion sizes.  I recently read a short piece in a fitness magazine (that we picked up from our gym) that gave some good parameters for healthy portion sizes.  You’ve probably heard that a healthy portion size for meat is 3 ounces or about the size of a deck of cards.  Fish is also about 3 ounces and the article compared it with the size of a checkbook.  One ounce of cheese looks like 4 dice.  A medium potato looks like your computer mouse and 1 cup of raw fruit looks like a baseball.   How do you “measure up” with your portion sizes?

Prayer Power
Father, we thank You that You have given us the ability to have self-control.  We ask for Your grace as we walk in what You reveal to us.

Link of the Day
U.S. Food Portions: Monuments to Decadence?

Blessings on you as you “contemplate” how much food you’re eating.