Portion Size

Thursday, January 24, 2008  by Gregory Gronbacher
Category: Portion Size

What constitutes a "meal" for you? How full is your plate for dinner? How big is your plate?

These questions get to the heart of portion size. I lived in Europe for several years in the 1990's. One of the minor culture shocks I received on my return to the States was portion size. Europeans in general eat smaller portions. I was surprised to see how big American portions were.

After several years of being back, my portion sizes are just as large as most other people's. Its hard to fight the culture sometimes.

A friend is coming over to dinner tomorrow night and he challenged me to make "small" portions. I'll see how it goes. How do you determine portion size? How do you know when you have had "enough" to eat?

 

Comments

# Zeb said on January 24, 2008 10:38 PM:

What's the saying, it takes 20 minutes for your brain to catch up to your stomach? It's not so much about portions for me as it is second (or third) helpings. I try to eat sensibly, and slowly, but I'm a growing man, I'm sorry, but a steak the size of my palm is an appetizer, not a meal.

# YankeeIBO said on January 27, 2008 4:29 PM:

Here is a place to get some real and surprising answers for each of us: http://www.mypyramid.gov/ I just saw this new food pyramid at a state GFWC meeting, yesterday--you will notice a much lower emphasis on grains/carbs, and much higher recommendations on fruits and veggies. Rough guidelines for adults are that the F&V category should fill HALF your plate, while the starches and meats are left to the other two quarters. On this new site, you can even get recommendations based on your age, height, sex, weight and activity level--great stuff!

# Janet said on January 29, 2008 11:52 AM:

It's hard to discuss portion size without talking about quality. A small filet, grilled perfectly and teamed with a bit of a decadent, well-coordinated side, can be more fulfilling than a plate-sized slab of beef because you take your time -- enjoying the taste and texture of every bite. Similarly, three or four prawns toasted in butter and then glazed with a raspberry sauce (my lunch today, a cooking experiment!) that are ate mindfully are more filling than a cardboard sleeve of breaded and deep fried popcorn shrimp cooked by a surly teenager, slipped through a drive-thru window and ate on auto-pilot while driving back to work.

I think controlling portions is much easier if you cook the food yourself. The enjoyment comes from the process and more of the senses are involved. You don't have to gorge yourself to be satisfied. With good food, the flavor provides satisfaction, not the over-satiation.

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