Portion Distortion

re you wondering why you're not losing weight despite eating a healthful diet? Are you marveling at how you managed to overeat again, even though you promised yourself you wouldn't do that anymore? The answers may lie in your portions.

I've already told you many times about studies that show that the more food a person is served, the more they will eat. Now two new studies add to our understanding of portion distortion. One study found that when people are allowed to serve themselves, the size of the serving utensil and the size of their plate determine how much they will eat. People who use a small serving utensil and a small plate or bowl eat the least, while people who use a large serving utensil eat about 14% more and people who use a large plate or bowl eat 31% more. When using large sizes of both, people fed themselves 56% more food! The second study found that people have an innate "unit bias" that drives them to eat in whole pieces. For example, most people will eat a whole banana, no matter if it is five inches or nine inches long. Similarly, people will eat all of what is served to them on their plate, no matter how much food that is.

These studies are good arguments for using smaller dishes and serving utensils at home and at self-serve venues. Try buying foods in smaller pre-packaged units, like 12-ounce bottles of caloric beverages instead of 20 ounces; ask our meat cutters to cut your meat into 4-ounce portions; and buy your treats in packages that wrap each portion separately, like mini Dove bars. At restaurants, either share with a friend or have half of your meal packed up before it is brought to your table.