News & Info

Do you fill your cereal bowl to the brim every morning?  Do you know how many servings are in that “one bowl” of cereal?  (Here’s a hint, most breakfast cereal labels indicate that a serving is ¾ cup to 1 cup).

In a recent study, participants overestimated a single serving by at least 25%.  One-sixth of participants overestimated by 40%.  That means most of them thought they were eating one serving when really, they were eating almost 1.5 servings – with all the associated fat, calories and sugar. 

It may not seem like much, but it can add up.  Continue doing this with all your meals and you may be taking in close to 2,000 extra calories in one month. 

There is better news with ice cream.  As long as you keep portions in check, you can eat almost anything – including ice cream! 

The bad news is that overestimating with things like ice cream is also difficult.  One serving of low-fat ice cream is usually only ½ cup.  That’s based on LIGHTLY PACKED ice cream – not melted and gooey ice cream!  Think about the extra calories and fat you may be taking in if you wait until your ice cream is soft and a bit melted before you measure it out – and you can double or triple that for the premium versions of ice cream!

So what’s the best way to accurately predict your intake, based on labels and serving sizes (which we learned about last week)?

First, there are some handy resources (you already have) that may really help:

Open your hand and stretch your fingers out as wide as possible.  That’s how many fruit and vegetables you should have at a meal.

Make a tight fist.  That’s a serving of carbs like bread or pasta.

Look at the size of your palm.  That’s a portion of chicken breast, hamburger, fish or tofu (if you are a vegetarian and that’s your protein).

Try making the “OK” sign with your index finger and thumb – that’s a serving of fat like salad dressing for your veggies.

Sound easy?  Here are some more tricks!

For salad dressings and sauces:  Order or put your dressing on the side and then dip your fork in and use that to “drizzle” on the dressing.  You will use half or less and still get a lot of flavor!

Try using salad plates for your dinner – it’s amazing how you can fool your stomach with your eyes.  Plus – if you have seconds, you are that much more satisfied with the same amount you might have gotten originally on a large plate without having seconds!

Choose foods that are high volume: Certain foods like fruits and vegetables or soups and broths trick your stomach into thinking it’s full (because it is) but you have a lower calorie choice filling it up, making less room for the high calorie foods!

What have you tried that works? 

Warmly,

Dr. Mudge-Riley