Yesterday the New York Times ran an article about NYC restaurants implementing the new ban on transfats.
Love the fact that we get to eat butter in our food now; much healthier and tastier way to live. I have always believed in eating real food, what you like, to stay healthy, full, and satisfied, which helps you to actually stop eating.
Why however, has the issue of our SuperSized portions of food, served in restaurants, movie theatres, newstands, not been addressed?
Does it take a degree in nutrition, or advanced food additives, for us to finally realize that the amount of food we eat is out of the ordinary?
I think about the size of chocolate bars when I was a kid growing up. They were half the size, and that is without the extra 30% they put on to make you buy more with a little bit extra money.
You know how in movie theatres, if you spend just 50 cents more, you get three times more popcorn and a bigger Big Gulp?
Are the restaurant lobbies so big that we can't start legislating smaller portions? Even with the epidemic obesity rates and health problems?
Now I know that the government doesn't pay for our health care, so we don't have as much government interference, like we do in Canada. There, because the government pays for the health care, they think nothing of posting huge pictures of decayed lungs, and messed up fetuses on packages of cigarettes, to cutdown on consumption.
Now I am not suggesting that we put photos of oversized bodies on the packages of popcorn in the cinema. But we clearly are not going to be able to rely on our government to help us with the fact that we simply get served too large portions of food.
So, a few tips to figure out how to lose weight, without it being a big, fancy deal. And no dieting, please.
1) Take advantage of the huge portions in restaurants, and bring home doggie bags! You get to eat for another day! Wrap it up right away, or if it is in front of you, you will simply eat it, because it is there. Believe me, your stomach does just get used to filling it with more food, and you won't feel done, or like stopping, until you start to eat 20-30% less. Is this number scientific? I wish I could say yes, it simply has been tried and true.
2) Eat what you like. Just eat less of it. Think of shifting the time you eat it. Have your ice cream after lunch perhaps. Again, have one scoop, not two. But don't forget that you had it. Forgo the dessert later on.
3) With your kids, if they eat 2-3 portions on a regular basis, (that is if they really do need to lose weight as per a doctor's advice, not because you happen to think they should be thinner,) help them to learn that they need to eat less for their body and that it is going to take some time during which they might think they are hungry. They have to train their brain differently. Retrain their body and satiety signal.
This is not complicated. We can't rely on our government, despite wonderful efforts being set forth to ban trans fats and take away vending machines in cafeterias. We simply get offered too much food.
Think doggy bag! Less is more!
Happy eating.