Healthy Living
Monday, December 7, 2009
User Post: Portion explosion!
user
You’ve probably heard that portions have gotten bigger over the
years, but do you know how much bigger? Check out some of these
popular foods and see how different things were 20 years ago than
they are now.
20 years ago: a bagel was three inches in diameter and had
140 calories.
Today’s portion: six inches and 350 calories.
Still a much better breakfast option than this 920 calorie
breakfast burrito!
20 years ago: a
cheeseburger had 333 calories.
Today’s portion: 590 calories.
And have you
seen the new 4,800 calorie burger???!
20 years ago: a portion
of spaghetti and meatballs used to have 500 calories.
Today’s portion: 1,025 calories. This includes two
cups of pasta with sauce and three large meatballs.
20 years ago: French fries were 2.4 ounces and 210
calories.
Today’s portion: 6.9-ounces with 610 calories.
These
Oven French Fries have 238 calories per serving and satisfy your
craving for the real deal!
20 years ago: a turkey
sandwich had 320 calories.
Today’s portion: a 10-inch turkey sandwich has 820
calories.
Even though I know portions are bigger, actually seeing these
examples - which by the way, are from the National Institutes of
Health - really brings it home. No wonder
obesity
rates are so out of control in this country.
Did any of these portions surprise you?
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Related: turkey, spaghetti and meatballs, sandwich, portions, french fries, food, cheeseburger, calories, bagel
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Posted by ladybella04 Fri May 8, 2009 12:03pm PDT
Portions are so out of control that I sometimes order from the kids menu if they have one. Because at some places, if I'm getting the regular portion, I know it has at least 1000 cal. and a whole day's worth of fat. And if I order the larger/regular size, then I'm going to keep eating it just because there's food on my plate. It's ridiculous. Whatever you order, they almost always serve you enough for 3 normal meals. No wonder we have such an epidemic with weight in America. Even 20 years ago it wasn't this bad- when I was a kid a regular sized soda was 8 oz, not twelve or sixteen. There was no such thing as a 24 oz bottle with almost 500 empty calories.
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Posted by Always amazed by the news Fri May 8, 2009 12:31pm PDT
How about re-named foods, too?
The word "muffin" once referred to be a small, relatively low-calorie quick-bread, related (in flavor, content, and appearance) to a biscuit. It was a reasonable breakfast item to eat with a dab of jam, or a small bit of butter.
The abomination that is now labelled a "muffin" is a super-sized, calorie-packed version of a cupcake! it's a CAKE !! A high calorie, high-fat CAKE !!!
Thank heaven I still have my mom's recipe for real, delicious, fragrant, moderate-calorie muffins!!
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Posted by Fri May 8, 2009 7:29pm PDT
Its horrible for me because I dont have very good control. Ill still eat even when im not hungry just to finish. Things need to change.
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Posted by .becka. Sat May 9, 2009 11:16am PDT
it really doesn’t surprise me either...im ALWAYS hearing commercials wailing about the new "More Bang for Your Buck Idea" people think that because they got all that food for such a "great" price they need to eat it all. And all the chains are trying to make their meal sizes bigger and better (NOT BETTER FOR YOU), to try and beat out their competitors. People say to themselves, "well ill get the burger combo deal and whatever i cant eat ill save for later"...(they never do) they will eat the whole thing then say "wow i cant believe i ate all that"....then BOOM instant obesity! HELLO AMERICA!!!
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Posted by Ariel Thu May 14, 2009 9:04am PDT
This is not surprising. People should compare portion sizes of the same food (like an ice cream cone) from the U.S. and from some country like France. Their foods might have higher fat content but because they eat smaller portions of food, the people in France are not as overweight as the people in the States. I like taking my two babies out to eat because their time span to behave allows me to eat about half my entree. This also means no time for dessert.
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Posted by Jo Thu May 14, 2009 9:10am PDT
I agree totally, but... the new sliders are even a bit much there is no need for 4 of them i think 2 with fries or a nice salad are plenty. I would almost bet that 4 sliders with the buns are about the same as a regular burger.
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Posted by M Thu May 14, 2009 11:40am PDT
Umm, no one is shoving all of this food down the throats of obese people. If they actually had any common sense they would know what a real portion size is and not eat four servings in one sitting. Hello....personal responsibility anyone????
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Posted by Rhonda Thu May 14, 2009 2:23pm PDT
I can't believe how many restaurants only have huge 1/2 lb. burgers on the regular menu! Since kids menu items are usually for those 12 and under, you're forced to order a gigantic hunk of meat if you want a cheeseburger. I only eat half, but what a waste of food. Would any of you ever think to buy a pound of ground meat and just make 2 huge burgers out of it??? I could make 4 or 5.
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Posted by Francesca Thu May 14, 2009 3:47pm PDT
I always order a kid's size portion (where available). It makes a huge difference!
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Posted by Esther Thu May 14, 2009 3:49pm PDT
ahhhh i still remember when my elementry teacher bought a large cup of coffee to keep her going... it wasn't that big, and considering that that was when i was 8, it was propbably rather small. yesterday, remembering her i ordered a large ice coffee, and i got a cup the size of a 1 liter soda bottle. what has this world (or country for this case) come to?!
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