Size matters - portion distortion

I finally saw the Statue of Liberty.

Me and the Lady

Jane and the Lady

While my new and fabulous friend Jane posed stylishly with this metallic mega-star....I thought it a good idea to rest my head on her bosom...? I am not sure. Lady Liberty, I believe, has been watching her food intake because she is not as large as I thought she would be.

Do you know what are much LARGER than I thought they would be? Click here to take this quiz - I bet you will get it wrong also.

As a master's student studying nutrition - you would think I could estimate the number of calories in a bagel. You better bet I let my roommate know his bagel frenzy is costing him. The very large bagels are approximately an entire day's serving of bread (depending on the person's size and EER [estimated energy requirement]). In  this particular instance I feel we get jipped. It is the density of the bagel AND the size that is the killer. About equal to 5-slices of regular bread.

So how do we avoid this pit-fall? How can we ever manage to realize that a football sized piece of cheesecake is just too much of a good thing? (ug especially for you lac-tards out there [lac-tard = lactose intolerant. Very scientific terminology] ).

1. First we need a new hat.
2. Portion control plates - genius. 

The perfect hat for this instance is not a baret, for many reasons. I can not spell the word and I certainly don't know how this guy kept it on his head. No bobby pins here - and hat wearing should illicit a much happier countenance.

I am fairly certain I am wearing the same hat as the guy above me. Or it is backwards. I am utterly confused.

Now that we know what hat NOT to wear to discuss portion distortion. Lets take a commercial break -

My fabulous mom is my consumer reporter. She came up with two fantastic things this week -  toilet bowl cleaner and panda-pups  - the latter holding far less utility, well I guess it depends on the person. This is what she has to say:   

The gel disc gradually dissolves with each flush, allowing a controlled release of cleaning solution and fragrance. Each disc lasts up to one week and leaves no residue behind. Your toilet bowl will remain cleaner, longer—with practically zero effort."  

The consumer reporter herself! Jojo and Jason Wolak

"What makes this product so unusually nice is the fact that you never feel like you are actually doing house work.  In essence you feel as if you are making little gelatinous sugar cookies which you dispense onto the inner rim of your  toilet;  this in turn leaves your bathroom smelling delightfully fresh with every flush.
Yes, my toilet bowl does appear to stay cleaner longer but who really cares about that when your bathroom smells so fresh and you are having so much fun dispensing these little star-bursts inside your toilet... sure I did two to three on each bowl and was actually ready to head out to the neighbors house to continue my stamping delight (all this made possible because of the bulk type packaging that is warehouse shopping fun!) I did finally gain control of myself - But you can bet in one week I will be back at it! "  - JoJo Wolak
 Everyone loves a nice toilet. Everyone also likes dogs painted to look like pandas. 

I am just going to let you formulate your own opinion on this one. Click Here for the whole story. 

Okay back to it. Food portions. While it is easy to fathom a reasonable serving of veggies, I have a hard time accepting that the whole pint of ice cream does not = 1 serving. What?! But it is in ONE container! I guess that reasoning is not sound.

Therefore, someone,  much more logical than I,  has developed fantastic portion control plates. Sheer genius. The idea here is to take the guessing out of meal portioning. In the Western diet - more is often better. (Check out the book French Women Don't Get Fat )  More is also: heart disease, diabetes, and the underlying cause many of the times is obesity. Cardiovascular disease- there is not a good hat for this situation. It is serious. 

These plates and containers allow us to reshape our ideas of a "portion." Our stomachs are elastic - our mind's are stubborn and easily influenced. It is up to you how to handle the situation!

Checkout the products above - also in my boutique (link in the right column) there are more tools to help with portion control under the "Health Conscious"  category.

Au revoir my friend (maybe if I speak like a French woman I will eat like one...logical.)

This is the morning view from my kitchen. What a morning =) "The lions may go weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lork lack no good thing." (Psalm 34:10) - I am humbled. wow......