Obesity is running rampant in the United States today, not only among adults but also among today's youth. Here are some examples Toni (Alegent Dietitian) gave us at our last nutrition class. If you haven't seen the documentary "Super Size Me" I encourage you to watch it.

With obesity come a host of ailments. Hypertension, clogged arteries, diabetes, cancer, and a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Not to mention the physical problems from carrying around extra baggage. It begins to effect your legs, knees, etc. There's also the emotional issues that are inherent with obesity. We see it again and again on shows like "The Biggest Loser".

We live in a country that encourages excessive everything ,"more is better". If you have a bigger house, nicer car, more expensive clothes, etc. That's better. When we go to a restaurant we order accordingly. Maybe we only want the sandwich and a drink but if we get a "value" meal we get french fries or onion rings too.

I'm glad to see that many fast food restaurants are allowing substitutions for fries or rings today. You can get apple slices, a side salad, or some fruit in their place. But the portion sizes for burgers and buns have grown considerably over the years.

A bagel 20 years ago is like a "mini" bagel today. Today's bagel is two times bigger with twice as many calories. Toni said we should have 15 gms of carbs per serving of bread.

We have to balance "calories in" with "calories out". What we eat is what we use up. If we eat larger portions than we use as energy we have to work that much harder to burn those calories off. So if we want to eat the bigger bagel we would have to rake leaves for an additional 50 minutes to burn it off.

A cheeseburger 20 years ago was the size of a child's portion today. A cheeseburger today has about 590 calories and that's just a cheeseburger not with the special sauce, etc. You would have to lift weights for 90 minutes to burn the extra calories over the smaller sized burger.

When a woman eats pasta she should eat 1 1/2 cups while a man should eat 2 cups. So again probably a child size portion would be large enough. Otherwise we would have to do housecleaning for 2 hours and 35 minutes to burn off the calorie difference between the two.

I could go on and on but basically what we need to remember is "keep an eye on your food portion sizes". Maintaining a healthy weight is a balancing act between "calories in" and "calories out". Think to yourself ,"Are there enough hours in a day to burn the calories I consume!"

Portion Control:
1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese equals the size of 6 dice
3 oz. cooked meat, fish, or poultry equals the size of a deck of cards
1/2 cup fruit or vegetables is the size of a tennis ball

Remember:
5-fruits and vegetables
4-glasses of water
3-dairy
2-hours of computer/TV time
1-hour of exercise

I have ordered a small plain hamburger at a fast food restaurant with apple slices now instead of something much larger or even a salad with too much sodium. I hope you will pay attention to your portion size next time you have a meal. It just takes practice but the more we do it the easier it gets.

Blessings,
Laurie