Portion Control Using Products

We have been researching products that are useful to help teach the importance of portion control.

We came across a whole new selection of foods in a Walgreens - the “movie size” package, which includes chips, candies and beverages. Apparently, you must need to have a larger portion while watching a movie so you can eat through most of it?When sitting most individuals only burn about 76 calories per hour. Yet it is interesting that at this time they can probably consume about 400-600 calories per package if they are eating these movie sized portions.Candy bars, boxes and bags of candy may look like one portion but are actually 3 portions or more. Take for example the King-Size KitKat bar - it has 3 servings of 200 calories for a total of 600 calories per bar! When it comes to candy which is high in fat and sugar you have to be aware of the serving size and of the calories per package that you are bringing into the house.Chips need to be eaten by the handful, not the bowl or bagful. One ounce of chips is 150 calories. It is very hard for most people to eat that many. Fruits and vegetables are better eaten by the handful!Cookies are not a snack – they are a treat. How many people could eat just 9 mini Oreo cookies if they were hungry and wanted a snack. The lockable snack bag looks like 1 or 2 servings but is really 8 servings. One serving is 1/4 cup - and if you were choosing grapes you would be able to eat 1-1/2 cups for the same amount of calories!Beverages with sugar or fat added need especial care for portion control. If you allow the food manufacturer to choose your portion you could be in trouble. We found bottles of soda, tea and juice drink that were one small bottle but more than 2 servings per bottle. One bottle of Green Tea with Pomegranite juice (which sounds healthy) contained more than 200 calories or 2.5 servings per bottle. Practice pouring a bottle of tea into a measuring cup and see how many servings are there and how to visualize them. Or better still, choose beverages without calories.Fast food places offer value meals but our chart below reveals that you spend more money to buy too many calories.Baked goods are almost always sold in really large portions which are >500 calories.The things that people really fear aren't all that likely to happen to them. According to a new survey by the American Diabetes Association, more people reported fear of being in a plane crash, hit by lightning, attacked by a shark, or bitten by a snake, than a fear of developing diabetes, which affects nearly 24 million.

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Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy’s passion for cooking began with helping her grandmother make raisin oatmeal for breakfast. From there, she earned her first food service job at 15, was accepted to the world-famous Culinary Institute of America at 18 (where she graduated second in her class), and went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland, where she focused on pastry arts and baking. After a decade in food service for Hyatt Hotels, Judy launched Food and Health Communications to focus on flavor and health. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction from Johnson and Wales University with a BS in Culinary Arts, holds a master’s degree in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and runs a food photography & motion studio where her love is creating fun recipes and content.

Judy received The Culinary Institute of America’s Pro Chef II certification, the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year. Her enthusiasm for eating nutritiously and deliciously leads her to constantly innovate and use the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to guide her creativity, from putting new twists on fajitas to adapting Italian brownies to include ingredients like toasted nuts and cooked honey. Judy’s publishing company, Food and Health Communications, is dedicated to her vision that everyone can make food that tastes as good as it is for you.

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