HOW much do we eat?

Especially now that I’m eating a lot less than I used to, I’ve become very aware of portion size. I think that you could safely say that what qualifies as a “kids’ meal” today at most restaurants would have been a full on adult meal 40 or 50 years ago. I often order a kids’ meal, not only because it’s generally inexpensive, but also because it’s generally quite enough food for my appetite. Quite frankly, a kids’ meal should really be enough for most people, too, ESPECIALLY if people would slow the fuck down and take a little time to digest their food. When you do that, you get full a lot faster and don’t overstuff yourself. But in our SuperSized American Culture, adult meals are often 3 to 4 times that size, with a corresponding increase in calories.

Of course, the downside of eating these smaller portions is that the selection often leans towards bland, non-nutritious food. 

I propose that other restaurants follow the lead of TGI Friday’s restaurant and offer smaller portions of their regular dishes. Fridays’ version is called “Right Portion, Right Price.” Kudos to Fridays for recognizing that not everyone can nor wants to eat two pounds of food at a sitting. I don’t want to pay $14 for, say, a plate of pasta and then have to feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth by receiving a pile of noodles bigger than my head.

I found an interesting article on Divine Caroline that shows you a visual representation of what average portion sizes used to be 20 years ago (this was 1988, folks!) compared to today. It’s kind of scary.