Put... the cookie... down...

The other day I read an interesting little article about how our food portion sizes have changed over the last 20 years or so. While the number of calories we SHOULD be eating every day of course has remained constant, the amount of food prepared for us has grown much larger. So while we may think we’re doing okay by eating one solitary bagel, the SIZE of that bagel has increased from a small 140-calorie ring to a 300-plus-calorie, CD-sized treat. Add a couple ounces of cream cheese and you’re pushing the 500-calorie range.

Pasta dishes in restaurants have doubled in size, going from a reasonable-for-dinner 500 calories per plate to over one thousand calories – depending on the sauce, I imagine that calorie count could go much higher (have you SEEN a recipe for Alfredo sauce???). French fry portions have doubled or even tripled, depending on what size you order with your fast food meal. And even “healthy” choices like turkey sandwiches can be 800-calories-worth-of-huge in this day and age.

And then today I read about an Australian study that concluded the weight problem in America is due to overeating. Wow – thanks Australia. We never would’ve figured that one out on our own. Of COURSE the “obesity epidemic” in America is caused by too much food. But at this point, everyone should be AWARE of the fact that restaurants serve ridiculously huge portions – it's not exactly a secret. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Gigantohumungous Meal on Random Fast Food Restaurant’s menu contains more calories than a single person should be eating in an entire DAY – let alone a single meal. And yet people will STILL order an extra large container of fries and a triple cheeseburger and an extra large milkshake… and a Diet Coke, of course. Don’t want to go overboard…

And then we actually wonder WHY we can’t lose weight. It annoys me to no end when I hear someone who is significantly overweight claiming, “I don’t eat any more than anyone else… I just have a slow metabolism.” Um, nope. Sorry. While some people ARE blessed with ridiculously fast metabolisms (Eric, I’m looking at you – you annoyingly thin person who can eat whatever you want… heehee… :)), the fact of the matter is, metabolic differences are pretty minor. You’re not going to gain a hundred pounds because you have a “slow metabolism.” It is physically IMPOSSIBLE to maintain a weight that high WITHOUT consuming enough calories to maintain it. Oh, there ARE occasional medical exceptions – Cushing’s disease comes to mind – but those are very few and far between. The way most people talk, you’d think our country was overrun with medical maladies that directly result in fat gain. In reality, it’s all the FOOD that results in fat gain…

The other thing that annoys me is HOW people attempt to lose weight. Because everyone seems to be operating under this delusion that there’s more to it than simple “calories in versus calories burned,” we’ve been bombarded with a plethora of “diet strategies”: no carbs, no fat, don’t eat fruit, only drink cold water, corn syrup is evil, cut out all dairy, cut out all white foods altogether, don’t eat after 6pm, etc., etc., etc… People try to make it SO complicated, when in fact, it’s very easy – burn more calories than you eat. Period. They can be ANY calories from ANY food eaten at ANY time – but if the total calories you burn off during any given time is MORE than the total calories you’ve eaten during that time, you WILL lose weight.

And I know what I’m talking about – I lost about thirty pounds a couple years ago, and have (give or take 5 or 7 pounds) kept it off. And I did it by gradually making SMALL changes that really started to add up after a while – drinking water instead of soda, keeping ice cream and cookies out of the house altogether, paying attention to portion size, scouring the internet for healthy recipes – and supplementing it all with a lot more activity. My pedometer is one of the best purchases I’ve made in recent memory. I have NOT, however, cut anything completely out of my life… I’ve just changed the way I eat and/or drink. Take coffee for instance – no way am I ever giving up coffee… it’s one of the small joys in my life. But I DID change my caramel latte habit to a cappuccino habit – which shaves off about 200 calories a day. And the cookies and ice cream that I’ve banned from my house? I make sure to go OUT somewhere and have a seriously decadent dessert once a week – otherwise I’ll feel like I’m totally deprived of chocolate and end up making AND devouring an entire batch of cookies in one sitting. And carbs? I’m actually thinking about making lasagna for dinner tonight (with lots of veggies and less cheese)…

The final key, of course, is to make sure you’re eating properly for the REST of your life. That’s the major reason “diets” fail. Because if you feel like you’re “on a diet,” then at some point you think you can come OFF that diet. But once you start eating the way you used to eat, all the weight comes right back on. The smaller you are, the less food you need. Again, it’s a simple equation.

So now I’m off to eat my 60-calorie per serving soup (Progresso Light – it’s actually pretty good stuff… although not quite as good as Amy’s Organic, which is my favorite soup ever – and everything on the list of ingredients is totally pronounceable). And afterwards I shall attempt to add more steps to my pedometer. Because, as I have learned, my weight really is MY responsibility – it is NOT the responsibility of the government, or Dr. Atkins, or McDonald’s, or my “slow metabolism.”

Although seriously, Eric – so unfair… ;)