Super Size it? Yes Please!

If America is ever going to beat this problem of obesity, we all just need to eat a little less. Americans are all too familiar with the family buffet restaurants where you can take the whole family and eat as much as you like for ridiculously low prices.

And let’s not forget about the fast food chains that are ‘super-sizing’ at every opportunity they get.  As an American you are being encouraged to eat larger sized portions, more often at every corner you turn.

The serving sizes in this country are just ridiculous, and incredibly unnecessary. The human body does not need that much food in one sitting, especially when such foods are high in saturated fat, sugar and sodium.

Did you know that in fast food and express restaurants you can now get soda pop cups that contain up to 72 ounces of liquid? That’s more than a six-pack of pop in one single serving. Do you really need that much soda in one sitting? Absolutely not!

The University of Wyoming published a report that compared British serving sizes to that of American serving sizes and I think I can safely say that you’ll be amazed at the difference. A cookie in Britain contains approximately 65 calories compared to 493 calories contained in an American cookie.

An American ice cream cone contains approximately 625 calories compared to 160 calories in its British counterpart. Can you believe that a muffin in America contains an astonishing 705 calories compared to a British muffin which has just 158 calories.

American food servings are bigger and therefore contain a lot more energy than regular serving sizes. Nowhere else in the world are super sized serves so common.

The amount of food you eat is just as important as the type of food you eat when maintaining a healthy diet. There is no point eating low fat cookies if you’re going to eat the entire packet in one sitting.

Just because it’s low in fat doesn’t mean you can eat twice as much. Appropriate portion size is something that you as an American desperately need to get a grasp on.

Think twice next time you’re asked whether you want to super size your meal. For approximately 39 cents more you not only get larger fries and bigger sodas, you also get several hundred more calories and lots more grams of fat!