This is not a new tip, but it is worth repeating...by using smaller plates you can actually reduce the amount of food you eat.
The size of the plate doesn't actually change the amount of food you eat...but what it does do is limit how much you can put on a single plate. This sets you up to eat more consciously because you actually have to add more food to your plate later. If you are a member of the "clean plate club" and you will eat whatever is on your plate even if you are no longer hungry (and who hasn't been there?) then this one tip could result in losing weight.
However if you mindlessly get seconds and thirds then the smaller plate trick won't work for you. Allow the smaller plate to enable you to take a breath and determine if you are still hungry before going for more food. Also take that time to determine, if you are still hungry, what will feed your body.
By taking this small break and actually touching base with your body you may be surprised to find that you really aren't hungry...you might have eaten more out of habit, because it was there, or because other people in the family are still eating.
A new book documents how our plates have grown over the last 50 years...which if you have ever lived in an older home and tried to put contemporary dishes in the kitchen cupboards you have already figured that one out! In The 9-Inch 'Diet', author Alex Bogusky notes that our plates tend to be 12 inches across now, whereas in 1963 plates were only 9 inches!
It may be that by going back to the "good old days" in terms of the size of our dinner plates will help us get back to a better waistline as well!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Using smaller plates is one of my top advice for clients. As you know from having live in France like I did, they use smaller plates. And I did know from research (and just from my eyes) how our plate sizes have grown over the last 30+ years.
I once read a story where I woman was at an antique shop and asked where the "dinner plates" where, as all she saw were the "salad plates" and the manage told her those where the dinner plates! Just goes to show how years ago plates were smaller.
Even when I was a kid (oh boy, I'm not THAT old) plates were smaller than they are today. And just look at the plates in restaurants today too!
You are so right...and in Japan we often had tiny plates!
Post a Comment