What’s Up With Enormous Portion Sizes?
November 27, 2007 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
A headline on the NYT Health site, “Oversized Portions? Blame the Chef” got me thinking about my eating-out habits. I tried to order a small drink at Panera the other day, and the girl handed me a 16-oz. cup. “I’m sorry, can I get a small?” I asked, trying to hand it back to her. She looked at me like my head was on backwards. “That is a small.” Oh. Well then.
Same thing with sandwiches. The “regular” is as big as my forearm, but most places don’t make anything smaller than the abnormally large “regular.” What’s a lively girl to do?
Well, what I do is divide everything in half when I order it. I wrap up or box the half, and then eat until I feel satisfied from what’s left. Sometimes I even have leftovers from the half on my plate, which leads me to believe that the portions are WAY oversized. I’m a good eater, after all.
How do you handle today’s crazy portion sizes?
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King
Firstly I try to choose places that just don’t do large sizes. I find that much food on my plate off-putting.
Otherwise I share with the another, take a doggy bag home, or simply ask for a smaller portion – get them to fill the container half or two-thirds full. Yes, I get some strange looks and reactions, but it saves me from over-eating.