OHHH BOY, DO I HAVE A TED TALK FOR YOU !!

I’ve been itching to write this blog post for a long – LONG – time…

Take a seat and get comfortable, ladies & gents.

You guys know my whole portion control ish; I struggle SO SO much. I grew up competing against my 2 older brothers for food at the dinner table. I should note that my two older brothers were putting on weight for football.

ROUGH TIME TO LEARN ABOUT PORTION CONTROL, HAILS!!

I should also note that my family has always eaten healthy.

( Well, after my pizza for B,L, & D phase… )

I don’t struggle with choosing healthy foods, just how much to eat.

Recently, Tanya Zuckerbrot, RDN and founder of the F-Factor diet, spoke about eating excess protein on IG and I was inspired to create a blog post about it.

BUT FIRST, lemme preface by saying that protein is NECESSARY. Also, the appropriate portion may vary based on your age, sex, overall health, and activity level.

Protein’s role in our bod includes:

• Normal growth (A).
• Building & repairing muscle mass (B). #gains
• Maintaining muscle mass & improving muscle strength when losing weight ( on a hypocaloric diet ) (C).

However, excessively high protein intake can result in abnormal digestive, kidney, and vascular health (D). Also, Americans have become a victim of what I like to call, “portion distortion” and as a result, have been eating excess calories.

*DUN DUN DUNNNN*

According to the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Association, Portion Distortion occurs because growing portion sizes are changing what Americans think of as a “normal” portion at home (E).

RAISE YOU HAND IF YOU HAVE BEEN PERSONALLY VICTIMIZED BY *PORTION DISTORTION*

Me too, girl. Me too.

This study explains the origin of our portion distortion… RESTAURANTS!

Executive chefs are responsible for establishing portion sizes served in restaurants. The majority of chefs thought they served the “regular” portions, but the actual portions were 2-4x larger than serving sizes recommended by the US government (F).

The rise in obesity rates over the last 3 decades have been paralleled with the increase in dining out and portion size. The larger portions we’re served at restaurants influences what we assume is an appropriate portion at home and results in WAAAAAY too many calories.

That’s why I weigh my protein on a food scale.

3-4 ounces if we wanna get specific. (If I were a dude, 6-8 oz).

It’s kinda psycho, but I know my weaknesses and portion control is one of them!

All you have to do is turn on your food scale, place your plate on the food scale, calibrate the scale (0 it out), add your animal protein.

So, I challenge YOU to weigh your chicken.

I recommend weighing your animal protein because it helps you visualize what the appropriate serving size looks like. You can compare a 3 oz serving to a deck of cards, but I personally can’t remember the last time I played a card game.  ( LOL… ).

Here are a few tips I have for dining out:

1. Take Half Home – Eat half now and save half later. This stretches the $ you spent on that delish filet mignon
2. Split Your Dish – With your mom, BFF, significant other, etc.

ALSO – there are a few other factors that contribute to ~portion distortion~ including:

• Thickness
• Presentation – is it shredded, cubed, whole?

A food scale is also a staple in the kale kitchen because I can measure my rosé. This is my attempt at not becoming a rosé version of this gif.

With that, I end my TED TALK.

Thank you all, and I hope you have a great night. 😉

xx hails

References:

(A) Rodriguez, N. R. (2005). Optimal Quantity and Composition of Protein for Growing Children. Journal of the American College of Nutrition,24(2). doi:10.1080/07315724.2005.10719457

(B) Kreider, R. B., & Campbell, B. (2009). Protein for Exercise and Recovery. The Physician and Sportsmedicine,37(2), 13-21. doi:10.3810/psm.2009.06.1705

(C) Cava, E., Yeat, N. C., & Mittendorfer, B. (2017). Preserving Healthy Muscle during Weight Loss. Advances in Nutrition: An International Review Journal,8(3), 511-519. doi:10.3945/an.116.014506

(D) Wu, G. (2016). Dietary protein intake and human health. Food & Function,7(3), 1251-1265. doi:10.1039/c5fo01530h

(E) Serving Sizes and Portions, Eat Right. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/eat-right/distortion.htm

(F) Condrasky, M., Ledikwe, J. H., Flood, J. E., & Rolls, B. J. (2007, August). Chefs’ opinions of restaurant portion sizes. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17712127