It's an Optical Illusion!

Let’s take it back to the 1960s.  Not only would we be running around in hot pants and miniskirts, singing “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon – but we would be [smaller] eating off of a groovy 10 inch plate. 

Now fast forward to the year 2009- where after we spend hours watching reality TV, drive thru Hardees for a hearty dinner - a Monster Thickburger (all 2/3 pounds of meat, cheese and bacon), and later come home to Twitter about it all…And we wonder why we have an ever growing obesity epidemic?



Over the years, many different health initiatives have been put in place to encourage America to take steps to get active, eat healthy and lose weight.  One of my favorites is the Small Plate Movement. 

The Small Plate Movement encourages American families to lose weight and feel healthier by simply reducing the size of their dinnerware, without having an effect on their perceived fullness or satisfaction.  Since 1960, the surface area of the average dinner plate has increased 36%.

Research shows that people perceive serving size not by the label on the box, but rather in relation to the size of their dish.  Let me put this into perspective- a 3 ounce portion on a 10 inch plate will look like a huge helping so you’ll most likely stop there, whereas a 3 ounce portion on a 12 inch plate will much smaller (like you’re not getting enough food).  As a result, we tend to over-serve, over-consume (the Clean Plate Club) and over-eat on larger plates. 

A two inch difference in plate diameter or will result in 22% less calories at each meal.  To put this in perspective – if the average dinner is 800 calories, a smaller plate would lead to a weight loss of around 18 lbs per year for the average sized adult.

Starting today – September 1^st – I challenge you to join the Small Plate Movement and eat off a 10 inch plate for your largest meal of the day for the whole month. 

I think you will be pleasantly surprised...



 

Are you interested in learning more?  Click here to read more about the 5 W’s of Portion Control.

 

Source: Smallplatemovement.org