New portion size guidance - what do you think?

[TheFifthKey]

www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/14/nutritionists-launch-portion-size-guide-to-tackle-overeating

This is roughly in line with the portion sizes I've been eating recently in a drive to be healthier - BUT I have been often pretty hungry (not starving, just used to a greater amount of food and having to reset my norms) and it's very very hard to eat out at all and follow these guidelines. I know reading threads on here, for example, many people think 500g of mince will only serve two people in bolognese.

Great information on this thread. Thank you.

For those of you who haven't click on the link to the article I want to put the picture of the article .

The only green thing is the background and in my opinion, the main problem is what is in the plate not how big the plate is.

What's in the little pot in that photo?

"This meal plan equates to seven portions of fruit and vegetables, four portions of starchy foods, two portions of protein and three portions of dairy"

That sounds like a lot (except the protein)... unless you've got your portions (literally) in hand.

A couple of people here have mentioned that they have ruined their metabolism with faddy dieting. If you don't mind me asking, does exercise/building muscle have no effect for you (assuming you are able to exercise)?

We know it's a lot. It looks a lot on the plate! But it's not something we would have very often so guess it's like have a big takeaway meal

Ok that I completely understand!! I was interpreting the OP's reference to this as people thinking that was just what a normal everyday portion of spaghetti bolognese was like!

As a pp said - I also have big hands (and feet) relative to the rest of my body. Bonus

king but those are calorie dense foods.
even huge piles of veg just are not as calorific as a sensible portion of pasta.

Well, I don’t think people need to be told to control their portions of leafy greens, do they?

It’s not really surprising that an initiative about portion control doesn’t advise people ‘this is 80g if spinach, make sure you don’t eat more than that!’

I've just read the article and it's exactly the same advice as always surely? These are the guidelines I've always followed.

The only time in my life I ever went on a diet was in the 90s and I went calorie counting mad. It worked, I've never looked as good as I did then, and the rules stuck in my head so that although, once I got bored of it, I wasn't being strict with myself anymore, I at least knew what I should be doing.

The spag bol illustration is always an interesting one. If you follow the authentic Italian model, the sauce is just supposed to lightly flavour the pasta. You should not have a pile of 250g of mince on top of your pasta.

I do 400g packet of mince with a tin of tomatoes, carrot, onion, garlic and wine with 500g of pasta for six portions. A basic mince sauce with lasagna will do 6 as well and that is without the added veg but obvs with the bechamel.

As a pp said - I also have big hands (and feet) relative to the rest of my body. Bonus

You could just buy kitchen scales. I always weigh portions out to prevent wastage as well as for portion control

Teatea - I cook for a living and am able to do it all by eye now without needing to weigh or put things in my huge hands.

I don't so definitely need to weigh

My question is, how much of the obesity crisis is due to people genuinely not knowing how to maintain a healthy weight?

This seems like a good guide, but I can't say I'm that enthused by how much of a difference it will make. My perception may be skewed though, as most of my discussions regarding weight take place on the MN Weight Loss Chat board, where 90% of posters know full well how to lose weight, but for a myriad of complex reasons find it very hard to consistently put into action.

I really agree that portion size is key. I've lost a lot of weight recently by eating more healthily rather than calorie counting or restricting anything. DH hasn't lost anything in the same period of time. I think this is due to a couple of factors:

1. He finds it very difficult to leave any food, so for instance if he makes a slice of toast for one of the children then they don't eat it he will eat it in addition to whatever he'd chosen for his breakfast.
2. I have cut my portion sizes of things like white carbs, so if we have spaghetti Bolognese I have half my plate full of other vegetables, but he will still have a plateful of pasta and sauce but add the veg as an extra.
3. He doesn't plan what he eats to be healthy, he chooses what is nice with the odd concession to health. So to him it probably seems like I'm eating loads but it is carefully chosen. I might have a big plate of lunch but it will be 75% salad with some healthy protein and wholemeal carbs, whereas he will have some cheese, some cured meat, some dip, a couple of slices of bread and a few bits of salad (maybe a 5th of his plate).

I think they're tiny! I wouldn't waste my time on a baked potato the size of a fist. And a portion of cheese is two thumbs together? Sorry but that's what I have as a grab-it snack while I'm just passing the fridge. I have much more on an omelette or a potato.

I'm 5' 10" and a size 6–8, so I can only assume I'm not taking in too many calories for my needs.

I was surprised on Hugh FW recent TV programme when he said the recommended portion of sausages was one and a half!

I'd say one or two sausages per person is a sensible portion. I wouldn't really want to eat any more.

KingIrving That illustration isn't the recommended daily diet to follow! The Guardian have just photographed a few of the foods mentioned to illustrate how surprisingly small a baked potato needs to be, or a portion of cereal. It's not all your supposed to eat in a day - it's just that journalistically a representation of piles of broccoli wouldn't do the job for the article.

Gawd so many people are all becoming such total food bores. It's tedious. Use your common sense and enjoy the part of your life that is living in a place with plentiful food.

I like it being based on handfuls as small people have small hands so their handful will be smaller

and people with a light build will have narrower hands so their handful will be smaller

and YYY to crockery bloat

1970's green shield stamp wine glasses held 1/8 of a bottle
modern glasses hold half a bottle

I couldn't live on these portion sizes. I eat massive portions, mostly good food but a bit of rubbish and am a completely healthy weight, normal BMI etc. However I don't or rarely snack and certainly not in the evening, I can't face eating past about 7 or 8 o clock. It's about exercise for me. I do 2-3 hours of moderate intensity exercise every day and some vigorous. I just love eating, love food and I can't bear to be restrictive when it comes to food. I had a few phases when I was younger of being quite restrictive and I found it easy to spiral into taking it too far and skipping meals etc and then too far the other way and eating way too much so I'd always want to encourage enjoyment and not calorie counting.

How old are you raspberry as staying that active when you become an old crock like me gets harder

I'm only 30 so yes, fortunate that I can keep that amount of exercise up. I definitely appreciate that as I get older I'll have to keep an eye! I just think that any blanket advice as to how much we should be eating, exercising etc is fairly unhelpful. Not sure what the alternative is though. Just wish that it was considered more important to teach children about cooking, growing, ingredients etc in schools (maybe they do these days, but didn't when I was at school) as I think that may help, bit of knowledge of how to make food go further, make tasty meals out of healthy ingredients etc. What I will say though is that a few years ago DH and I would eat 500g of mince in a spag bol or chilli between us and I do think that was excessive and we were a bit bigger than we are. Now it would do one meal with rice or pasta and then a lunch or tea with a jacket potato and salad and that seems about right for us.

hangry’ teen who needed 5 breakfast biscuits after a giant plate of pasta.

That could be me, well apart from the teen's age. If I eat a main meal consisting of mostly pasta , it simply awakes an appetite within me which just cannot be assuaged until I literally cannot eat any more. Til a few hours later, when I am ravenous again

Protein, fat and leafy green vegetables I can eat, enjoy and then stop eating long before I am uncomfortably full. And not be hungry again for s good long while.

Sure different people are sensitive to different things, so a one way fits all is doomed from the start. Especially once dumbed down for public consumption. I would wish that everyone finds what works for them, without the influence of advertisers and food manufacturer.

I've never counted calories so I haven't any idea how many calories I eat.

I was surprised recently when looking at the nhs bmi calculated that moderately active is 30 to 60 mins a WEEK and active is 60 to 150 mins. I'd hope to hit the weekly target almost daily.