SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.

COM Issue 5, June 2007

Small Bites

Issue 5, June 2007

Portion Explosion
Portions and servings. Cups and ounces. Teaspoons and tablespoons. When it
comes to eating, “how much” is just as important as “what”.

WHAT IS A PORTION? other person who downed three cups for dinner at
The Olive Garden.

The key to successful weight loss (and subsequent

management) lies in practicing portion control by
understanding – and respecting – serving sizes.

People often make statements along the lines of, “I

don’t know why I’m having a hard time losing
weight. I just have a little pasta with marinara sauce
for lunch and a grilled chicken salad for dinner.”

The answer lies in how many servings of pasta this

person is having. A half cup only contains 91 calo-
ries, but three cups – the amount often served at
Italian restaurants -- clock in at 545 calories.

Servings are easier to measure than portions because

“Portion control” is hard to understand for many
people because they simply don’t know what consti-
tutes a portion, or how it differs from a serving.
A portion is the amount of food consumed at one
given time. Someone eating a cup of pasta for lunch
can say they had a “portion” of pasta, as could an-
the United States Department of Agriculture estab-
lished guidelines for them. You actually see serv-
ings every day on nutrition labels (although these
don’t always match the USDA’s idea of servings,
as we’ll soon see).

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 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM
For instance, the label on a 20 ounce bottle of Coke
lists a total of 2.5 servings per bottle, since one
serving is considered to be 8 ounces.
Unfortunately, all these government agencies aren’t
making this easy to understand. Consumers have to
put some basic math skills to use in order to under-
stand these numbers.
If you guzzle down that 20 ounce bottle, you need
to multiply the values on the label (which reflect
one serving as eight ounces) by 2.5 to determine
how many calories, fat grams, sugar, and other
nutrients you are getting from your drink.
There are bills currently floating
around Congress that, if passed, would
require food manufacturers to alter
their nutrition information. The label
on the left divides a 20 ounce soda bot-
tle into 2.5 servings. The one on the
right lists values for the entire bottle.
After all, who buys a 20 ounce bottle of soda and
drinks 8 ounces at a time? NO ONE.
One significant weakness of serving sizes is that
they do not often reflect the way we eat.
Many cereal boxes, for instance, list half a cup as a
serving. Next time you pour yourself a bowl of ce-
real, get out your measuring cups and see just how
much – or little! – half a cup of cereal is. I guarantee
you will laugh.
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Issue 5, June 2007
The average person pours 1.5 to 2 cups of cereal
into a bowl every morning. In other words, they
need to multiply those values for half a cup of cereal
by three or four to determine just how many nutri-
ents – and calories – they are starting off their day
with.
THE PYRAMIDS
Both the old and new food pyramids are as mys-
terious as the ones in Egypt, as far as I’m con-
cerned.
Up until 2005, we were guided by a pyramid
launched in 1992 (shown below), which many of
you are familiar with. Grains were at the bottom,
followed by fruits and veggies and then dairy and
meat/meat substitutes. Fats, oils, and sweets shared
the narrow tip.
Mind you, this was the United States’ food pyramid.
The Mediterranean pyramid, for example, lists
wine and olive oil as separate food groups, and
places red meat all the way at the top (even above
sweets!).
The old food pyramid recommended 6 to 11 daily
servings of grains, depending on the number of
 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM
calories you consumed. The illustrations accom-
panying this guideline included an entire ba-
guette, large loaves of bread, and generous bowls
of rice and pasta. It is worth noting that no dis-
tinction was made between whole and refined
grains.
Many people saw this and took it to mean, “I can
have 6 to 11 bagels a day,” which is a gross misin-
terpretation.
In the USDA’s eyes, one serving of grains is equal
to one ounce of grains.
So, when a standard bagel weighs five ounces, it
delivers no less than FIVE grain servings.
Many people thought one bagel/muffin/side of rice at
a restaurant was equal to one grain serving, and, in
turn, would unknowingly go through a whole day
consuming as many as 15 or 20 grain servings.
In April of 2005, the USDA launched a new
pyramid, developed by advertising agency Porter
Novelli (who designed the first pyramid and also
worked for McDonald’s and M&M’s!) for a cool
$2.5 million.
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Issue 5, June 2007
This new pyramid – officially known as “MyPyra-
mid” -- includes the recommendation of physical ac-
tivity (although in a wishy-washy “exercise every
day, or most of the time” way) and places all food
groups next to each other, rather than rank them hi-
erarchically.
According to the USDA, this was done to communi-
cate the idea that everyone should include a variety
of foods in their diet.
However, I find the new pyramid to be not only
confusing, but also rather useless.
There is practically no notion of portion sizes, and
it is easy to misunderstand its message to mean
we should be eating the same amount of every-
thing, rather than strive for a diet rich in whole
grains, fruits, and vegetables.
The new pyramid fails to mention
portion sizes. People need to know
that one bagel has as many calories as
FIVE slices of bread!
I have also always taken issue with the fact that “fats
and oils” are thrown into a general “consume spar-
ingly” category, without distinguishing that the fat
in avocados and olive oil is a heart-healthier
choice than that found in butter and steak.
 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM Issue 5, June 2007

And, thanks to the milk lobbyists, the “milk, yogurt, Do you see why this can be so confusing? Many ce-
and cheese” group is now just the “milk” group. real boxes list a serving as a half cup, but according
to the USDA’s guidelines, one serving is equal to one
HOW DO I KNOW HOW MUCH TO EAT? cup.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,

a person on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet should con-
sume:

6 servings of grains (6 ounces)

5 servings of vegetables (2.5 cups)
4 servings of fruits (2 cups)
5.5 servings of meats/legumes (5.5 ounces)
3 servings of dairy products (3 cups)
No more than 2 tablespoons of added oils

Although these are healthful guidelines (they ensure
a balanced intake of nutrients, since each food
group offers its own exclusive blend of vitamins,
minerals, and antioxidants), they might as well be
written in another language.
No one inherently thinks of their food in ounces or
cups, and very little has been done to educate the
public on what these serving sizes mean.
1 serving of vegetables is made up of
half a cup of cooked or raw chopped,
non-leafy vegetables. However, you
need a whole cup of green leafy vege-
tables or vegetable juice to constitute
one serving.

Before continuing, allow me to provide you with

some reference points to help you eyeball your serv-
ings easily.

1 serving of fruits is equal to one me-

dium whole fruit, three-quarters cup of
pure fruit juice, a half cup of berries,
or a quarter cup of dried fruit.

1 serving of grains is equal to one

slice of bread, one cup of ready to eat Do you see why this is initially confusing for many
cereal, or half a cup of cooked cereal, people? All fruit is not created equal. Dried fruit is
pasta, rice, and other grains. denser, so one cup of raisins is more caloric

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 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM
than a cup of grapes, which hold more water and,
thus, less calories.
Whereas the old pyramid recom-
mended two to three servings of meat
(since one serving was considered to
be three ounces), the new guidelines
decided to confuse people even more
and change the serving size to 1 ounce
and recommend 5.5 servings a day.
Ridiculous! The previous serving size of three
ounces for meats was equivalent in size to a
checkbook or deck of cards, while the new one
(one ounce) is only equivalent to a book of
matches. Even the smallest of chicken breasts
weighs approximately three ounces.
The only way in which one-ounce servings are help-
ful is with alternate meat sources like nut and seed
butters, where one ounce (two tablespoons) has al-
ways been considered one serving.
I personally think it’s easier -- and more realistic - to
remember the recommendation as two 3-ounce serv-
ings a day (two decks of cards’ or checkbooks’
worth).
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Issue 5, June 2007
One serving of dairy equals one cup
of milk or yogurt, two ounces of
cheese , and half a cup of cottage
cheese, ice cream, frozen yogurt, or
pudding.
To make this a little easier, consider the following:
• One cup is about the size of your closed fist.
• Half a cup is roughly the size of half a baseball.
• Three ounces of meat is equal to a checkbook or
deck of cards.
• Two ounces of cheese are equal to four dice.
This is not to say you have to eat just one cup of any-
thing at a time. However, if you pour yourself a
bowl of cereal and estimate it’s two baseballs’ worth,
you now know you are having two cups (or servings)
in one sitting.
If you’re having a five ounce bagel for breakfast,
avoid having a grain-centric dinner that same
night.
If you have spaghetti for dinner at a restaurant
and your plate appears to have two baseballs’
worth of food, keep in mind you are having four
grain servings in that one dish.
If you already had four or five grain servings earlier
that day, you might want to think twice before finish-
ing your plate and bringing your grand total of
 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM
grain servings for the day to nine, if you are eating
2,000 calories a day.
WHY IS EVERYONE SO HUNG UP ON POR-
TION SIZES?
Very simply, the amount of food we are being served
has been expanding like crazy over the past two dec-
ades.
Consider the following examples from the eye-
opening, must-read book “The Portion Teller:
Smartsize Your Way to Permanent Weight Loss” by
expert dietitian Dr. Lisa R. Young of New York
University:
• Pizzas averaged 10 inches in diameter in the
1970s, and have since increased to 16 or 18
inches.
• In the 1970s, 7-11 offered 12 and 20 ounce
cups for soda. Now, you can walk out of
there with a 64 ounce cup (that’s two liters!)
• When Burger King first opened, their regular
burger weighed in at 3.9 ounces. Now, you
can get yourself a 12.6 ounce Double
Whooper
The original 1.5 ounce Kit Kat,
launched in 1935, packs 220 calories.
King-size bars (440 calories) are now
sold as individual candy bars at movie
theater concession stands across the
country.
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Issue 5, June 2007
• In 1996, Starbucks’ short (8 ounce) size was
discontinued and the Venti (20 ounces) was
introduced.
• “In the course of just three years – between
1984 and 1987 – the exact same chocolate
chip cookie recipe on the back of Nestle’s
‘Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels’
package scaled down the number of cookies
it makes from 100 to 60.”
• Queen size beds are 6 inches wider than in
the 1970s.
• “In 1988, the original Lunchables was small
and contained 340 calories. By the year
2,000 Oscar Mayer introduced the
Lunchables Mega Pack, containing 640 calo-
ries for the pizza version and 780 calories for
the nacho version.”
• “Meals served in Chinese restaurants in
Philadelphia are 72 percent heftier than those
served in Chinese restaurants in Paris.”
And, guess what? The more food we are provided,
the more we eat.
A renowned 2003 study by Brian Wansink of Cornell
University’s Department of Applied Economics and
Management had a control group drink soup from a
regular bowl, while others did so from a bowl that
inconspicuously refilled itself in a continual fashion.
The results? Those drinking from the “bottom-
less” bowl not only downed 65 percent more calo-
ries than the control group, they also did not re-
port feeling full for much longer than those who
had a limited quantity of soup. In other words,
they unknowingly consumed extra calories!
This goes to prove – the more food we have in
front of us, the more we’ll eat, regardless of how
hungry we are.
Wansink also experimented with movie theater pop-
corn. Subjects who later remarked the popcorn
tasted bad and stale still ate more if they
 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM
were eating from larger containers. Oh, by the
way, the popcorn tasted so bad because it was two
weeks old!
If you want to apply this to your own life, place a
bowl of candy or chocolates at your office desk
and observe what happens. People who would
have most likely not gone to a vending machine for a
snack will take a few pieces from your bowl just be-
cause they are there.
Think about it. Have you ever seen anyone buy a
large order of fries at McDonald’s and not finish the
entire thing? Throw out an ice cream cone with two
scoops on it because they only wanted one?
No. Most people think, “Well, I’m not THAT hun-
gry, but I paid for it. Besides, I feel bad wasting
food.”
We need to stop with the food guilt. You can’t ex-
pect to maintain a healthy weight if you are under
the impression that you must always clear your
plate. Why should you have three cups of pasta
in one sitting? Because someone you don’t even
know decided that’s how much they wanted to
put on a plate?
Your standard Chinese restaurant en-
tree -- approximately 6 ounces of meat
and 4 to 5 servings of grains.
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Issue 5, June 2007
Some people might say, “But I PAID for that food!”
So what? You paid for food that would satisfy
you. If only half a dish is enough to eliminate
your appetite, you got your money’s worth. What
is the point of stuffing yourself silly with extra calo-
ries if you truly don’t want – or need – them?
I will never forget an interaction I had last summer in
the Del Mar, California race tracks. Craving some
soft serve, I approached the stand and, I am not
exaggerating, saw people walking away from it
with half a foot of soft serve on their cones.
I asked the salesperson at the counter for a small
cone and asked him to stop less than halfway
through his pouring of the ice cream.
“That’s all I want,” I said.
He looked at me incredulously (waiting for the
Punk’d cameras to ambush him, perhaps?).
“Are you sure? I can give you a lot more.”
“No, that’s all I want. Really,” I said.
“OK,” he shrugged.
I pulled out my wallet, but before I could hand him
any bills, he said, “Oh, don’t worry about it, it’s
free.”
We need to start becoming more vocal about the por-
tions we are being served. Let waiters and restau-
rant managers know they are serving you too
much food, whether it’s with a verbal acknowledg-
ment, sharing an entrée, or asking for half or
appetizer-sized portions of huge entrees.
This is a multi-layered problem. Not only are por-
tions bigger than ever; the small ones aren’t all
that small!
 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM Issue 5, June 2007

Starbucks
I stopped by Coldstone two weeks ago and noticed
that even the small size was too big for what I was
craving at that time.

Why can’t I get a half-sized burrito at Chipotle?

Since one of their burritos average 1,500 calories,
so one with half the calories would still be plenty
of food.

Not to mention, Starbucks discontinued its “short”

size in the late 1990s, therefore entirely taking
away consumers’ choice to request an 8 ounce Average muffin: 5 ounces
serving of coffee. Average cookie: 3 ounces
Average slice of cake: 4.5 ounces
If you don’t think restaurant portions are out of con- Average bagel: 4 ounces
trol, consider how much food you are getting at the
following chains: Dunkin’ Donuts

Au Bon Pain

Average muffin size: 5.5 ounces

Average croissant: 4 ounces
Average bagel: 4.5 ounces
Average cookie: 2.5 ounces
Average dressing packet: 5 tablespoons
Focaccia bread: 4.5 ounces
2 slices of multigrain bread: 5 ounces
Baguette for one sandwich: 3.5 ounces

Average cookie: 4.5 ounces

Chipotle English muffins: 2.5 ounces
Average muffin: 4.5 ounces
Tortilla: 6 ounces
Average donut: 2.5 ounces
Scoop of rice: 5 ounces
Scoop of beans/steak/chicken: 4 ounces
Subway
One burrito with rice provides 11 grain servings!
Sandwich bread: 3 ounces
And, if you are also getting an animal protein with
Average cookie: 1.6 ounces
beans, that’s more than a day’s worth of meat in one
Average meat topping: 2 ounces
sitting.
Average condiment: 0.5 tablespoons
Average cheese filling: 0.5 ounces

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McDonald’s
Chicken breast filet: 3.5 ounces
Apple pie dessert: 2.7 ounces
Big Mac bun: 3.1 ounces
Regular bun: 1.8 ounces
Beef patty: 1.2 ounces
English muffin: 2 ounces
(so, a McMuffin contains 4 servings of bread)
Domino’s Pizza
6 inch deep dish pizza (bread only): 7.6 ounces
Large thin crust pizza (bread only): 4.7 ounces
Extra cheese topping: 2 ounces
Breadstick: 1.5 ounces
Taco Bell
Taco shell: 2.8 ounces
Side of rice: 4.5 ounces
Wendy’s
Bun: 2 ounces
Chicken filet: 3.8 ounces
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Issue 5, June 2007
Coldstone
Like it: 5 ounces (0.7 cups) of ice cream
Love it: 8 ounces (1 cup) of ice cream
Gotta Have It: 12 ounces (1.5 cups) of ice cream
HOW DO I APPLY ALL THIS INFORMA-
TION?
If your goal is to lose or maintain body weight,
portion size needs to be your number one priority.
Don’t fret about carbs, fat, and protein. Instead, take
a look at how much you are eating.
The key is to find foods that, when eaten in large
amounts, do not add up to a lot of calories.
For example, if you eat a cup of ice cream, you are
looking at roughly 500 to 600 calories. A cup of
strawberries, though, will only give you 46 calo-
ries.
By the way, strawberries – just like every single
piece of fruit -- are 100% carbohydrate, so if you
were on a low-carb diet, they would be on the “do
not eat” list! Do you now see why I cringe at the
mere mention of anything Atkins?
Remember, weight gain is the direct effect of con-
suming more calories than you burn. Your body
could care less if your excess calories come from
steak, potatoes, or unpasteurized, organic goat milk
flown in from the Alps.
That being said, some foods will always be helpful
in preventing you from ballooning.
The first issue of Small Bites discussed how fiber-
rich foods – along with fat and protein -- help you
feel full. These include fruits and vegetables (with
their skins), whole grains, seeds, and legumes.
 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM Issue 5, June 2007

Consider the following lunch: This concept, known to nutritionists as “nutrient

2 slices toasted bread (not whole grain)
2 cups iceberg lettuce
½ cup tomatoes
3 ounces lean turkey breast
1 cup apple juice
1 small bag pretzels
Basically, a turkey sandwich piled with some vege-
tables and accompanied by a cup of apple juice and a
small bag of pretzels. Sounds inoffensive, right?
density”, consists of selecting appropriate portions
of foods that help keep you full with the same
amount of calories as another food.
Let’s say you are making a salmon and vegetable stir
fry and are considering having a cup of one of the
following grains as a side dish: white rice, cous-
cous, brown rice, whole wheat couscous, and qui-
noa.
Let’s see how one cup of these grains stacks up:

Well, that lunch adds up to 530 calories, 28 grams of

protein, 4.3 grams of fat, and 4 grams of fiber. FOOD CAL PROT FIB
White Rice 205 4.3 0.6
It is very likely that such a lunch would only sat-
isfy for about an hour and a half before hunger Couscous 176 6 2.2
kicked in again. I wouldn’t be surprised if, about
90 minutes later, you ended up consuming more Brown Rice 216 5 3.5
calories.
Whole 210 7.5 5
Wheat
Now, take a look at this lunch: Couscous

2 slices whole grain bread Quinoa 254 9 4

2 cups baby spinach
½ cup peppers The white rice, with its low fiber and protein would
3 ounces lean turkey breast not fill you up. The quinoa and whole wheat cous-
¼ cup avocado cous (and the brown rice, to an extent) are higher
1 banana in fiber and protein, which would leave you sati-
1 cup flavored seltzer water ated for a longer amount of time.

This lunch contains 25 less calories than the first
one and provides nine more grams of protein, six
additional grams of heart-healthy fats, and ten
extra grams of fiber.
The higher protein, fat, and fiber amounts in the sec-
ond lunch guarantee a longer feeling of satiety (and
thus no need to consume more calories just 90 min-
utes later).
The more satiated you are, the longer before you
are hungry again and ingest more calories.
RECIPE OF THE
MONTH
I do not have any recipes to go along with this issue
l, but I will advise you to keep a watchful eye on
many of the recipes you make at home.

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 SMALL BITES ANDY.BELLATTI@GMAIL.COM Issue 5, June 2007

If a brownie recipe yields 16 squares, take a look at Every food group is necessary for our health, and
the final product. Perhaps it would be better to cut should be enjoyed. Just remember to watch your
24 or 30 small servings rather than a handful of portions and make the most whole, healthy choices
dense three-ounce brownies. from each group.

Next time you’re making dinner, remember your

portions! A dinner for four with a total of two
cups of vegetables only amounts to half a cup (or
one serving) per person. Aim for two vegetable
servings at lunch and dinner, respectively!
FAD DIET OF THE
MONTH
Alas, I also don’t have a fad diet related to portion
sizes to share this month.
However, I will say the following. Many of the di-
ets out there that make such a big deal out of
carbs, fat, protein, food group combining, and
what time of night you stop eating all end up do-
ing the same thing: restricting calories.
Small Bites is a monthly newsletter de-
livering nutrition information without
sponsors to please, advertisers to pro-
mote, or hidden agendas.
Please share your thoughts, opinions,
and questions so I can continue to pro-
vide you with an excellent publication
each month.
Also, be sure to check out the Small
Bites blog:
http://smallbitesnutrition.blogspot.com
See you next month!
-Andy-

As I have stated many times before, when you re-

strict calories, you lose weight, no matter where
those calories come from. Remember, 600 calories
can be found in just one cup of ice cream or 12 cups
of fresh strawberries!

In other words, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables

will allow you to eat larger quantities that result
in less total calories.

Eating foods containing a mix of fiber, protein,

and healthy fats will also help you feel full for
longer than those with low amounts of these nu-
trients.

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