How much should I be eating?
July 31, 2012 by Coastal Bodies
Filed under Balanced Diet, Food, Health
We are eating more than we have ever done so in the past.
In fact Australian Intake surveys have found that we are now eating over 200 calories per day more than we did 20 years ago!!
So why is this? One of the main reasons is that food portion sizes have gradually been increasing as a result of clever marketing. Manufacturers simply want us to eat more of their products and one of the easiest ways to do this is to make the products bigger (and therefore more expensive!)
Check out how some snack foods have increased over time;
| Food product |
Average serve size 20 years ago |
Average serve size Today |
|
Potato chips |
30g packet (150calories) |
50g packet (250 calories) |
|
Kit Kat |
20g (100 calories) |
78g (409 calories) |
|
Flavoured milk |
300ml (220 calories) |
500-600mls (440 calories) |
|
Soft drink |
390ml bottle (160 calories) |
600ml bottle (245 calories) |
|
Choc chip cookie/muffins |
50 calories |
Jumbo size (500 calories) |
These bigger serving sizes have happened gradually so for most of us we haven’t even noticed. In addition the original smaller sizes have been phased out to make room for the more profitable ‘king sized’ packets. So for most of us these ‘king size’ foods are now just the norm. As a result it is not surprising that most of us don’t know what an actual ‘standard serve’ is.
By learning to measure appropriate portion sizes you will be able to control your kilojoule/calorie intake much better as well as meet your nutrition requirements more appropriately.
What is a Standard ‘Serve’ – Measure your portions
Grains & starchy vegetables (600kJ/150calories per serve)
2 slices of bread; 1 medium bread roll; 1 cup cooked rice; ¾ cup cooked rice or rice noodles; 1 cup cereal; ½ cup muesli; 1 medium potato or 1 corn cob.
Non-Starchy Vegetables (100kJ/ 25 calories per serve)
½ cup cooked vegetables; 1 cup salad
**This group contains minimal kilojoules/calories so if you are hungry you can definitely have extra of these.
Fruit (300kJ/ 70 calories per serve)
1 medium piece of fruit e.g. apple, banana or orange; 2 small pieces of fresh fruit e.g. apricots, kiwifruit; 1 cup canned fruit; ½ cup juice; 5 dried apricots; 1 ½ tbsp. sultanas
Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes (600kJ/ 150 calories per serve)
100gmeat or chicken; 150g tofu; ½ cup mince or casserole; 2 small chops; 2 slices of roast meat; ½ cup cooked legumes; 130g fish; small tin of tuna/salmon; 2 eggs
Healthy Fats & Oils (150kJ/45 calories per serve)
1 tsp of margarine; 1 tsp oil e.g. olive, canola, flaxseed; 20g avocado;10g nuts;½ Tbsp LSA; 8 olives (no oil)/ 6 with oil; 1 tbsp seeds (eg sunflower, chia, pumpkin)
