Counting Calories Works

[David]

I haven't traditionally had much luck with counting calories, so I don't bother. But I know when I'm eating too many empty calories & I just don't do it. I also know when I'm not getting to the gym on schedule.

If I want to eat more ice cream, I stay at the gym an extra 30 or 60 minutes & just refuse to get off the equipment or machines. Work it till you injure it, baby!

[skcin]

On one hand, this study seems to be common sense. On the other, I'm guilty of doing this - if there's more there, I'll eat it.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/07/30....ap/index.html

For portion control, look to the container
Study says what's eaten depends on what size it comes in

Sunday, July 30, 2006; Posted: 8:01 p.m. EDT (00:01 GMT)


NEW YORK (AP) -- How many M&MS are enough?

It depends on how big the candy scoop is.

At least that's a key factor, says a study that offers new evidence that people take cues from their surroundings in deciding how much to eat.

It explains why, for example, people who used to be satisfied by a 12-ounce can of soda may now feel that a 20-ounce bottle is just right.

It's "unit bias," the tendency to think that a single unit of food -- a bottle, a can, a plateful, or some more subtle measure -- is the right amount to eat or drink, researchers propose.

"Whatever size a banana is, that's what you eat, a small banana or a big banana," says Andrew Geier of the University of Pennsylvania. And "whatever's served on your plate, it just seems locked in our heads: that's a meal."

The overall idea is hardly new to diet experts. They point to the supersizing of fast food and restaurant portions as one reason for the surge of obesity in recent decades. They sometimes suggest that dieters use smaller plates to reduce the amount of food that looks like a meal.

But in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science, Geier and colleagues dig into why people are so swayed by this unit idea when they decide how much to eat.

Geier, a Ph.D. candidate who works with people who are overweight or who have eating disorders, figures people learn how big an appropriate food unit is from their cultures. For example, yogurt containers in French supermarkets are a bit more than half the size of their American counterparts. Yet French shoppers don't make up the difference by eating more containers of the stuff, he noted.

Have a scoop or a spoon
He and the other researchers tried a series of experiments using environmental cues to manipulate people's ideas of how big a food unit is.

In one, they put a large bowl with a pound of M&Ms in the lobby of an upscale apartment building with a sign: "Eat Your Fill ... please use the spoon to serve yourself." The candy was left out through the day for 10 days, sometimes with a spoon that held a quarter-cup, and other times with a tablespoon.

Sure enough, people consistently took more M&Ms on days when the bigger scoop was provided, about two-thirds more on average than when the spoon was present.

In another experiment, a snacking area in an apartment building contained a bowl with either 80 small Tootsie Rolls or 20 big ones, four times as large. Over 10 working days, the bowl was filled with the same overall weight of candy each day. But people consistently removed more, by weight, when it was offered in the larger packages.

In those experiments, as well as a similar one with pretzels, "unit bias" wasn't the only thing that produced the differences in consumption levels, but it had an influence, Geier and colleagues concluded.

Brian Wansink, director of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab and author of the forthcoming book "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," called the new paper an impressive demonstration of the effect in a real-world setting. He has done similar work but didn't participate in Geier's research.

So can all this help dieters?

Some food companies are introducing products in 100-calorie packages, and Geier thinks that could help hold down a person's consumption. He also suspects companies could help by displaying the number of servings per container more prominently on their packaging.

As for what dieters can do on their own, Geier said one of his overweight patients offered a suggestion for restaurant visits: Request that the meal be split in two in the kitchen, with half on the plate and the other half packaged to take home.

In any case, an earlier experiment of Geier's shows that the unit bias effect has its limits.

He had one dining hall at his university provide 10-ounce glasses for soda, and a second provide 16-ounce glasses. He predicted that students at the first hall would drink less soda. In fact, they drank more.

Only later did he find out what went wrong.

"They were taking two glasses at a time," he said. "I guess I went below what is culturally construed as a unit of soda."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by skcin

On one hand, this study seems to be common sense. On the other, I'm guilty of doing this - if there's more there, I'll eat it.

It's true. It's that whole "clean your plate" mentality. I am actually trying the smaller portion, more tiny meals thing. Not changing my exercise much, but adjusting meal sizes and eating more of them. Can't hurt. I am curious to see what happens.

[AliceLover]

I lost some weight fast by the diet Brian showed me. I was told to eat 5-6 small meals a day (300-350 calories each meal). I guess it speeds up the metabolism and makes you burn more calories. He also said to drink a lot of water because it helps flush out all the burned calories. Sleep is also important because thats when you actually burn off the calories. I like this, but I just don't know what to eat. I really like my smart ones and they are only 160 calories. I always eat a pack of peanut butter crackers which are only 200 calories. I also had a pudding snack that was only 100 calories. The exercise I do is minimal, just 20-40 push ups and 50 crunches everyday. But my job requires a lot of walking. I probably walk for 1/2 hour everytime at work and that involves carrying heavy files upstairs.

QUESTION: Do you think a can of tuna and miracle whip is an ok meal? I think its under 350 calories, but not sure.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

QUESTION: Do you think a can of tuna and miracle whip is an ok meal? I think its under 350 calories, but not sure.

As long as you're not eating an entire can of tuna with a whole jar of Miracle Whip on a whole loaf of bread every day, you're probably fine. It would help to go very light on the Whip & put it on whole wheat bread.

[amber]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

I lost some weight fast by the diet Brian showed me. I was told to eat 5-6 small meals a day (300-350 calories each meal). I guess it speeds up the metabolism and makes you burn more calories. He also said to drink a lot of water because it helps flush out all the burned calories. Sleep is also important because thats when you actually burn off the calories. I like this, but I just don't know what to eat. I really like my smart ones and they are only 160 calories. I always eat a pack of peanut butter crackers which are only 200 calories. I also had a pudding snack that was only 100 calories. The exercise I do is minimal, just 20-40 push ups and 50 crunches everyday. But my job requires a lot of walking. I probably walk for 1/2 hour everytime at work and that involves carrying heavy files upstairs.

QUESTION: Do you think a can of tuna and miracle whip is an ok meal? I think its under 350 calories, but not sure.

Tuna has Omega 3 fatty acids, which is good in itself. You can tell how many calories the meal has by, say, using the portion size on the back of the mayonnaise jar (probably one or two tablespoons, it usually is) where it tells you the number of calories per serving, and then calculating. You know, if you put 4 tablespoons, add up the number of calories in the servings you had, however many 4 tbspns. is. And then, you know, the bread probably has 110 calories each piece, something like that. It's not rocket science, it's just math.
I do recommend eating Tuna, though, like I said. If you went over your calorie amount, just have a lighter dinner.
Math. All your food should have the serving size and the amount of calories on the package. Math.
Also, if you "don't know what to eat" veggies and fruits are always a sure thing. Also? You can find millions of infos online about nutrition.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by amber

Tuna has Omega 3 fatty acids, which is good in itself. You can tell how many calories the meal has by, say, using the portion size on the back of the mayonnaise jar (probably one or two tablespoons, it usually is) where it tells you the number of calories per serving, and then calculating. You know, if you put 4 tablespoons, add up the number of calories in the servings you had, however many 4 tbspns. is. And then, you know, the bread probably has 110 calories each piece, something like that. It's not rocket science, it's just math.
I do recommend eating Tuna, though, like I said. If you went over your calorie amount, just have a lighter dinner.
Math. All your food should have the serving size and the amount of calories on the package. Math.
Also, if you "don't know what to eat" veggies and fruits are always a sure thing. Also? You can find millions of infos online about nutrition.

Amber, have you ever thought about being a Nutritionist? You'd be great.

[amber]

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

Amber, have you ever thought about being a Nutritionist? You'd be great.

Yeah, just the other day, and before that, too. I'm not very good at science, though. I mean, I understand science in words, just not very well in pictures or mathematical formulas, or picture formulas. I'm still mulling it ovah.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by amber

Yeah, just the other day, and before that, too. I'm not very good at science, though. I mean, I understand science in words, just not very well in pictures or mathematical formulas, or picture formulas. I'm still mulling it ovah.

Even still, if you have an interest/passion you'll find a way around the science. The science will become more applicable and make more sense if it involves something you love. Just a thought...

[amber]

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

Even still, if you have an interest/passion you'll find a way around the science. The science will become more applicable and make more sense if it involves something you love. Just a thought...

Indeed. That is one of about 5-10 things I want to do. See? See the problem? I can't get all those degrees, none being related to each other.
But I was thinking about getting a minor in Recreation (like ecotourism) and a nutrition degree would go well with that, ie, I could be a nutritionist in some yoga retreat in Beliz.... But seriously, healthy vacations are becoming more and more popular.

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by amber

Tuna has Omega 3 fatty acids, which is good in itself. You can tell how many calories the meal has by, say, using the portion size on the back of the mayonnaise jar (probably one or two tablespoons, it usually is) where it tells you the number of calories per serving, and then calculating. You know, if you put 4 tablespoons, add up the number of calories in the servings you had, however many 4 tbspns. is. And then, you know, the bread probably has 110 calories each piece, something like that. It's not rocket science, it's just math.
I do recommend eating Tuna, though, like I said. If you went over your calorie amount, just have a lighter dinner.
Math. All your food should have the serving size and the amount of calories on the package. Math.
Also, if you "don't know what to eat" veggies and fruits are always a sure thing. Also? You can find millions of infos online about nutrition.

I'm not eating the tuna with any bread. I just put it in a tupperware thing and brought it to work to eat. I also brought a 100 Calorie snack pack thing, but im still a little hungry...well actually not really. But you guys....I WANT A COKE SO BADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[amber]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

I'm not eating the tuna with any bread. I just put it in a tupperware thing and brought it to work to eat. I also brought a 100 Calorie snack pack thing, but im still a little hungry...well actually not really. But you guys....I WANT A COKE SO BADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great. My point was kind of that you can figure out the calories yourself?
Soda is hard to resist, and terrible for you. I'm ashamed to say that I drink diet sodas way more than I should. Soda rots your teeth and guts, too - dissolves them, basically. And studies show that diet soda makes people hungrier, and leaves formaldahyde in their fat.
I feel your pain. Go have some tea or something. Or flavored carbonated water usually fulfills my craving for carbonated soda.

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by amber

Great. My point was kind of that you can figure out the calories yourself?
Soda is hard to resist, and terrible for you. I'm ashamed to say that I drink diet sodas way more than I should. Soda rots your teeth and guts, too - dissolves them, basically. And studies show that diet soda makes people hungrier, and leaves formaldahyde in their fat.
I feel your pain. Go have some tea or something. Or flavored carbonated water usually fulfills my craving for carbonated soda.

LOL diet sodas, I need the real deal. Classic Coca-Cola...its definitely my #1 Craving....and im dying for it right now.

[xxxmx]

it's like our own little support group

i stopped buying junk and anything that comes in bulk. it's more expensive to buy individually packaged snacks, but i don't have to think about how much i'm eating. and i always keep fruit around. it's easy to grab a slice of cantaloupe or a bunch of grapes out of the fridge.

we were talking health/diet at work today (middle school teachers, everyone bitches about everything) and someone commented on how the freezer was full of healthy choice and lean cuisine. i don't eat them (sodium is a no-no for me) but people swear that just by bringing them for lunch drops a few pounds. speaking of food, hell's kitchen is on.........

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by xxxmx

it's like our own little support group

i stopped buying junk and anything that comes in bulk. it's more expensive to buy individually packaged snacks, but i don't have to think about how much i'm eating. and i always keep fruit around. it's easy to grab a slice of cantaloupe or a bunch of grapes out of the fridge.

we were talking health/diet at work today (middle school teachers, everyone bitches about everything) and someone commented on how the freezer was full of healthy choice and lean cuisine. i don't eat them (sodium is a no-no for me) but people swear that just by bringing them for lunch drops a few pounds. speaking of food, hell's kitchen is on.........

But, put a pound of guac in front of ya and the skies ( ) the limit