No Food Left Behind

This past week a new report about the nation's obesity epidemic was released. The report F as in Fat, ranks the states by their obesity. My home state of Pennsylvania didn't fair very well coming in as the 19th heaviest state. My neighboring state of West Virginia (only a few miles from my home) came in as number 4.

Every news channel featured a news story about what is not working and why we as a nation are so fat. I even did a segment on a local dentist's radio show last week talking about some of those strategies. The fact is that despite the billion dollar weight loss industry, things continue to get worse. My favorite was the story that blamed the food label. I'm not sure that we actually use the food label to make food decisions as a nation. What I am sure of is that over time we are eating more. We eat on average 570 more calories per day today than Americans did in the 1970s and we are also less active. Regardless of which school of thought you buy into (low carb vs low fat, etc), we need to EAT LESS! Especially less processed foods and added sugars.

We leave NO FOOD LEFT BEHIND!! If it is put on our plates, we eat more. Research at my favorite University--Penn State!!!--showed that once you hit the age of 5, the more food that is on your plate the more you eat, regardless of how hungry you actually are. So here are a few tips to help cut down on what you are eating and drinking.

1) Cut your portions by 1/3-1/4. If you are really hungry you can go back for seconds but by leaving the food off of your plate in the first place you are less likely to eat it if you are full.

2) Practice leaving at least 2 bites of food on your plate. Your grandma won't yell. If you learn to eat less over time, there will be much more that can be shared with those who are hungry throughout the world.

3) Fill at least 1/2 of your plate with non-starchy veggies.

4) Eat before you are "starving". If you wait too long before you eat, you are much more likely to eat larger portions.

5) Use smaller plates. You have probably read that in 100 magazine articles but it does work. I have my grandmother's china and the difference in size between my plates and hers in amazing.

6) Learn to recognize the difference between hunger and thirst. This one is tough. One strategy is to try drinking a glass of water or two before you eat, especially a snack. You will be surprised how many times that you really just needed a drink.


I will continue to share more tips. But, I also want you to remember that eating less and eating healthy should be fun! I promised a few pictures of my creations that kept the healthy foods a little more fun from the Fourth of July! Here they are:

First I made a Patriotic Salad! I thought it turned out great!

I also made a watermelon fish, next time, I think I may try a Moose but it will be a challenge!