America is being killed one bite at a time because we have been taught at a very early age to always clean you plate. This was fine when you were sitting at home and did not want to finish you vegetables, but today we are fighting against growing portions in restaurants and poor quality in commercially prepared food. How do we fight this growing problem? I’ll tell you first hand, it’s not easy. While looking at the CNN website, I took a quiz that compares the portions of yesteryear with the portions of today. I was not shocked to find that everything we eat today is bigger, but I did not realize that it was that much bigger. A bagel has gone from 3 inches in diameter and 140 calories to 350 calories and 6 inches in diameter, a cheese burger has almost doubled in calories and a bowl of pasta has sky rocketed from 500 calories to over 1000 calories. Why have portions changed so drastically from two decades ago? Have we demanded that we get more food in our meals?

How can one overcome this issue? The core comes back to you and me. It takes self control and discipline to walk into a restaurant and order and meal and just eat half. I’ve seen both sides of the plate and one’s better. I’ve come up with a couple tips for eating out that might be helpful.

1.Go into the restaurant with idea that you will be limiting you meal. I tell myself that I’m only going to eat half and take the rest home for later. If I wait until I’m full, it’s too late.

2.I try to stay away from all you can eat buffets at all costs. This is just an open invitation to eat too much. I also feel pressure to eat more to get my moneys worth. It’s best just to steer clear.

3.Skip the appetizer, bread, chips or whatever. Cheap filler will fill you up and then you’ll still eat you meal because that’s what you paid for.

4.Drink water. This will save loads of money and calories. Drinks are outrageous in price, two dollars for a glass of tea or soda. I’ll pass.

5.Whenever possible, just go home and eat. It will save a lot of money, you can control the ingredients and you can control the portions. Cooking is fun but I can’t help with the dishes. So next time you at a restaurant, keep in mind that what they put in front of, in most cases, is more food than anyone needs in one sitting.