Healthy Habits: Portion Size Me

In today's world, we're often fed distorted portions. As a result, most of us don't know what a serving really is. Every time I read an article about portion size, I'm shocked at the difference between what we should eat and what we get. If you do a little research on portion sizes, you'll see what I mean. Plus, a lot of foods that we think are single-serve (like bottles of juice and large candy bars) are really two servings or more.

Sometimes it's not so much a "diet" people need to eat healthy as it is just an awareness of what portion sizes should be. That's what ten-year-old Marshall decided. He was tired of being slow and picked on, and he and his mom, Alexandra Reid, started researching portion sizes and carefully reading food labels. They chronicle their efforts in the book Portion Size Me: A Kid-Driven Plan to a Healthier Family. The book has a very casual, friendly tone, and isn't written to be a definitive guide, but rather one family's discovery and what worked for them (the family also included the father and older sister, and their viewpoints are also included).

The book focuses around six main goals:

·         Eat as many real foods as possible

·         Read ingredients

·         Pause before you eat

·         Get moving

·         Help out in the kitchen

·         Watch portion sizes

If you follow these six guidelines, it can have a noticeable effect on your family's health.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of the book to facilitate this post.