The Clean Plate Club - Should You Join?

Low-fat, low-calorie and low-carbohydrate diets are all the rage,
but a recent survey suggests they won't help you reach your ideal
weight.

Approximately one-third of Americans are clinically overweight, and
many seem to lack basic weight management skills, jumping instead on the
quick-fix diet bandwagon that focuses most of their attention on the
kinds of food they're eating. But a new survey, released by the American
Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), shows that ignorance of proper
portion size is our biggest diet downfall.

To test people's concepts of serving size, a random 1,003 Americans
18 and older were surveyed about their eating habits. Nearly 78% said
that eating or avoiding certain types of food was more critical to their
diets than eating less food. And fully 26% admitted that the amount of
food they are served dictates how much food they consume.

"The focus has been distorted," according to Melanie Polk, Director
of Nutrition Education at the AICR. "People don't recognize the
importance of total calorie intake." Appetite alone is not a good gauge
for determining if you're full, since the stomach takes nearly 20 minutes
to signal the brain that you've eaten enough. Instead, the AICR advises
basing your individual portions on your weight and level of activity, and
limiting the amount of food you place on your plate.