A recent study was just published interviewing 300 chefs from across the United States regarding their awareness of calories, and portion size when serving meals. The fact is only 1 in 6 chefs felt calorie content is a very important consideration when serving their meals. One half of the chefs said it didn’t matter at all. Therefore, when you go out to eat please know that chefs really concentrate on taste, looks, and customer expectations. Most chef could care less about your waistline.

It goes back to the “personal choice” theory. Restaurants and chefs feel it is your responsibility to monitor what and how much you are eating, not theirs. They feel you can determine how much, and are welcome to a “doggie bag” if you wish to take it home.

Once again economics take over! Restaurants are focused on giving you a good experience, good value in spite of what it does to your health. Good value, good experience equals good profits. Remember, they are in business to make money. I’m not saying I agree with this, but it is what it is.

It is our own individual responsibility to be aware of what is really going on in restaurants. Generally you are not getting low fat, low calorie meals unless you go to a health food restaurant. Instead, you are getting large portions, and lots of calories that make the food taste great.

Now the first thing you can do is make yourself aware of what is going on when dining out. Secondly, there are things you can do to re-calibrate your concept of a portion. Portion sizes have skyrocketed in American restaurants. This contributes to, as I have mentioned before, the huge increase in obesity. My healthy eating tip for you is to ask for a doggy bag right away when servers deliver your food. Don’t eat it until you have cut their portion in half and boxed or bagged up one half of the meal. This will generally leave you with a normal portion. I also recommend eating slowly, and consider what you drink as part of your caloric intake. Good luck!