How To Turn Super Sizing, Dietary Displacement and Portion Distortion To Your Advantage!

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

Ever since the independent film, Super Size Me was released, research on the relationship between increasing obesity and increasing portion sizes has skyrocketed and the results have been virtually unanimous.

There have been numerous well-designed studies published just in the last several years, which confirmed exactly what we suspected (and much of what the movie suggested):

* Portion sizes have increased in restaurants and fast food venues on a major scale over the last several decades

* We self-serve ourselves larger portions in the home than we used to

* When more food is put in front of us, we almost always eat more

* most people underestimate how many calories they are eating

* All of these factors have contributed to the growing obesity problem and the related health problems that come along with it

The obvious solution would seem to be to decrease portion sizes across the board, and indeed awareness of and control over portion sizes in general is important.

However, research has demonstrated that perhaps an even better solution is to keep the portion sizes generous, but decrease the energy density (calories per unit of volume) in the foods you put on your plate.

Several studies revealed that eating more low calorie density foods, especially green vegetables, salad vegetables and other fibrous carbs, as well as very lean proteins, maintains a feeling of fullness while reducing energy intake.

In other words, large portions of highly nutritious, low calorie foods displaced the less nutritious, calorie-dense foods! Most people allow the bad foods to push out the good foods, but you can actually do the same in reverse!

In a study published in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association, researchers fed one group a compulsory first course salad which was kept low in energy density by using very low calorie dressing with no high calorie toppings no bacon, cheese or croutons, etc.

After the salad, the subjects were allowed to eat as much pasta as they wanted. A second group was also allowed to eat as much pasta as they wanted but was not given a compulsory salad to eat beforehand.

The results: As you might guess, eating a low energy density first course enhanced satiety (fullness) and reduced the overall amount of calories that were eaten during the whole meal.

Since the research has repeatedly discovered that almost everyone will eat more when served larger portions from a larger plate or container, and there is obviously a serious issue of "portion distortion" occurring, another group of scientists and psychologists decided to test this even further by providing larger plates or containers of low energy density, high nutrient density foods before the main course and or in between meals.

When more of the low energy density foods were made available first, the subjects ate even more of these healthy foods, which filled them up even more and decreased the amount of high calorie density foods eaten in the main course.

Reporting their findings in the Journal of Nutrition Education And Behavior, the researchers said that there is a silver lining to all the negative findings about super sized portions and overeating that we have discovered in recent years:

That is, although we eat more when more is put in front of us, We can use this phenomenon in reverse by serving large plates, bowls or containers of healthy, low energy density foods like fruits, salads and raw vegetables as snacks and first courses.

"While a small bowl of raw carrots might make for a good afternoon snack", said one of the researchers, "a large bowl might even be better."

You can learn more about calorie density, low energy density foods (thermogenic foods), and choosing your portion and meal sizes with precision inside the Burn The Fat ebook. For more information, visit: Burn The Fat

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle," which teaches you how to burn fat without drugs or supplements using the little-known secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models.

Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and turbo-charge your metabolism by visiting: BurnThe Fat

Who Is Tom Venuto And Who Cares?

I'm sure you're aware of the fact that there are thousands of diet programs and dozens or even hundreds of so called "fat loss experts".

However, very few of these self-proclaimed "Fat loss experts" practice what they preach or have the credentials and track record to back up their claims.

Tom Venuto is NOT in that category.

He has truly "been there and done that". He is a fat loss expert (and a very good writer) and proves it in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.

Tom has a BSC degree in exercise science. He's a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (NSCA-CPT).

He's also a member of the International Society for Sports Nutrition (ISSN), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the National Strength And Conditioning Association (NSCA).

Tom is a successful natural competitive bodybuilder. "Natural" means that he's never used steroids or any other banned or illegal physique enhancing drugs - ever!

Tom has been bodybuilding for 23 years and competing for 17 years. He's been involved in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, health club manager, nutritionist, motivation coach and freelance writer for nearly 18 years.

Bodybuilding and fitness is Tom's life - it's all he's ever done.

In competition Tom has won three state and three regional championships. He's even gone as far as 2nd place in the Mr. Natural USA and 2nd in the Mr. Natural North America contests.

Bodybuilding is not my forte. I'm sure it's not yours either. However the fact is that bodybuilders strive for low body fat. And fat is the enemy of every overweight person. You want to lose fat and not muscle.

Tom's program in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is not written for bodybuilders. It's for anyone that has excess body fat.

You can achieve AMAZING results on Tom's program without ever taking drugs - and Tom is living proof!

So that answers the question about who is Tom Venuto. Now for the "who cares" part? Well, I certainly do.

And anyone who needs to lose weight should too!!!

Read more about Tom Venuto here.