It’s not a big secret that Nick and I like to eat. I tell people that we eat like birds—vultures, in fact. But we really do have hearty appetites. Our active lifestyles require that we ingest copious amounts of nutrition to maintain our high metabolism—therefore, we eat a lot. So it was with much glee that I happened upon a recent article that dealt with dinner portions served by restaurants. They are way up! Our friendly chefs at fine and casual restaurants are serving us much larger portions than they did 20 years ago.

A recent survey reports four factors that determine portion size. Food presentation is the top reason at 70%, cost came in second at 65%, expectations were third at 52%, and last at 16% were calories. Four out of five chefs admitted to serving more than the recommended portions. Now, you ask, what is "a regular size restaurant portion"? Well, for instance, the recommended size for pasta is 2 ounces, steak and chicken about 3 ounces. That should give you an idea.

Did you know that only 1 in 6 chefs said the calorie content was very important to them, while half said it didn’t matter. Yikes. Mama Mia, that’s a lottsa pasta! Doctors are complaining that because of this, we Americans are getting fatter and fatter. Hey, those extra calories really add up! Many of us are eating more and more of our meals away from home, and these larger meals are also loaded with salt and fat!

Holy Heart Attack! That’s why we need to be on the alert for choosing the right kind of foods to eat. Nick and I are very picky when we dine out. We always ask that our orders not be salted, and we shy away from fried foods, especially deep fried. We include veggies, and we always order the salad dressing on the side. Drinks? We order ice water with lemon—never soda.

Speaking of fried foods, health experts are happy to let you know that Kentucky Fried Chicken—otherwise known as KFC—is phasing out trans fat in cooking its Original Recipe and Extra Crispy Fried Chicken, potato wedges, and other menu items. Sorry, folks, but the biscuits didn’t make the list. They haven’t found an alternative yet to produce a trans fat free biscuit. Those "other menu" items that will be trans fat free include crispy strips, the ever popular wings, buffalo and Crispy Snacker sandwiches, popcorn chicken, and Twisters.

I’ve explained in previous articles that trans fats raise the level of cholesterol that will clog your arteries and contribute to the development of heart disease. KFC said they will start using zero trans fat soy bean oil nationwide in their 5,500 restaurants. This applies to the United States KFC stores for the time being. Here are a few interesting tidbits to savor over your fried chicken–Wendy’s hamburger restaurant chain already has switched to a zero trans fat oil. OK, fine, but McDonald’s, who announced in 2003 that it had intended to do the switch as well, has yet to implement their change to zero trans fats. Hmm. Let’s see what happens with Mickey D.

Oh, and have I got some great news for all you red wine imbibers. From the Harvard Medical School comes news of an amazing discovery. It seems that heavy doses of red wine–actually the ingredient Resveratrol in the red wine, showed signs of lowering the rate of diabetes, and improved liver problems and other fat related diseases in big fat obese mice. Great news! Even if you are a mouse. So, what is Resveratrol? Well, it’s produced in the skin of grapes and other plants, for instance peanuts and some berries. But the Harvard study was for mice only. The numbers were so promising that the institute is considering the same experiment with rhesus monkeys who happen to be a closer match to humans than mice.

It’s been a great year for Nick and me. We all have some great holidays ahead of us. We need to remind ourselves to not over-eat!