Alex Bogusky and Chuck Porter co-authored the book "The 9-Inch Diet." The core feature of this diet concerns portion control. Rather than focus on calorie counting, nutrition or eliminating problem foods, this diet emphasizes downsizing meals. Like portion control plates and bento box diets, the 9-inch diet is rooted in the philosophy that using a smaller-sized plate reduces consumption.
History
Bogusky, once the chairman of a major advertising agency, first got the idea for this book when he purchased a house from the 1940s. Upon moving in, he found that his standard-sized dinner plates could not fit into the 1940s cabinets. He discovered that, over the past few decades, dinner plates have dramatically increased in size, from 8.5 inches to 12 inches in diameter. He correlates this expansion in plate size with Americans' expansion in waistlines.
Features
The 9-inch diet has followers using a 9-inch plate for meals. A contemporary salad plate typically measures this diameter, so some people just switch from a dinner plate to a salad plate. The authors instruct people that they can fill this plate with any type of food they wish, as long as they do not stack the food high or go back for seconds.
Prevention/Solution
The authors point to restaurant-sized portions as a key problem in the American diet. According to Kirsten Matthew, fitness reporter for the New York Post, Americans eat at restaurants more than people in any other country, averaging over four visits per week. Many restaurants use large plates and bowls for serving meals. The authors recommend ordering from the child's menu, ordering appetizers or immediately bagging half of the entree for another meal later.
Theories/Speculation
Bogusky and Porter place the country's distorted concepts about food in cultural context. They point out that American over-consumption transcends eating patterns. They point to SUVs, McMansions and the term "supersize" as examples.
Warning
Diet reporter Sarah E. White suggests that this diet book may be little more than a publicity stunt. She revealed that the publisher, powerHouse Books, had published a fake diet book from the same advertising agency before. The book, "Eating the Angus Diet," raved over a fast food burger made with steak, and suggested centering a diet on the dish.
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