Serving size scams that can make you fat

Imagine you sign a lease to rent an apartment, and as you're moving in, you discover your rent money only covers the living room and the closet. To actually use the kitchen, the bedroom, and the bath, you'll have to pay two or three times what you'd agreed to. You'd be pretty ticked off, huh? Well, something like that is happening right now in America's restaurants and supermarkets, but instead of costing you money, these rip-offs are costing you your health and your waistline. See, food manufacturers know that you want to eat healthy, so they're doing everything they can to make their bad-for-you foods look good for you. And their number-one trick is to play with serving size: listing foods as lower in calories than they really are by claiming they serve more people than they really do. In other words, you'll buy a food, and then discover that if you want to eat everything you bought, you have to pay two, three, even four times the amount of calories you thought you were bargaining for. Take a look below at some of the hidden fees the food industry is applying to your waistline, compliments of the new Eat This, Not That! 2012. And if you've already been victimized by serving sizes, as evidenced by your serving bowl for a belly, we've got your new weight loss plan right here: Belly Off! 2012, a free diet plan, exercise program, and community that will help you drop 10, 20, or even 30 pounds while still eating the foods you love. Check it out! Serving Size Rip-Off: SoBe Energize, Citrus Energy Listed calories: 110 Servings per bottle: 2.5 Total calories: 275 Sure, this bottle will give you energy, it's called a sugar buzz. One SoBe Energize contains 67.5 grams of sweet stuff, or the equivalent of about 25 Hershey's Kisses. That buzz will last about half an hour, and in the process, flood your body with sugar and insulin, setting into motion a metabolic reaction that will plump up the fat cells around your tummy. Truth is, individual-sized drink bottles are notorious for listing multiple servings on what everybody assumes to be a one-person drink. But have you ever grabbed a bottle from a vending machine and split it with a buddy? Or saved half for another day? Of course not. The Rules for Energy Drinks Serving Size Rip-Off: Nissin Ramen Noodles Listed calories: 190 Servings per package: 2 Total calories: 380 You don't eat Ramen because it's healthy; you eat it because it's cheap. Still, Nissin doesn't get a free pass for misleading consumers. Each individually wrapped package contains two servings. Imagine sawing one of these blocks down the middle, wrapping half in cellophane, and putting it back in the pantry for another day. Or better yet, imagine switching to whole wheat pasta and seasoning it with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil. Presto, another cheap meal, but this time with some nutritional merit. Advertise | AdChoices Serving Size Rip-Off: Kellogg's Pop-Tarts Listed calories: 200 Servings per box: 2 Total calories: 400 What's worse than eating 200 calories of enriched flour stuffed with sugary fruit goo? Eating twice that many calories without even realizing it. The nutritional information on a box of Pop-Tarts lists one tart as a serving, but these iconic morning pastries come wrapped in twos, forcing you to decide between eating two Pop-Tarts now or one stale Pop-Tart tomorrow. Here's a smarter option: Drop a piece of whole-wheat bread into your toaster, and then spread it with strawberry jam and be on your way. You'll take in fewer calories with more fiber and real fruit. 20 Habits That Make You Fat Serving Size Rip-Off: Campbell's Chunky Microwaveable Soup Listed calories: 200 Servings per container: 2 Total calories: 400 Okay, clearly this is a single-serve cup. As if you'd ever microwave the cup, eat half, and then put the rest in the fridge to microwave another day. C'mon Campbell's, you're better than that. Serving Size Rip-Off: Cedarlane Burrito Grande w/ Chili Verde SauceListed calories: 230 Servings per box: 2 Total calories: 460 There's one burrito in the box. By listing half a burrito as one serving, Cedarlane is clearly trying to make a typical meal look like a low-calorie meal. It's a particularly offensive serving-size scam when you consider that Cedarlane is a "natural" food company that prides itself on making healthy food convenient. The NEW 20 Worst Foods in America Serving Size Rip-Off: King Size Butterfinger Listed calories: 160 Servings per bar: 3 Total calories: 480 No one would mistake a king-sized chocolate bar for a light snack, but it's often difficult to assess the damage. Take this version of Bart Simpson's favorite indulgence. The nutrition label states that each serving contains only 160 calories, which sounds pretty good until you realize the package contains three servings. Since this candy is broken up into two bars, that means you're supposed to eat two-thirds of one of the bars (huh?). Avoid this confusing confection and, if you must indulge, go for a regular-sized bar, at least you won't need a specialized degree to decipher the label.