To get bigger, you have to eat bigger. To get leaner, you have to eat smaller. But both ends of the spectrum can be difficult to maintain if you don’t eat smart.

Eating fewer calories when trying to get lean can be difficult; so too can force-feeding yourself quality calories day after day in an effort to pack on muscle mass.

This is especially true for hardgainers. But the good news is that research from Cornell University (Ithaca, New York) suggests that using the appropriate serving sizes can help you reach your goals, whether they be fat loss or mass gain.

The Study Hoping to help find another clue to the cause of the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the United States, the Cornell team investigated the effects that the serving size of meals has on the amount of food people eat. The findings have implications for those with obesity issues, but they also can be used to help people who just want to stay in shape.

The researchers gave about 160 moviegoers either a medium-sized (approximately 11 cups) or a large-sized (approximately 22 cups) container of free popcorn before a movie. In addition to the size difference, the popcorn the subjects received was also either fresh or stale (approximately 14 days old). At the end of the movie, the researchers measured how much popcorn the subjects ate and how they rated the taste.

The Results Those who received fresh popcorn rated it as “good-tasting” and ate over 45% more from the large-sized container. Surprisingly, those who received the stale batch ate 35% more popcorn when they were given the large-sized container, despite the fact that they rated it “bad-tasting.”

So, even when food doesn’t taste good, people are more likely to overeat when it is served in larger sizes, but they’ll eat less “good-tasting” food when it comes in small sizes.

Remember to use serving sizes to benefit your physique. [via]