I was thinking about this topic today. I eat skinless chicken drumsticks pretty much every day for dinner, and I always have two. I think this stems from my experiences growing up. Whenever we had chicken drumsticks, my mom always gave everyone two. This was the same for my dad and my 6-foot older brother and my slightly shorter but highly active younger brother. To this day, I always eat two drumsticks, and it never really occurs to me to eat three. When I think about it, I realize that would seem kind of abnormal or gluttinous to eat more than that in my mind. I think this stems from how my mom fed us all of those years.
Unfortunately, when it came to other food (especially carbs), my mom would pile the plate a mile high, so my ideas of normal portion size were somewhat skewed regarding other foods. Also, when I ordered Chinese food in college, and the chicken came in chunks and not in drumsticks, I'm sure I ate more than the amount of meat that would have been on two drumsticks. However, if Chinese food chicken came as drumsticks, I probably would have only eaten two.
My mom also always said we could only have 3 pieces of pizza. So, none of us ever ate more than that, whether it was deep dish or original crust. However, I think I also usually ate 3 because that's what we were "supposed" to get, and I felt it was my share. I probably didn't always need 3 whole slices! If my mom had told us we only got two, I probably would have eaten two all my life, and been fine with it.
Do you think that your parents' behavior played a key role in determining what you consider/considered an appropriate portion?
My mom grew up in an environment where carbs were much more plentiful then meat, and so maybe her ideas/behaviors were also shaped by that???
What's your experience/opinion?