740 kcal of pasta and cheese went into the dish, and under half (370 kcal) ended up on that plate. People vary, but even short, old people with no exercise have a maintenance metabolism of 3x that. To maintain my weight I need 10x that.
I suspect most of the reactions here are cultural (do you get most of your calories with breakfast, are restaurant meals larger or smaller than home meals, is that the only food with the meal or do you typically have other starters and desserts, do you snack throughout the day, ...).
I typically eat once a day, sometimes adding in a small breakfast, I don't snack, I don't really care for desserts, and certainly for a weeknight meal I might make cacio e pepe but definitely won't also whip up breadsticks, cocktails, and a few sides most of the time. Nearly anyone with those eating habits would find this a small amount of food (in the sense that if they ate it instead of their normal dinner regularly they'd lose weight quickly, at least 3lbs per month, 25lbs in my case).
Even people who eat 3 square meals and snack some (no more than half a family-size bag of chips) through the day will find this on the small side (losing weight if all 3 meals are that portion) if they're moderately active, no older than 40, and no shorter than 5'10.
I suspect most of the reactions here are cultural (do you get most of your calories with breakfast, are restaurant meals larger or smaller than home meals, is that the only food with the meal or do you typically have other starters and desserts, do you snack throughout the day, ...).
I typically eat once a day, sometimes adding in a small breakfast, I don't snack, I don't really care for desserts, and certainly for a weeknight meal I might make cacio e pepe but definitely won't also whip up breadsticks, cocktails, and a few sides most of the time. Nearly anyone with those eating habits would find this a small amount of food (in the sense that if they ate it instead of their normal dinner regularly they'd lose weight quickly, at least 3lbs per month, 25lbs in my case).
Even people who eat 3 square meals and snack some (no more than half a family-size bag of chips) through the day will find this on the small side (losing weight if all 3 meals are that portion) if they're moderately active, no older than 40, and no shorter than 5'10.