Sized Right

At a dinner over Christmas I sat with a dear friend of mine who, like me, wants to lose weight but is struggling with it. She commented at the end of the meal that she ate nearly 3 times more than I ate. That one comment gave me the idea for this post, namely serving sizes.

One of the ideas born of the American Revolution was that we can make things better, and usually that better is by going bigger. In many things bigger is better; a bigger paycheck, a bigger garden, a bigger TV set; all those things are definitely better bigger. However, an off shoot of that bigger is better attitude is the idea that a bigger portion sizes are better. This has really affected the obesity rate in America more than any one single thing. Take a look at a typical nutrition label and you’ll find that the numbers are based on portion size. Example:

This label shows that the food is 200 calories, 1 gram of fat, 36 grams of carbs and 13 grams of protein. Most people will look at that and say “Hey I’m good it’s only 200 calories”, however, look closer the serving size is 172 grams…or ¾ of a cup. This label is for black eyed peas, knowing that, would you be satisfied with ¾ of a cup of peas? Knowing how to read labels is very important in keeping on track with your diet. Learn to read labels accurately. A good place to go to learn how to read these labels would be at WebMD http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/how-read-nutrition-label. This gives you a step by step instruction on how to read the label. Also read and learn about food in general so you know what foods are good for you depending on what diet you choose to follow.

I’m not going to talk about what foods to eat, or not to eat in this post, rather I’m going to talk about keeping your sizes in the right portions. This is a problem for everyone, people don’t want to have to bring measuring cups wherever they go in order to make sure that they are eating the right amount. If you learn to read labels right, however, you won’t have too.  Many labels now have two columns listing both the nutrition per serving size and the nutrition per the entire package. They’ve also started showing the nutrition when prepared, for example, cereal with ½ cup skimmed milk, such as this Fiber One label.

So when planning your meals for the day and your caloric intake, if you were eating this cereal it would be one cup of cereal and ½ cup of skimmed milk. The problem is that most people just fill the bowl and cover the cereal with milk, which ends up being 2+ cups of cereal and at least 1 cup of 2% milk. If that was the case here, instead of a 200 calorie meal, it would be around 470 calories, more than double what you planned. So as you can, see paying attention to the label and the serving size is important when planning your meals.

The next thing you need to learn is how to “eyeball” portion sizes. Once you get used to what a portion size is, that’s easy, but the tricky part is learning those sizes. A good way to do that is using your hand. A proper portion of carbs is a hand full, from the heal of your hand to the tip of your fingers. A portion size of proteins is a palm full and for fat it would be enough to equal your little finger from the tip to the first knuckle. So say you go to a potluck and don’t want to overdo it, so as you fill your plate, choose carefully what proteins, carbs and fats you want and then put enough of each for those as I just listed. The one thing you don’t need to worry about is salad. Lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers etc: fill the extra space on your plate with that so you don’t overeat with fatty foods. Another trick with salad is making sure you don’t put too much dressing on. For this, put the dressing on the side, then dip your fork in before each bite. This way you get the taste of the dressing, but not too much calories. Another thing is to “trick” your eyes. At home this is easy, instead of using a dinner plate which can leave a lot of empty space making you thing how little you’re eating, use instead a salad plate. Smaller plate, less empty space, you’re retraining your body to accept a smaller amount of food and fooling your eyes into thinking there is a good portion of food.  At a restaurant ask for a dessert or salad plate and then transfer the food over.

The last trick I’ve learned is substitutions. I have a love of soda, it is my nemesis! Losing weight is hard enough but when you’re addicted to soda it’s dang near impossible. Since I hate plain water (unless it’s ice cold or during my workouts,) finding something to satisfy that soda craving without the soda is hard!! My solution, Crystal Light flavor packs (cue heavenly music.) Wal-Mart has a cheap version of it that tastes great too. So I have my flavor, but without the calories. With this I’ve been able get off the soda and keep up with water intake. A great substitute for candy is fruit, in particular for me has been the Cutie oranges, I love those things. But sweet peas in a pod are great too, apples, bananas, blueberries. If you need a more intense sweet taste, dried fruit is a good substitute. One way to make sure you’re getting the best nutrition is to buy the fruit and dry it yourself. This may be impractical for some, but you can guarantee you’re getting a healthier snack when you know for sure what has gone into it.

So keep an eye on your portion sizes and find healthy substitutes for your cravings. For most any bad habit with your foods you can find a healthy substitute….except Chocolate, some days you just need chocolate!! For those days savor the chocolate and let it melt slowly in your mouth, make it last and then move on. One bar a week won’t kill your diet, and just may help you stay on track! Make good choices, push yourself to keep to your goals and the weight will come off. Good luck!