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!
