Nutrition

Portion Control: It’s More Important Than You Might Think

My wife and I have been part of a Weight Watchers group in our area for about a month now, and we’re both losing weight right at about the rate that they said we would (1-2 lbs/week). I’ve lost about 10 1/2 pounds since we started, and my wife has lost over 8.

We’ve been learning a lot by going to the meetings, things like the importance of eating healthier foods, exercising when you can and most importantly for me, the power and importance of practicing portion control.

Portion Control

At one of our first meetings the discussion topic for the night was about the new PointsPlus system that you use on the program. We talked about how when you’re on the program you don’t necessarily have to avoid all foods that you normally enjoy. You just have to stay within your allotted number of points for the day and week. You can eat some unhealthy foods, but they encourage healthy foods by making those foods less points – or no points at all. In other words, you have to enjoy certain foods – in moderation.

In my opinion their points system is a one sense is a sneaky way of having people practice something they probably should be anyway, portion control.

I think portion control is one thing that I’ve always struggled with, and something that Weight Watchers has made me a lot more conscious of. Before I wouldn’t think twice about opening a bag of chips and eating almost the whole bag, but now I’m much more aware of my portion sizes because I’m thinking more about how healthy the foods are for me. I’m thinking, those chips are going to be 10 points, or that brownie is 6 points.

The funny thing is, you would think that I’d be starving all the time now that my portion sizes have dropped so dramatically. But I’m not. I’ve adjusted to the smaller portions much easier than I thought, and I’m actually content at the end of meals, instead of unhappily over-stuffed. I’m allowing my body to feel full, but not going overboard and feeling stuffed.

Tips For Portion Control

Here are a few tips I’ve learned that can help in controlling your portions:

Don’t feel like you have to be a member of the “clean plate club”: You should be ok with wasting a little bit of food if it means you’re eating a healthier portion. That may mean leaving some of that tasty pasta dish on your plate when you eat out on the weekend. Instead share a meal with a loved one or bring some of your food home for another meal.
Use smaller plates and bowls: Trick yourself into smaller portions by using smaller bowls and plates. It may seem silly, but your plate will look more full, and you won’t eat as much.
Eat healthy foods that are more filling: Instead of eating chips or donuts, try eating healthier foods that are more filling and that have few calories – while still having good nutrients.
Plan ahead for our meals: Make your meals at home if possible, and plan out a healthy menu plan that includes correct portion sizes.
Read nutrition information: Reading the nutrition information will help you to know just what you’re eating, and how much of that food is intended to be in a serving. Try just eating 1 serving, isntead of the whole bag.
Never eat out of the bag or box: Instead of eating out of a bag or box, transfer 1 serving of the food to a plate or bowl, and eat one serving at a time. Eat slowly to give your brain time to catch up with your body.

Those are just a few tips that I’ve learned over the past couple of weeks, and that have helped me to lose over 10 pounds over those weeks.

Do you struggle with portion control? What tips can you give to help curb the humongous portions?

photo credit: mikefats

Disclaimer: This site is an advertising partner with Weight Watchers. I will receive compensation if a new member signs up through one of the links above. Please know that this review does discuss my true feelings of the program.

What fuels your workouts?

By Peter 8 Comments

Something that I think about all the time is what types of foods I should be eating in order to better fuel my workouts, and to aid in recovery once the exercise is done.

In an article titled “Best fuel for your workout” at MSNBC.com the fitness experts give a quick run-down of what types of foods you should look to eat before and after your reps.

Good food choices to fuel your workout include high-carbohydrate, low-fat snacks such as:

a banana with yogurt;

a whole-wheat toasted bagel with fruit spread; or

a quick bowl of instant oatmeal.

After your workout, it’s essential to refuel your body with a carbohydrate-protein blend, such as:

a peanut butter sandwich;

a small handful of walnuts or almonds; or

a fruit smoothie with some protein powder.

So there are some quick and easy suggestions to keep your diet on track, and your body fueled like it needs to be.

photo credit: Darwin Bell

Don’t forget to not overdo it though!

You don’t want to eat too much food before exercising, because if you become sluggish, nauseated or throw up, you’ve lost that workout.

One last thing. Drink water and eat healthy!

Of course, don’t forget to drink water before, during and after your workout to avoid dehydration.

And remember that eating a low-fat, well-balanced diet the rest of the day will help ensure that your motor is running efficiently both during exercise and at rest.

Think you’re eating healthier by buying 100 calorie packs?

By Peter 5 Comments

One thing that I’ve struggled with for some time is controlling my portion sizes when I eat. I tend to eat Goliath sized portions, fit for a giant.

One thing we’ve done at times in our house is to buy foods packaged in smaller portions. We buy the 100 calorie packs, smaller versions of candy bars for treats, etc. Our reasoning was that we were eating less and limiting our consumption of unhealthy foods. But what is the flipside – is it really all that beneficial?

I was just reading on the Chicago Tribune’s website an article about package sizes, and how it affects our consumption:

In theory, buying mini-packages of food should help us eat less.

But these cute little versions might actually have the opposite effect because it’s hard to limit consumption, according a study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

In fact, the belief that it will be easier to control your appetite with individually wrapped, single portions may backfire and increase consumption, according to researchers from Tilburg Unverisity in the Netherlands.

“When tempting products came in large package formats, consumers deliberated most before consumption, were least likely to consume, and consumed the least. This illustrates how small temptations can remain undetected (“flying under the radar”) and large package formats may reduce consumption as a result of the experienced self-control conflict,” they wrote.

Tempting products in smaller packages cost more, so in addition to eating more, we’re also more likely spending more money, the researchers added.

I wasn’t involved in the study, but I probably should have been. I haven’t purchased a regular-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in decades. But I think nothing of eating five to 10 miniature Reese’s at one sitting. (To relieve the guilt I hide the wrappers.)

Interesting, so buying smaller packages actually may backfire and cause increased consumption because of the decreased guilt factor. We feel better about eating them because they’re smaller – but in the end we end up eating more anyway.

What do you think about this, have you experienced this in your own life?

Roadblocks to fitness

By Peter 11 Comments

Everyone has roadblocks on their road to fitness. For some, it is motivation. They just can’t get up the energy to go out and exercise. For others their roadblock might be health issues or an injury. Still others may not have the knowledge needed to overcome and make healthy choices.

I feel like I have the head knowledge that I need in order to lose weight and become healthy, and I’m pretty motivated, but I still have a roadblock that keeps stopping me dead in my tracks. My roadblock right now is emotional eating.

photo credit: catatronic

Emotional Eating – Wean yourself off of unhealthy foods

In a recent article at weightladder.com, Kevin talks about emotional eating, and how sometimes it functions much like a drug addiction. We eat when we’re down, we eat when we’ve had a hard day. We crave those foods to help give us a positive boost. We NEED that boost.

When you’re trying to eat healthier, and stop emotional eating it’s important to start with baby steps. Instead of trying to quit cold turkey (pun intended?), you can wean yourself off of the unhealthy foods gradually. If you eat a lot of cookies, try eating some that are lower in sugar. If you like ice cream, try eating frozen yogurt. Once you’re weaned yourself off of those you can move to even healthier options. Something I have to keep reminding myself is that I eat to live, I’m not living to eat.

Healthier Options

I’m beginning to work some healthier options into my diet right now. I still struggle with feeling like I need those naughty foods in my diet, but the longer I go without them, the less I want them. I am also working one day a week into my diet where I’m allowed to eat unhealthy – eating whatever I want.

Health Food Spending

When you start eating healthier it can be easy to go overboard and spend a ton of money on health foods, supplements and so on. Over at stronglifts.com this week they talked about some simple ways that you can eat healthy when you’re on a budget. Lots of great tips and tricks to get you going. A couple of my favorites include:

Avoid Impulse Buying: Make a list, and stick to it, shop after eating, and shop alone.
Prepare your own foods: It’s cheaper, and you an control your portions and ingredients better.

Find more tips at stronglifts.com

No Excuses – Knock Down Your Roadblock!

Now there is no excuse for my roadblock to stay up! Knock yours down too, and get moving!

Links:

How to Stop Emotional Eating

20 Simple Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

What is your biggest health & fitness vice?

By Peter 3 Comments

I was tagged by the great deflabbifier over at Deflabbify yesterday in a new health fitness meme that asks:

What is your biggest health or fitness vice?

That’s an easy question to answer. I love pastries! Donuts, cheese danish, cinnamon rolls, bagels, cookies, toaster strudels, you name it. If it has a flaky crust and a sweet topping, I’ll eat it. In fact, as I write this it is early in the morning and I’m starting to drool.. It’s gonna be tough not to stop at a gas station on the way into work!

photo credit: wEnDaLicious

One thing that is so tough at my job is the fact that we always have sweets available. One lady’s husband works for a local bakery, and she is always bringing in boxes of donuts and other pastries. Still others at my job love to cook, and are always bringing in the tasty leftovers. If all else fails there is our good friend the vending machine (which has several yummy pastries selected just for me).

I’ve found that if I don’t plan ahead and bring some sort of healthy substitute, more often than not I’ll end up indulging in whatever happens to be there on that day. But if I bring my own healthy snacks with me it’s much easier to resist the temptation to take part in all the high calorie treats. So there it is – tip for the day – pack your lunch, and bring plenty of healthy snacks to help you resist all the yummy eats at the office.

Hmmm, who to tag next? How about:

Rules of the Meme:

Post on your biggest health/fitness vice;
Link back to the person who tagged you;
Tag someone else and let them know they’ve been tagged. Enjoy!

Are you a pig if you eat more than 3 meals a day? Or smart?

By Peter 2 Comments

I apologize if the title for this post is a bit crass, but the question I think is a valid one. How many times should you eat every day if you’re trying to lose weight?

photo credit: jessicafm

One thing I’ve done since embarking on my weight loss journey is changing the way that I eat. My diet tends to be the most problematic part of my weight loss plan. I love to eat, and I have a huge sweet tooth. I usually don’t have too much problem exercising, but my diet stinks and I usually sabotage my efforts to lose weight by not watching what goes into my mouth.

On a normal day I have 3 square meals, and I usually eat oversize portions. Granted I’m a big guy, but I will admit that that my portions are way too big. When you’re trying to lose weight a lot of diet plans will have you seriously cut back on your calories and food intake, while still eating 3 times a day.

What I’ve been learning in the last couple of years through the Body For Life system is that a healthier way to eat is to plan meals and eat about every 3 hours throughout the day. I guess you could call it grazing. That way your body is constantly processing food, your metabolism is revving up and you’re never really that hungry. Bodyforlife.com explains:

If you’ve been following the typical nutritional advice of cutting back on calories and consuming no more than “three square meals” a day in the hope of shifting your fat-burning efforts into high gear, you may actually be throwing the whole process into reverse. According to scientists at Georgia State University, active folks who skimp on calories and eat infrequently (only three times a day) may be training their bodies to get by on less energy and therefore more readily storing unburned calories as body fat. Instead, these researchers and many others advise active people to eat frequently (about every three hours) to accelerate metabolism and maintain steady energy levels throughout the day.

Since I started doing this system I’ve found that because I’m eating constantly all day I’m almost never too hungry, and that I feel healthier, and the weight comes off faster. So the answer to the question posed in the title is: “Yes, it is smart to eat more than 3 meals a day – and no – you are not a pig”.

Body for life gives a few other tips to try in order to help your nutritional portion of your plan:

Combine carbohydrates and protein at every mealThe simple fact is, our bodies work better with a balance of carbohydrates and protein. Not only is protein essential for building healthy muscle and maintaining a strong immune system, it stabilizes insulin levels, which leads to steady energy throughout the day. One more benefit: eating protein has been shown to reduce your appetite. So, avoid high-carbohydrate nutrition plans and instead balance your protein and carbohydrate intake.

Choose “appropriate” portion sizesUSDA statistics show that because of increased portion sizes, the average total daily calorie intake has risen from 1,854 calories to 2,002 calories over the last 20 years. That increase—148 calories per day—theoretically works out to an extra 15 lbs. every year. Portion size is important to weight management. Employ a common sense approach, such as using the palm of your hand or your clenched fist for gauging the portion sizes of food.

Plan meals ahead of timeYou may even want to try different recipes and decide what works for you before you begin your training program. Experiment with different seasonings, try a variety of vegetables, and find which microwave settings work best for preheating food. By the time you’re ready to start, you’ll have the supplies you need and the confidence that you know what you’re doing. Then, fix your meals in advance and freeze them. It’s important to shop at least once a week. If you forget, you’ll run out of good food and be tempted to cheat on your diet.

Get containers to store your food

Purchase plastic storage containers, sports bottles, a water jug and a cooler to store and carry your food. Having nutritious meals within reach during a hectic day can keep you on track.

So my goal this week is to get my eating back on track, eating six small appropriately portioned meals every day, and making sure I’m eating the right kind of foods. (That would not include the big piece of cake I had for lunch this afternoon!)

Check out bodyforlife.com for 5 more tips on eating healthy.