“I
don’t want to have to count calories”
“Do
I have to buy a food scale?”
“It’s
too time consuming to measure things out”
Yes…I
know. It’s a PITA (pain in the you-know-what) to do all of the above. Trust me
– I've been there, I've done it. For
some people it’s extremely time consuming, cumbersome and just annoying. Others
just simply can’t do it – eating out for work functions at events or
restaurants can make things awkward if you say “no thanks, I brought my food in
my Tupperware”.
So,
how do you stay within your ‘allowed’ portions if you can’t or simply won’t
measure food?
I
am always amazed at the portion sizes served to us at restaurants here in the
US; it’s downright gross sometimes. If you go to a popular chain Italian
restaurant and order chicken parmesan for dinner, not only do you get about
2lbs of chicken slathered in a pound of yummy gooey cheese, but you get a
salad, loaf of bread and about a pound of pasta as a side. And guess what – we
eat it! Many of us will try to eat as
much as possible simply because we don’t want to waste food.
Portion
control is essential for success in any weight loss program. As many of you
know, The Challenge helped me to lose over 20 lbs and now
almost 10% body fat. Two shakes a day, two healthy snacks and a third meal of
my choice which eliminated the calorie
counting, the measuring and the guesswork.
On
the flip side, some people become obsessed
with measuring and counting therefore creating a fixation and bad relationship
with food, and in the long run hindering progress. The emotional attachment or
even detachment with food when obsessed with every single meal and calorie is
more a mental concern than a physical one.
For
those who have not yet had a chance to jump on The Challenge and are not into
the counting or measuring thing, there are other ways to help with portion
control that do not involve a scale or measuring cups. Many of these tips I learned from my previous
years in Weight Watchers.
The secret is all ‘in
the palm of your hand’… or rather IS your entire hand!
·
The
recommended proteins per meal is approximately 4-6 oz. which is the same size
as the palm of your hand, so
if your fish/beef/chicken etc can fit in your palm, then that is your portion
size for that meal.
·
How
much veggies should you have in a meal? The same size amount as your fist – but depending on the vegetable,
I’d say this is the one item where two fistfuls would be okay.
·
Ah,
now onto the lovely carbohydrates (yes, you can have carbs!) – A ‘cupped’ handful. So cup your hand
– whatever can fit into the cupped portion is your portion for that meal of
carbs (for example starchy carbs like pretzels or nuts).
·
Lastly, the fats = your thumb. Fats are essential in your diet so please don’t eliminate fats – don’t
go ‘fat free’ crazy at the grocery store and think it’s healthy, because quite
frankly, it’s not. Keep in mind, if you have let’s say ‘fat free ranch’, check
the label – what would the maker of the fat free Ranch have to add to that
dressing to make it taste good? Typically its sugar! So you can have fat, but keep
the portion size to the size of your thumb.
Some additional thoughts to keep in mind:
Obviously
each person and body type is going to be different and require different
portions. Your body will tell you what it needs based on hunger, energy levels
and how you are progressing, but portion control is going to be essential to
your program, like it or not. So use these guidelines to help you along your
journey; they helped me along mine, even when I was counting calories and
measuring!
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