the portion control puzzle...

rockinright
rockinright Posts: 241
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
I've lost 8 pounds so far, and I admittedly have done it by using portion control, cutting out sugars and sweets (aside from very small treats) and just being a little bit more selective with food choices - nothing too drastic.

However, I'm still feeling hungry a lot of the time and still struggle with "accepting" that a portion is truly just a serving...I find myself looking at a steak the size of a deck of cards and think "Geeez, if it's that small why bother? I could probably eat that entire thing in 90 seconds..." My wife and I share kitchen duties (and have a small child) and while I don't know if she thinks this (we're both on MFP trying to lose) I often think "why bother with all this hard work of cooking if I can only eat a tiny bit anyway" - and although I'm getting better, I'm just not a big fan of the taste or texture of most leftovers (to eat the remainder of the food another day...)

With my smaller portions, I find myself literally eating an entire meal in under 5 minutes in many cases. And I'm still eating more than a "serving" in many cases...but since I was eating 2 - 4 servings per meal of most foods prior to a few weeks ago, it's an improvement! And at my size going much under about 1600 - 1700 cals/day would probably put me in starvation mode anyway.

Does it get better? Any ideas on how to improve my outlook on this?

Replies

  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    Work out more and you can eat more.
  • cesse47
    cesse47 Posts: 947 Member
    Rockinright, first, congrats on the weight loss. Are you eating up to your limits each day? Are you having protein at each meal? Are you drinking a minum of 8 8 oz glasses of water each day?

    One thing that caught my attention is that you are eating a meal in 5 minutes. If so, you are eating way too fast. Slow Down. Take a bite, put your fork down, and chew. Talk to your wife between bites. Take your time and enjoy each bite. Eat more vegetables heavy in fiber. They'll help fill you up and have few calories as long as you don't lather on butter or other stuff.

    Good Luck, you can do it!!
  • smuehlbauer
    smuehlbauer Posts: 1,041 Member
    Yeah, what arielle0489 said. Or chose foods that will fill ya up, stick to your ribs! Load up on the fiber...
    Good luck!
  • caitlin15
    caitlin15 Posts: 28
    Make sure that you are eating good carbs like fruit, veggies, etc. not bad carbs like white pasta, white bread, etc. Google for more details. Good carbs are filling and long-lasting! Bad carbs are called "empty carbs" for a reason because they only give you a short fix.

    Also, you need to take your time eating each meal!!! Your mind takes about 15ish minutes to process it's full. Use the smaller plates so you make your mind think that it's eating a full plate, nice little trick I learned. Make sure that you are eating small meals throughout the day! That's another key to a diet. Don't ever let yourself get hungry!

    Good luck! Hope that helped a smidge! :D
  • rockinright
    rockinright Posts: 241
    Work out more and you can eat more.

    The working out part is tough...aside from light to moderate walking. Consider that I have a child to pick up and drop off at day care, a job, and am a lazy sonofa***** to boot, I don't excercise enough...yet anyway. Timing is a problem as well as desire...I could overcome the desire (and sometimes do) but the timing is harder.
  • lydaugherty
    lydaugherty Posts: 69
    and am a lazy sonofa***** to boot, I don't excercise enough

    hey at least he's honest! :)

    I would suggest first working on nutrition. Eat right for an entire month before you start slowly introducing workouts. And that is, start with 3 days a week, maybe every other day, eventually moving on to like, every day 5-6 days a week. But, in my opinion, buckle down on that nutrition first.. master it. THEN worry about workouts.
  • cris20056
    cris20056 Posts: 1,355 Member
    I am only on 1200 cals a day and portion control has been a huge part of my success. Just because a serving is 3-4oz of meat doesnt mean thats all you sohuld eat. When I eat chicken or pork I eat 2 servings at a time. I have found my body funtions better with the extra protein and I need to eat more or I am setting myself to fail later on in the day when I am still starving. Most of my meat servings are 6-8oz....I just have to juggle my calories around that...if I can do it at 1200 cals you can do it at 1600-1700!!! Eat more, its fine! Just balance it out with the rest of your meal. Your dinner can be anywhere from 400-600 calories thats more tha enough to have a decent piece of meat and some veggies, even potatoes if youd like..the trick is not to make this change unabareable becasue it will get hard and you will quit. Its all about making BETTER decisions that you can maintain for the long haul
  • mooselady2004
    mooselady2004 Posts: 30 Member
    The working out part is tough...aside from light to moderate walking. Consider that I have a child to pick up and drop off at day care, a job, and am a lazy sonofa***** to boot, I don't excercise enough...yet anyway. Timing is a problem as well as desire...I could overcome the desire (and sometimes do) but the timing is harder.

    Sorry to be the bad guy, but the truth is, there are very few excuses for not exercising. I also have a full time (plus) job, a husband who is self-employed, so I cannot always count on him for help, two children, and a long commute. If your heath is important to you, you will find time to exercise. Find things to do that incorporate time with your kids.....walks, bike rides, hiking, swimming, etc. Start out with 30 minutes twice a week and keep moving up from there. I am sure you find at least 30 minutes twice a week to hit the couch and watch TV! You can do it! You will be surprised how good you feel and how much more energy you have!!!
  • cris20056
    cris20056 Posts: 1,355 Member
    I am only on 1200 cals a day and portion control has been a huge part of my success. Just because a serving is 3-4oz of meat doesnt mean thats all you sohuld eat. When I eat chicken or pork I eat 2 servings at a time. I have found my body funtions better with the extra protein and I need to eat more or I am setting myself to fail later on in the day when I am still starving. Most of my meat servings are 6-8oz....I just have to juggle my calories around that...if I can do it at 1200 cals you can do it at 1600-1700!!! Eat more, its fine! Just balance it out with the rest of your meal. Your dinner can be anywhere from 400-600 calories thats more tha enough to have a decent piece of meat and some veggies, even potatoes if youd like..the trick is not to make this change unabareable becasue it will get hard and you will quit. Its all about making BETTER decisions that you can maintain for the long haul

    PS- ok now that I look at it, I see how dumb it looks when my ticker says I've lost 3lbs...I have actually lost 60, jsut started over with a new ticker :wink:
  • rockinright
    rockinright Posts: 241
    Make sure that you are eating good carbs like fruit, veggies, etc. not bad carbs like white pasta, white bread, etc. Google for more details. Good carbs are filling and long-lasting! Bad carbs are called "empty carbs" for a reason because they only give you a short fix.

    Also, you need to take your time eating each meal!!! Your mind takes about 15ish minutes to process it's full. Use the smaller plates so you make your mind think that it's eating a full plate, nice little trick I learned. Make sure that you are eating small meals throughout the day! That's another key to a diet. Don't ever let yourself get hungry!

    Good luck! Hope that helped a smidge! :D

    I do have to work on the "smaller meals more often" thing - hard to do at work...I'm lucky to get ONE lunch break, let alone 2 or 3...admittedly that helps.

    Slowing down while eating is HARD...I try to do it, and perhaps I'm just messed up in the head but I swear it feels more satisfying while I'm doing it to eat faster. Afterwards maybe not, but during, definitely...
  • rockinright
    rockinright Posts: 241
    The working out part is tough...aside from light to moderate walking. Consider that I have a child to pick up and drop off at day care, a job, and am a lazy sonofa***** to boot, I don't excercise enough...yet anyway. Timing is a problem as well as desire...I could overcome the desire (and sometimes do) but the timing is harder.

    Sorry to be the bad guy, but the truth is, there are very few excuses for not exercising. I also have a full time (plus) job, a husband who is self-employed, so I cannot always count on him for help, two children, and a long commute. If your heath is important to you, you will find time to exercise. Find things to do that incorporate time with your kids.....walks, bike rides, hiking, swimming, etc. Start out with 30 minutes twice a week and keep moving up from there. I am sure you find at least 30 minutes twice a week to hit the couch and watch TV! You can do it! You will be surprised how good you feel and how much more energy you have!!!

    Walking with my son (in stroller) is sometimes doable...and something I could do more often. I love to swim (don't love my flabby man-boobs hanging out for all to see quite as much though), but don't do it much. I am more active on the weekends but it doesn't seem to be enough to make up for the sedentary weekdays/nights I have.
  • rockinright
    rockinright Posts: 241
    and am a lazy sonofa***** to boot, I don't excercise enough

    hey at least he's honest! :)

    I would suggest first working on nutrition. Eat right for an entire month before you start slowly introducing workouts. And that is, start with 3 days a week, maybe every other day, eventually moving on to like, every day 5-6 days a week. But, in my opinion, buckle down on that nutrition first.. master it. THEN worry about workouts.

    I'm one of those people that will never "like" exercising. Doesn't mean I won't do it (I have had relatively strict exercise regimens in the past) but I hate every minute of it. I'm convinced I'm naturally lazy.
  • mooselady2004
    mooselady2004 Posts: 30 Member
    Have you heard of geocaching? This is how my family got into hiking. We have friends who do it with a stroller, and for each one you do, it tells you if strollers are OK or not. Let me know if you want more info on it. My kids LOVE it! They can get bored if they are just hiking.
  • cfischer81
    cfischer81 Posts: 111 Member
    [/quote]quote
    I'm one of those people that will never "like" exercising. Doesn't mean I won't do it (I have had relatively strict exercise regimens in the past) but I hate every minute of it. I'm convinced I'm naturally lazy.
    [/quote]quote

    I REALLY feel ya there! I hate exercising too! Sometimes I feel better after doing it but it's more because, at this point, I'm not going to keep losing weight if I don't...and I've been at this for 5 months now. I just try to look at it as this is just one more thing I have to do that I don't really want to do, like going to work everyday :ohwell: ! I hope it gets easier....for both of us... but I'm not really holding my breath!
    I also have the same responsiblities, it sounds, as you and I agree it is really hard to get to the gym much during the week! Keep it up and you won't be sorry!!
  • ssmom
    ssmom Posts: 128 Member
    I don't know if you weigh your portions on a food scale, but since I have done that I have found that certain meats I get more than I thought. When it comes to steak it usually is still a small piece--boo-hoo!!! But I have found that if I slice the steak up and make steak tacos with it I get more out of it. Don't know if you like that type of thing or not. Maybe try slicing it up and putting it on top of a HUGE salad. Otherwise, side it with an enormous pile of steamed veggies and like someone else said--double up on the serving. As long as it's not everyday I don't see the harm.
  • Allibaba
    Allibaba Posts: 457 Member
    My bf is also trying to get fit along with me. He has some long term injuries so he is a bit limited in what he can do for exercise. We find that getting out for walks together is very nice, and you can do that with the kids. (I know you already are doing this a bit, but keep it up and maybe try a bit more!) Also we go for bike rides. When my son was small we got a bike trailer for him and he loved riding in it. You can ride for a really long time (if it is fairly flat) and it can be a bit more exciting than walking, there are usually lots of nice places to ride in, in most places and you could even make it a picnic!

    Good luck!
  • Supermel
    Supermel Posts: 612 Member
    Up your protein and make sure you are getting your water in. I make sure my protein is higher than the standard settings on MFP. If you have salad, large serving of vegetables, small servig of whole grain complex carb and a large protein serving of a lean meat or fish ... you should be full from dinner. I try to eat every 3 hours so i don't get starving and grab things like a one piece of bread turkey sandwich, hummus and vegetables, oatmeal and peanut butter, strawberries (very filling with lots of water) and fat free whipped cream, hard boiled eggs. Eating more slowly and drinking lots helps keep me full too. On a day i'm not worried about sodium, low fat micro popcorn is a nice treat too.
  • CharleneM
    CharleneM Posts: 64 Member
    Yes, it does get better. i thought the same thing until my stomach shrunk, now I get full on a small amount. While I am eating, I think to myself that this isn't enough food, but I get full and after a few minutes I realize I am glad I only ate one serving because it has settled and I am full. So...be patient, it won't be long before your tummy tells you it is fine now, stop eating.

    GOOD LUCK!
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
    my wife dices my steak portion up and puts it in a green bean dish with a healthy gravy--i get the protein mixed with fiber and my brain doesnt see it as a small meal easily eaten in seconds
  • dastephlu
    dastephlu Posts: 17
    and am a lazy sonofa***** to boot, I don't excercise enough

    hey at least he's honest! :)

    I would suggest first working on nutrition. Eat right for an entire month before you start slowly introducing workouts. And that is, start with 3 days a week, maybe every other day, eventually moving on to like, every day 5-6 days a week. But, in my opinion, buckle down on that nutrition first.. master it. THEN worry about workouts.

    I'm one of those people that will never "like" exercising. Doesn't mean I won't do it (I have had relatively strict exercise regimens in the past) but I hate every minute of it. I'm convinced I'm naturally lazy.

    Switch things up so you don't burn yourself out, walk one day, circuit training another day, take a dip in the pool a different day. As far as meals, drink a large glass of water before eating and eat at a slower pace. Good luck to you!
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
    drink it 30mins before the meal to stop the nutrients flooding out!
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