Weekly Challenge: March 14th-March 20th
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Mjtckwnow
Posts: 528 Member
This week's mini challenge is to focus on portion control. Research has shown that people consistently eat more food when offered larger sized portions.
Portion control doesn't mean restricting yourself to horribly depressing quantities of food. It does mean being aware of what you are eating and stopping before you over do it.
There are lots of ways to insure we are keeping our portions in check, the easiest being these two:
Read Labels
Weigh Everything
But what happens, when you are eating in a restaurant or a friend's house and there aren't labels and you can't weigh your food? If you are at a chain restaurant, you can find most foods already in the My Fitness Pal data base, so it is much easier to log. But keep in mind the restaurant staff isn't weighing your food, so you might be getting more than you think!
So when labels & weighting aren't an option….there are visual clues you can use to estimate your portion size so that you can log it accurately.
One serving of meat or poultry = the size of a deck of playing cards
One serving of fish = the size of a checkbook
One serving of pasta or cereal = the size of a tennis ball
One serving of fruit = the size of a fist
One serving of veggies = the size of an ice cream scoop
One serving of cheese = the size of a 9-volt battery
*Source Cleveland Clinic
Other ways to practice portion control:
Use smaller plates: Smaller plates naturally lead to smaller portions plus doing this tricks the eye & you appear to have a more food. So get out those salad plates!
Slow down: Sometimes when we are hungry, the urge is there to scarf down our food or eat until we will are full but resist that. Try to savor each bite and give yourself 10-20 minutes to recognize whether you are still hungry before going for another serving or having dessert.
Strategic Servings: Make sure that 1/2 of your plate is made up of vegetable/salad , 1/4 to lean protein, & 1/4 to a healthy carb or whole grain.
Plan Ahead: Create baggies of pre-portioned snacks for your week. It's so much easier when you are hungry to just "grab & go", make sure you are ready for this and don't find yourself sitting down when a whole bag or box of something!
So, this week be mindful of your portions, practice some of the tips above and post along throughout the week how you are doing. Please share other tips that work for you
And don't forget to keep our 2 previous challenges in mind this week as well….continue to eat less/move more & drink water!!
Portion control doesn't mean restricting yourself to horribly depressing quantities of food. It does mean being aware of what you are eating and stopping before you over do it.
There are lots of ways to insure we are keeping our portions in check, the easiest being these two:
Read Labels
Weigh Everything
But what happens, when you are eating in a restaurant or a friend's house and there aren't labels and you can't weigh your food? If you are at a chain restaurant, you can find most foods already in the My Fitness Pal data base, so it is much easier to log. But keep in mind the restaurant staff isn't weighing your food, so you might be getting more than you think!
So when labels & weighting aren't an option….there are visual clues you can use to estimate your portion size so that you can log it accurately.
One serving of meat or poultry = the size of a deck of playing cards
One serving of fish = the size of a checkbook
One serving of pasta or cereal = the size of a tennis ball
One serving of fruit = the size of a fist
One serving of veggies = the size of an ice cream scoop
One serving of cheese = the size of a 9-volt battery
*Source Cleveland Clinic
Other ways to practice portion control:
Use smaller plates: Smaller plates naturally lead to smaller portions plus doing this tricks the eye & you appear to have a more food. So get out those salad plates!
Slow down: Sometimes when we are hungry, the urge is there to scarf down our food or eat until we will are full but resist that. Try to savor each bite and give yourself 10-20 minutes to recognize whether you are still hungry before going for another serving or having dessert.
Strategic Servings: Make sure that 1/2 of your plate is made up of vegetable/salad , 1/4 to lean protein, & 1/4 to a healthy carb or whole grain.
Plan Ahead: Create baggies of pre-portioned snacks for your week. It's so much easier when you are hungry to just "grab & go", make sure you are ready for this and don't find yourself sitting down when a whole bag or box of something!
So, this week be mindful of your portions, practice some of the tips above and post along throughout the week how you are doing. Please share other tips that work for you
And don't forget to keep our 2 previous challenges in mind this week as well….continue to eat less/move more & drink water!!
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Replies
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Thank you for this. I am logging most of my food now but I don't think I would want to go that forever. I will start paying better attention to serving sizes and portion control. Sometimes I eat fast so I can just be done eating and move onto other things. I will try to slow down and enjoy the food I eat.1
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This is a big one for me. I tend to go all day with out eating somedays and then eat one big meal. I need to eat more throughout the day and watch my portions at dinner.0
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I started weighing my food a few weeks ago. My husband was laughing at me as I was weighing out shredded cheese and tortilla chips for my bowl of chili last night. I was surprised how little cheese I was able to have and how many chips...seemed backwards to me. Tasted good though!
Tonight won't be an issue but tomorrow is takeout night since little man and I have haircuts after work so won't get home until almost 7. I have a plan though! Ordering a full salad and a pizza; I am planning on eating 1/2 the salad and one slice of pizza. I found a fantastic Greek yogurt blue cheese dressing that is really decent in fat/cals with no added sugar so I will use that instead of what they provide. I think this place has their nutritional info up online...3 -
TheCupcakeCounter wrote: »I started weighing my food a few weeks ago. My husband was laughing at me as I was weighing out shredded cheese and tortilla chips for my bowl of chili last night. I was surprised how little cheese I was able to have and how many chips...seemed backwards to me. Tasted good though!
Tonight won't be an issue but tomorrow is takeout night since little man and I have haircuts after work so won't get home until almost 7. I have a plan though! Ordering a full salad and a pizza; I am planning on eating 1/2 the salad and one slice of pizza. I found a fantastic Greek yogurt blue cheese dressing that is really decent in fat/cals with no added sugar so I will use that instead of what they provide. I think this place has their nutritional info up online...
Sounds like a good plan!0 -
I use your strategic servings trick all the time, but add another component. I eat all my veggies, then lean protein, then the carbs. Usually, by the time I get the the carbs, I am full and eat less than half.
My other trick for those days when I am travelling or have insane activities and have no choice but to hit a fast food joint is to order a kids meal. The kids meal is the correct portion for an adult, which is kind of scary!0 -
I use your strategic servings trick all the time, but add another component. I eat all my veggies, then lean protein, then the carbs. Usually, by the time I get the the carbs, I am full and eat less than half.
My other trick for those days when I am travelling or have insane activities and have no choice but to hit a fast food joint is to order a kids meal. The kids meal is the correct portion for an adult, which is kind of scary!
That's a great tip!0 -
When visiting the nutritionist for Tyler she talked about using your hand to measure portions. I found this as a real eye opener. Just kind of like a point of reference.1 -
My goal this week is to keep net carb -20, protein -55, & fat between 160-210 per day. Also hit 5 workouts this week.0
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Something that I do when eating out is when I'm ordering I ask for a box right away. I cut everything in half and it goes in the box. It's much easier for me to stick with just eating half of a restaurant meal when I can't see the other half.4
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I think portion control is always my struggle, my friends always mentioned that I ate healthy compared to them and didn't get why I wasn't losing weight but I was totally overdoing it on healthy fats and things. Once I started mfp it opened my eyes to true calorie content even if it was "clean" foods. I'm also noticing when I visit my bf, we're doing long distance, I eat way more and out more so I think focusing on portions when I'm with him might help keep me somewhat on track! We just went for a brunch buffet with my pregnant sister in law sooo that was a bust/treat, but I'm trying to be more aware otherwise this week for sure!0
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My daughter's 11th birthday is tomorrow and we are going out to dinner tonight and she picked Bobby's Burger Palace....so portion control will be my only option I'm going to skip the fries (570 calories - what?!?!?). My plan is to immediately cut the burger in half and also order the kale salad and split that with my husband. One thing I fully plan to enjoy, is all 230 calories of the Cactus Pear Margarita because priorities. This will come out to 705 calories which is a little over half my allotment for the day. I'm keeping lunch light with a yogurt & fruit and will have a small piece of homemade birthday cake just to be festive (I'm not a sweets person, really). I know that I'll likely have a small gain tomorrow morning from the sodium as there are 1930 grams in the Margarita alone
but I will drink lots of water and know that any gain is not a real gain and just keep at it. Best thing, is I won't feel deprived tonight and can just enjoy being with my daughter and know that I have a plan in place. 2
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