Day Two and I have a few questions ...

FullTimeRVLife
FullTimeRVLife Posts: 275 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all ... I am on day two and struggling with portion control.

Is it possible to actually follow the recommended portion sizes on the products packaging. For breakfast I was eating cereal and the portion said 1/2 a cup. Holy crap ... that was like 6 pieces of cereal. What is the secret to planning your food?

I am currently eating whats in the house and then I plan on buying better.

Question 2 - I live in a motorhome and travel the country, staying in one place for approx. 3 months. I thought about getting a Plant Fitness but there is not one in the area of my current park or the next three. Where should I go to find exercises that would be good and that I can do on my own.

Thanks in advance,

Alec

Replies

  • Jacq_qui
    Jacq_qui Posts: 443 Member
    Hi, there are lots of very knowledgeable people here who will have lots of ideas I'm sure, but since I'm here I'd say that you should weigh everything! I have 30g of muesli for breakfast, but I add loads of other things to it (fruit, nuts, seeds and yoghurt). If I just ate 30g of muesli I'd be really hungry!

    As for what you can do at home, I discovered in lockdown that there are loads of fitness videos on youtube. Start there - you don't need any equipment :)
  • pridesabtch
    pridesabtch Posts: 2,459 Member
    Portion control is tricky, but using a scale and weighing things gives me a clearer idea of what I can have. And yeah I eat like 3 servings of cereal to make a meal sometimes... One reason I rarely eat cereal these days.

    As for not having gyms around. There are plenty of body weight exercises and cardio exercises you can do without a gym. Example of a starter routine that needs no equipment:
    - 15 minute brisk walk/jog to warm up.
    - Then do a few rounds of the following:
    * 30 sec plank,
    * 30 sec of Russian twists,
    * 30 sec left side plank,
    * 30 seconds of calf raises,
    * 10 push ups (wall or knees is fine),
    * 10 air squats,
    * 30 sec right side plank.
    - Finish with a 10 minute walk and 10 minutes of stretching.

    Do what you can, then add additional repeats of the sequence when you are able.

    Good Luck!
  • mylittlerainbow
    mylittlerainbow Posts: 822 Member
    I'm very serious about the portion sizes mentioned on commercial packaging and the calories for those portions. They do look small when you're just starting out, but they can be amazingly filling and you get used to it. If you want a cup instead of 1/2 cup, you get to decide that, but then you need to log calories for 1 cup.
  • FullTimeRVLife
    FullTimeRVLife Posts: 275 Member
    pridesabtch wrote: »
    Portion control is tricky, but using a scale and weighing things gives me a clearer idea of what I can have. And yeah I eat like 3 servings of cereal to make a meal sometimes... One reason I rarely eat cereal these days.

    As for not having gyms around. There are plenty of body weight exercises and cardio exercises you can do without a gym. Example of a starter routine that needs no equipment:
    - 15 minute brisk walk/jog to warm up.
    - Then do a few rounds of the following:
    * 30 sec plank,
    * 30 sec of Russian twists,
    * 30 sec left side plank,
    * 30 seconds of calf raises,
    * 10 push ups (wall or knees is fine),
    * 10 air squats,
    * 30 sec right side plank.
    - Finish with a 10 minute walk and 10 minutes of stretching.

    Do what you can, then add additional repeats of the sequence when you are able.

    Good Luck!

    Thanks ... I will have to look those up!
  • FullTimeRVLife
    FullTimeRVLife Posts: 275 Member
    KrissDotCom wrote: »
    The point to the packaging is not to just eat what it states, the packaging is so you can look at your calorie allowance and say i have X amount of calories for this meal if i plan to have enough for decent meals for dinner and lunch and then weigh out your food according to the gram weight on the packaging

    So if the cereal was 110 calories for 30g and i know skim milk is 90 calories per cup, then i decide how much cereal I can have, if my limit was 500, I would just weigh out the cereal.. 90g of cereal and then add how much milk I want. If I wanted a banana I would weigh the banana and add in that too and fit what I could into that division of calories

    Thanks ... I will have to get a scale .... How do I add a banana by weight .... I dont see that option.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,740 Member
    The serving sizes on a lot of foods are very unrealistic. I don't worry about it. As long as you weigh/measure what you eat and make sure that it fits your goal, you'll be fine. I eat about 1.5 cups of cereal in the morning, with milk and blueberries. It fits my calorie goal. When i eat ice cream, I eat a cup, not a half cup. For meat I usually eat about 6 oz., not 4. I eat half a pizza, not one slice. Food manufacturers will sometimes use tiny portions to make the food seem less fattening, so looking at the total is important. (i.e. very few people share a can of coke with 1.5 other people.)

    Living in an RV means it can be hard to do a lot of exercises, since there simply isn't a lot of room. You could do pushups and situps, and some light weights, but for regular exercise you would probably do well to focus on things like walking/hiking, riding a bike, etc. that you can do outdoors.
  • KrissDotCom
    KrissDotCom Posts: 217 Member
    The best way to find items without bar codes is by using entries from the USDA

    So I would search for "usda, banana" and the entry I would use would be the one listed for "100g"... which if memory serves is 89 calories.

    Same with any veggies

    Carrots? "Usda carrots raw" -- its always best to weigh raw

    If you can't weigh raw then "usda carrots cooked" can be used
  • FullTimeRVLife
    FullTimeRVLife Posts: 275 Member
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    The serving sizes on a lot of foods are very unrealistic. I don't worry about it. As long as you weigh/measure what you eat and make sure that it fits your goal, you'll be fine. I eat about 1.5 cups of cereal in the morning, with milk and blueberries. It fits my calorie goal. When i eat ice cream, I eat a cup, not a half cup. For meat I usually eat about 6 oz., not 4. I eat half a pizza, not one slice. Food manufacturers will sometimes use tiny portions to make the food seem less fattening, so looking at the total is important. (i.e. very few people share a can of coke with 1.5 other people.)

    Living in an RV means it can be hard to do a lot of exercises, since there simply isn't a lot of room. You could do pushups and situps, and some light weights, but for regular exercise you would probably do well to focus on things like walking/hiking, riding a bike, etc. that you can do outdoors.

    Thank you for your advice ... I feel better about portions.
  • ALZ14
    ALZ14 Posts: 202 Member
    You learn very quickly to limit foods with high calorie counts and low nutrition (like cereal). One egg is more filling and less calories than a serving of most cereals, not even taking into account the milk.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    edited August 2020
    In the UK we do not really have "serving sizes" on packaging. Sometimes, but in any case I doubt anyone takes any notice - who needs a corporation to tell them how many calories to consume at breakfast?

    Just weight out the amount you are going to eat and note the number of calories in that amount or decide how many calories you want to spend on breakfast and weight out that amount of cereal.

    Either works.

    Or have porridge. 40g of rolled oats with 13g of skimmed milk powder and 350ml of water for just 200 calories. Yummy!
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
    edited August 2020
    I don't eat cereal for that reason. Old fashioned oats even at 1/2 serving is extremely filling. I mix it with a little bit of almond butter a little bit of coconut oil some protein powder and fruit if I'm feeling ambitious. Something like that will fill me for hours where cereal it's like I'm hungry after an hour.
    Sometimes you have to toss what's in your pantry and rebuy once you start a new diet program. That or don't worry so much about the portion control right now and eat up with you have. It's really up to what you're comfortable with.
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
    As for the exercising I would check out YouTube. There's a ton of exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home or outside if you so choose
  • joeyzuraski
    joeyzuraski Posts: 47 Member
    edited August 2020
    1) If you buy on amazon they have portioned cereal, portioned oatmeal, and a few others.

    2) There are a dozen gym rat apps on your phone. You pay the daily fee for using the app however. But you don’t need a monthly membership doing that. It grants you the membership anywhere and you pay about $5.00 per visit.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Running or YouTube for workouts without a gym! I follow/subscribe to a few I really like. I usually do Sydney Cummings daily, and add in some step or other videos as needed/wanted.
  • MeganD1704
    MeganD1704 Posts: 733 Member
    edited August 2020
    Look up small space workouts on youtube if you plan on doing them inside your rig, or fitnessblender is also great although I imagine some will need to be outside.

    For portion control- ya I dont really eat cereal or "real" pasta anymore lol I cant justify the amount to calorie ratio.
    Instead I try and stick to things like a half plate of veggies to give me volume and protein. For example palm heart pasta is tasty but has next to nothing for calories- I will make a beef meatsauce for it, add additional veggies and feel very satisfied. for about 300 cals or less a serving. Breakfast for me is normally some form of eggs or oatmeal + protein powder and berries.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @FullTimeRVLife Take it back outside. I read this outloud to my mother and we both answered you at the same time. You're traveling the country and it's safety first. You can always take it back outside and walk around your park, march around your moto in the evening when the sun goes down. Invest in some free weights that won't fall through the floor. Swim if the park has a pool but stay safe out there on the road.

    We can learn to moderate ourselves with food and portions. Use what you have and buy what you like.
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 630 Member
    Consider planning your food for the day.
    Suggestions on how to do that are in these articles.
    https://legionathletics.com/healthy-meal-planning-tips/
    https://legionathletics.com/meal-prep/
    Disclaimer: legion athletics is a supplement and coaching company. I’ve not purchased any of their products or services, except for the book call thinner, leaner, stronger’. The book is essentially a compilation of all the articles available on the website. I like the articles/and the book, because they really make sense to me. I do not support legion athletics or support the use of supplements.

    Eating is like a daily balancing act of ensuring you are consuming sufficient nutrients and calories from whole foods.

    You will likely find more success once you’ve started shopping differently.

    For breakfast I have:
    1tbsp each of ground flax, ground hemp and chia.
    30 grams of muesli cereal ( I like Dorset cereal)
    170 grams of Greek yogurt
    A little milk to bloom the chia and make it all a little moist.

    Another good nutrition guide is the new canada food guide. https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

    Good luck and take care.
  • mylittlerainbow
    mylittlerainbow Posts: 822 Member
    Your breakfast sounds just like mine, tgillies003, although I put dried fruit and nuts in depending on the muesli (some of them don't have enough for me). I haven't heard of your preferred brand and will go look it up! I'm not crazy about most of those that I've tried. I often just go back to half-and-half cooked bulgur and steel-cut oats with flax, chia, fruit, nuts, cinnamon, and kefir, which is more work to make.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    Yeah servings printed on the packaging are, in my opinion, mainly a sneaky way for companies to try and highlight how “good” their food is. I do look at the number from time to time - for a treat I will often try the suggested serving first because if that satisfies me, great!

    When I was at university a friend of mine had a good hack for eating cereal, she always portioned it out in a mug rather than a bowl (she knew about portion control!). That way it doesn’t look so measly, and the depth of milk can still be good.

    Personally I don’t eat cereal, as other have mentioned I don’t find it a good way to spend my calories. I think about my calorie allowance much like my bank account, I want to get the most bang for my buck. Since I don’t LOVE cereal and don’t find that it especially filling it’s a bad bargain. There are other breakfasts that I do love (avocado toast) that are a bit higher calorie than ideal, I will usually have this as a treat on a weekend. Day to day I eat oatmeal with apple sauce, pumpkin seeds and a bit of oat milk.
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,067 Member
    weigh your food. a mug of cereal can be less than a serving or more - it depends on the cereal. honeycomb is big with lots of air, but smaller cereals like honey smacks or frosted flakes will probably be more than a single serving. and this applies to many foods, as i find that weighing gives different results than measuring.

    why do you find avocado toast higher in calories than ideal? i'm curious - how many calories are in your avocado toast vs your breakfast of oatmeal, apple sauce, pumpkin seeds and oat milk?
  • HilTri
    HilTri Posts: 378 Member
    Congrats on joining MFP! Loads of experience on these boards to answer all your questions. Over time you will learn how to get the most bang for your caloric buck. A staple breakfast for me is Fiber One Cereal, banana and almond milk. I also like egg whites because you can eat a ton for low cal. A lot of my lunches consist of cauliflower rice (seasoned) and protein. I like to save the majority of my calories for dinner. I am a total foodie and love to cook. It has helped me to think of food as a tool to nourish my body as opposed to a sport.
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    Serving sizes on boxes are misleading. Nutritionist know 1/2 cup of unsweetened cereal equals a carb serving. Most cereals have you eating too much.
  • Mithridites
    Mithridites Posts: 600 Member
    Most cereals have a crazy amount of calories and sugar for what nutrients they provide. I don't know how they stay in business, except through tradition, good advertising and people who don't read the labels. It's like starting your day with dessert.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    You might enjoy Beachbody On Demand. (Not a coach and not a current user.) you can use it wherever you have internet access. I think it’s only $99 per year with a free 30 day trial. You can prob get DVDs too. There is lots of variety of workouts with no Or minimal equipment.
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 630 Member
    Most of the Dorset cereal combinations have no added sugar. That’s why I like it. My favourite flavour is simply delicious muesli. It does have dried fruit and nuts. https://www.dorsetcereals.co.uk/

    I’m Canadian. It is available at many of our grocery stores.

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