Fitness and eating go hand
in hand. We are either eating too much,
or not enough, or not the right kind of foods.
We either try too hard or not hard enough and it is a dilemma. Unless we buy pre-measures foods we don’t
seem to get the right idea about when enough is enough, or not enough at all. No matter what your reasoning is, it is
important to watch how much as well as what you eat.
But just how much is a
portion anyway? I never can remember the half cup or whole cup or the golf ball
size or the deck of cards size. A bowl
is a bowl isn’t it?
I read an article by Marsha
McCulloch, R.D., L.D. in the Spring 2010 Diabetic Living magazine that had some
interesting tips. She also discussed a few
products designed to remind you about what a portion really is. Whether you have diabetes, heart disease or
any other reason for “watching” what you eat, her ideas might make it a little
easier.
If you need a reminder to
fill half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables, a fourth with lean meat
and another forth with a starch, you can actually find portion control
dinnerware. A diet plate and breakfast
bowl (thedietplate.com) designed to help you control portion sizes and calories
might be helpful. I see cylindrical
rings on the pictured bowl. This is good.
I am one of the guilty ones. I
think that because I put my ice cream in a coffee cup instead of a bowl that I
am eating less, but this isn’t necessarily true. You would be surprised how much you can heap
into a cup (more than that ½ cup serving size I am sure).
How many spears of broccoli?
A plate that has been artistically designed (jeffreyharris.net) and covered
with pictures of food (remember the picnic plates with various sized sections for
the foods). This plate has pictures of vegetables on one half of it and smaller
portions of meat and starches on the other half. If your veggies aren’t covering the whole
half, you are cheating.
The Portion Plate (theportionplate.com)
has reminders written around the edges and pictures of things that indicate a
portion size (like a closed fist of a deck of cards). You don’t have to take your dishes to the
restaurant with you, but a few weeks of looking at these reminders at home
might fix the idea of portion size in your mind.
How many times have you heard yourself say “I
really don’t eat that much”’? Many
people underestimate how much they actually eat. Try measuring your portions
for awhile. There are collapsible
measuring cups that you can keep in your purse, or try an EZ Weight Plate
(ezweightplate.com) that has compartments with multiple measured markings. How about a (mealmeasure.com plate), which is
a cut out that you set on your plate that has correct portions? The meat is not only sized but even has a
thickness guide. Weight Watchers suggest
weighing your portions. This gets a
little more like work but there are a number of easy to use scales if that is
what it takes to keep you ever mindful.
Think of eating as a science designed to keep you functioning like a
well oiled machine. You can have a
little fun with it but get back to the basics as soon as possible.
