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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Portion Control

Portion control has always bee a huge hurdle for me. When I am eating food that I enjoy I want to "EAT.ALL.THE.FOOD.NOW."

In today's society, everything is supersized. You name it, it's big. Food servings, drinks, plates, cars, houses, I could go on and on. The one thing that supersized food and drinks ultimately lead to = a supersized you! No one wants that now do we?

When I am at home, my trick is an easy one! I use smaller plates and bowls! I have these amazing little cereal bowls that were my Grandmothers. Instead of using my HUGE cereal bowls from Wally World for my food, I use these little bowls. Here's a pic that shows the difference in sizes of the two bowls.


See what I mean? If I had put today's lunch in the big white bowl, there's no way I would have been filled up because I would have already told myself that it wasn't a full portion! 


Alright - So what are correct portion sizes?

It's hard to tell exactly how much is the correct portion size, especially when you are out to eat. Here's a handy little picture I found to help you out!



So, what do you do when you know what the right portion should be, but you are faced with all.the.food? That's easy!

If you are out to eat, ask for a to go container BEFORE your meal even comes out. That way, you can divide their "portion" in half and have lunch for tomorrow before you are even tempted to eat.all.the.food.

Another way to help with portion control is to ask the server to just not bring the bread! It's empty calories and you don't need it. Yes, it may be good. But is it really going to make you feel better to shove that roll in your mouth? Ummm, temporarily - yes, long term - NO! You will feel guilty immediately and then the snowball effect happens. You feel bad, so you eat more, so you feel worse, so you eat more, etc. 



We went out to eat last Friday night to the Texas Roadhouse for the hubs birthday. I love that place. there were 5 adults, 1 preschooler, and a 5 month old. I couldn't tell the server to not bring the rolls because other people wanted them - said preschooler included! They smelled DELISH and I wanted one - bad. In the end, I just moved them to the opposite end of the table and enjoyed some nice conversation with the MIL, BIL, and SIL instead of eating mindlessly. It was kinda empowering.

Another trick I commonly use is to chew slowly! By nature, my family and I hoover our food. We don't take time to actually taste it. We just want it in our belleh's! I find that if I take the time to actually taste my food, I get fuller faster. Imagine that, I'm giving my stomach adequate time to tell my brain that it's full!

I also like to drink a big glass of water about 10 - 20 minutes before my meal. It helps me reach my 90 daily ounces and keep my portions in check because my belly is already partially full!

For me, portion control is mostly about will power. Do I have the will power to pass on the yummy goodness that is in front of me? Before I started my journey, the answer was no. I would eat it because my mindset was "well, it's only one roll this one time". Guess what? I was gaining weight because "this one time" was every day!

Now that I'm *almost* -40 pounds into my journey, I am seeing the big payoffs of my dedication. I have more energy, I sleep better, and I KNOW that my small daily decisions are effecting me in a positive way. 

Remember - YOU CAN DO THIS! If you need some extra encouragement, sign up for a free account HERE to make me your official coach, then find me on facebook or shoot me an email! I would LOVE to help you succeed!

<3,
Kell



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