Portion control is one of the areas I am focusing on in my effort to lose weight. My weight gain is the result of eating more than I need, more than I metabolize - too many sweets, too many snacks, and portions that are generally too large. I've cut way back on sweets (painful!), drastically reduced the number of between meal snacks I consume (not as difficult as I thought it would be); now I am turning to portion control.
Breakfast is easy in this respect. My oatmeal recipe makes four servings, which I portion out in individual covered bowls. And my cold cereal is easy to measure out in right-size portions. Lunch isn't too difficult. I usually have soup and a piece of fruit, a diet-friendly sandwich, or, occasionally, leftovers from a restaurant meal.
Dinner is more difficult. I grew up in the days of the Clean Plate, raised by parents who themselves were raised by Depression survivors and immigrants who found the good life when they came to the USA. Leaving food on my plate goes against my lifetime training. I started by doing it deliberately, leaving a bite or two here and there. After a few weeks, it is not so difficult. Restaurant meals are very often way more than a standard single portion. We go out to eat about once a week; while it doesn't seem like much, 500 extra calories here and 500 there and before you know it, you've packed on some pounds. So my new trick is to eyeball the plate and draw an imagery line that divides what I will eat from what I will take home in a doggie bag. Each time I do this, it becomes easier. Hopefully, it will have the desired impact!
No stats this week. My scale broke and the new has not been delivered yet.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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I've recently started taking my own containers with me when I eat out. As soon as the meal arrives at the table, I leave a reasonable portion on my plate and put the rest in my container. Additionally, my containers keep the food fresher than those styrofoam things the restaurants use.
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