Growing up, my mom’s major complaint about my brother and me was that we always ordered food with “our eyes.” Meaning, we always ordered huge amounts of food based off of what looked good. My brother’s stomach seemed to never be as hungry as his eyes and he could never finish what he ordered. I, on the other hand, would not only eat everything I ordered but I usually finished what my brother couldn’t. I’d also end up finishing what my mom didn’t eat and I think I ate my dad’s leftovers too. Come to think of it, I don’t think my parents needed to use their garbage disposal until I left for college.
When I went away for college (which was the same time my parents’ had to start using their garbage disposal) I was overweight. My weight was a mystery to me. I worked out at the school gym every day. I walked everywhere because I was (ironically) too lazy to drive and find parking. I also climbed the three flights of stairs to my dorm room because I was too impatient to wait for the slow elevator. I was active, so why wasn’t I losing weight?
I had the same attitude about portion control (or lack of) that I had as a kid. I didn’t want to hoard leftovers, so I always made sure that I ate all the food off my plate. I didn’t want to appear rude when eating the homemade dinner of a friend, so I asked for seconds. And if I was at a buffet, I needed to make sure to get my money’s worth and eat as much as humanly possible. Sure, I was strong and could haul thirty pounds of text books a mile across campus (yep, these were the days before iPads). I could climb flights of stairs with little effort and I worked out at the gym every day. However, the numbers on my scale refused to go down because I wasn’t paying attention to how much I was eating.
The answer to my inability to lose weight came down to one simple formula made up of diet and exercise, both necessary components in losing weight. However, diet accounts for 80% of the weight loss and exercise accounts for 20%. When I became serious about losing weight, I stayed active but I stopped visiting the buffet and went to the movies with friends instead of having seconds with them at dinner. I ate the same types of food but in much smaller portions. Here are some simple tips that I have used to help me with portion control:
More smart eyes and less hungry eyes - For a meal, eyeball your food and mentally measure your servings. The recommended serving for raw vegetables is about one cup or the size of your fist. A single serving of meat is about 3 ounces, or about the size of a deck of cards. A single serving of cooked pasta is one cup or about the size of a tennis ball.
Don't eat everything – If you’re like me, you’ve asked yourself the question “Do I really need to eat this?” And if you are really like me, you know you don’t but you gobble it down anyway. Next time, ask yourself this, “What’s going to happen if I don’t eat this?” The answer to that question is that the buffet at Sizzler is going anywhere, so you can put that extra baked potato back. You aren’t going to die of starvation because you ordered the 300 calorie kid sized ice cream instead of the 1,500 calorie extra large order from Cold Stone. And more than likely, that chocolate candy bar you want to munch on isn’t the last one on Earth. So put that second serving down because it’s not the end of the world if you don’t eat it.
Sharing is Caring – Don’t be shy or, in my case, greedy. Share your meal. Popular restaurants, such as Cheesecake Factory and Elephant Bar, are notorious for serving humongous mountain-sized platters of food (which is equal to a humongous mountain-sized amount of calories). Before you even take the first bite, divide the meal in half and enjoy with your buddy.
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| Nice effort, but not really what we had in mind in terms of sharing a meal |
For more tips on portion control, nutritional advice or exercise tips, visit CalFit Martinez today, Call Ben at (415) 246-5191 for more details.
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