Po-po-portion Control

This post goes hand in hand with yesterday's on food addiction and overcoming it physically and emotionally. Portion control is a HUGE part of healthy eating and losing weight. I have lost all interest in eating cheesecake and apple pie and cookies, however I WOULD sit down and eat a 2 pound bag of carrots. I obviously have learned to control myself so I don't, but I crave healthy foods in large quantities, which stems back to my old eating habits. 


I always ate a lot of whatever was in front of me. I remember one time going to a chinese restaurant in town with a friend and we both ordered full meals (entree, rice, 2 crab rangoons, soup, and pop) and then we both ordered an additional TWO sides of crab rangoons, so another 6. Call me silly, but an entree, 8 crab rangoons, soup, rice, and pop is more than enough to sustain a sedentary adult.... am I right? There was no need for this at all, other than at the time it felt good and kept me entertained and busy for a half hour. 


Eating is such an emotional thing for people. Christmas - get together with family and eat. Halloween - trick or treating and eat tons of candy. Birthdays - sing happy birthday and eat cake and ice cream. Work - potlucks galore. It's as if everything we do, we get rewarded with food. Food has become the alternative to a pat on the back. 


My brother Dan has been super supportive through out my weight loss and getting into running. He's been running since before I was born (he he... he is going to kill me for saying that.) but it's true. When we get together for holidays, he always goes on my training runs with me. He recently went on the "big one", the 20 mile training run over Memorial Day Weekened a few weekends ago. Anyways, 20 miles of running leaves several hours of chit-chat time. I remember him saying this in regards to food, and it has so much truth. 

"Do you feel any more satisfied eating 10 Oreos, than you do just eating 1?"

I guess I had never thought of it like that. But it's so true. You crave an Oreo - fine. You can have just 1, without completely sabotaging the 2 hour workout you had done previously in the day. (Sidenote : running 1 mile burns roughly 100 calories. There are roughly 50 calories in 1 Oreo, so it would take a mile of running to burn off 2 Oreos... and that doesn't erase the crap ton of sugar....) Eating 10 of them isn't going to make you feel any better or do anything for you that just 1 would, except add tons of empty calories and sugar that your body doesn't need. 


Another thing that has really helped me keep my portion control in check is having assigned eating I guess you could say. I eat at the same (or close to) time everyday, and consume the same nutrients at those times every day. As anal as it sounds, it works. I also drink 130 ounces of water a day, which is a gallon. Water is soooo good for your body! Here is my daily eating routine. 
6:15am - 1 cup wide cut oatmeal, 2 turkey sausage links, 8 ounces skim milk.
9:00am - 1 orange
11:00am - lunch : 1 cup homemade chicken noodle soup, 14 baby carrots, 1 reduced fat string cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar free jell-o.
2:00pm - 1 apple and 15 almonds
5:00pm - dinner : 1/2 a chicken breast with veggies, or 1 cup of whole wheat pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce, or something along those lines, and 8 ounces skim milk.


The USDA recently moved away from the Food Guide Pyramid to something new called MyPlate. Below is a picture of the new MyPlate symbol and a few tips from the USDA on healthy eating.

Balancing Calories :

·         Enjoy your food, but eat less.

·         Avoid Oversized portions.

Foods to Increase :

·         Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.

·         Make at least half your grains whole grains.

·         Switch to fat free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce :

·         Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals – and choose the foods with lowest numbers.

·         Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

My suggestions for portion control would be to set up an eating routine, measuring everything out, and having it ready to go before hand. A lot of times people get so busy and their lives are hectic and they just "grab and go" something bad for them. It's so much easier if you prep everything and are ready to go. I never leave the house whether its to go grocery shopping or get gas without an apple in my purse, some almonds in my car, and a bottle of water. I don't ever want to get stuck somewhere and have to resort to a chili cheese dog inside the gas station or something. I hope this information helps... :)

http://www.hulu.com/watch/247152/jamie-olivers-food-revolution-were-going-to-go-guerilla
I just ran across this video on Hulu. It starts out a little slow, but about 7 minutes in is really interesting. Depending on what these students chose to eat, (orange or candy bar), they have to do so many laps around the schools track to get rid of those calories. WATCH THIS!!