Thursday, January 24, 2013

What is Proper Portion Size

Good Morning!

Well I must say that I have had a rough last 12 hours. I went to bed with a HUGE headache and then I woke up this morning to find my phone charger no longer works. So I have to go to Walmart before work today to find a new charger. UGH! At least there won't be anybody out shopping this early lol.

So anyways, I think today I will talk about portion size. This is something that is very frequently ignored for we often just eat what is on our plate, no matter if the portions are 3 times more than we need. This picture gives you an idea of what your plate should consist of:

You basically can have as many veggies as you want during the day as snacks and with meals. There is no number as to how much you can have. Veggies have lots of fiber and nutrients. Get creative...cooked, uncooked, salad, carrots with a small amount of hummus, steamable veggies (i am a huge fan of those)  whatever you want. (see my previous post on tips to increase your veggie intake).  Carbs I don't feel are a total must to you plate, but if you can't live without them, make it whole grain rice, whole grain pasta, roasted red potatoes, but keep it small, 1-2 ounces. Your piece of protein should be no larger than the palm of your hand, about 4-6 ounces. For dessert, try fresh strawberries with some greek yogurt, or grilled peaches. This way you are getting your fruit in and helping your sweet tooth without eating a unhealthy sugary snack. Remember, everything in moderation so if you want to have ONE small piece of Dove dark chocolate as an evening sweet treat, do it. Just don't eat the whole bag ;)

My brother (who inspires a lot of this for he is new to the healthy lifestyle) said to me that he realized if he scales down his portions, his food will last him longer. Which seems like a silly thing, but it's true. You can make one meal and only eat a small portion which will in turn help you lose weight and stretch your budget and food supply. 

I found two really really informational links about portion size.
"Web MD Portion Size Plate"  I found this very cool because it gives you pictures of almost every food type and compares it to an object so you can easily visualize portions. For example, they show 3 oz of cooked chicken breast is equivalent to the size of a deck of cards. This is great because you can associate foods to objects so when you are cooking you can easily decide if it is the correct portion. I love this tool.

"10 Top Secrets of Portion Control" This article has some really great tips such as using smaller plates and not eating in front of the TV. 

If portion size may be a problem, I think you would benefit a lot from checking out these two sites, especially the Web MD tool. Also, a rule I learned a long time ago, don't eat until you are 100% or more full. Eat until you feel you are about 80% full. It takes your body some time to catch up to what you have eaten so many times you over fill yourself before your mind says, "ok stop, I'm full!". At that point you are uncomfortable and have over consumed more calories that you need. And no you do not have to eat everything that is on your plate. 

So due to my time constraints today, thanks to my non working charger, I only had time for one 16 minute HIIT workout from www.dailyhiit.com
http://www.dailyhiit.com/videos/ho-hey-hiitbody-5. 16 minutes of cardio and strength. I did not use any equipment. If you don't have a sandbag, use dumbbells, a milk jug, any object of some weight, or just do squats. 

Have a great day!
Stay Active!
~Mandi

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