Small Steps To Control Portion Sizes
I wanted to share some tips that have helped me control my portion sizes, which help me control my calorie intake. Since the start of the fitness challenge, I have eaten between 1100 and 1300 calories most of the week, and usually 1200 and 1500 on the weekends. Here is how I do it.
-Try to have only one big meal a day. For most people that's dinner. That's not always good because you have a big meal close to bed, and don't have much time to burn off all those calories. For us, we have our big meal at lunchtime, a decent breakfast, and snacks the rest of the day.
-Drink lots of water with your meals. It will help to fill your stomach so you don't eat as much food.
-Try to eat more of the good stuff (lean protein, vegetables, etc), and less of the bad stuff (potatoes, desserts, noodles, etc).
-Eat slower. It helps your mind think that you're getting more.
-Take smaller bites. Again, it helps your mind think you're getting more, AND helps you eat slower.
-Fill your plates in the kitchen, and don't set extras in front of you at the table. It makes you more tempted to get seconds.
-Try to avoid seconds all together. In my opinion, seconds or even thirds of the vegetable of the meal are not bad. We usually fix a whole can or whole bag of frozen vegetables with most meals, and between the two of us, we usually just split it and eat half the bag. When it comes to calories, it really isn't bad for us. And most times they help to fill us up.
-Measure out your portions, don't just guess. We used to guess and say we had so and so amount of food, and once we got into this fitness challenge we actually measured and know what we are eating. It's easier to track and when we know ahead of time the calories we are eating, we don't usually even think about seconds.
-When it comes to snacks, measure them out too. If you can have some potato chips or cookies or some sort of healthy snack, measure it out, put the bag/container/box back away, and then go sit down and eat your snack. Don't eat out of the package, because you will be tempted to eat more since it's right in your hand. This actually works well for me. I have fit and active cracker crisps, that I split up, otherwise I just guess and say, oh yeah I ate that amount, but when I get to the bottom of the bag, more is gone than should be. When I eat some cookies, healthy or not, I get out the serving size, put the package back in the cabinet, and I don't go back for seconds. If it was in my hand though, I would just say, yeah it won't hurt me to have just one more.
-Store your foods, other than maybe fruits, out of sight. Put them in the fridge, freezer, or cabinet. If you have foods sitting out on the counter and you see them all the time, it just makes you hungry and you want to pick it up and eat it. I think sitting fruits out is okay, because if you want to grab them and eat them, it's not always so bad for you.
-Make sure your meals are balanced. Make sure you get enough of vegetables, grains, protein, fruits, and dairy. If you overeat or undereat certain things, you may not feel full enough and that will cause you to keep eating.
These are my tips and things that I personally use myself. I feel that they work, so pick and choose or follow all these steps to improve your own eating habits! There are a few things I'm still working on perfecting myself, but I've got lots of things down. The main thing I'm still working on, is trying to not eat anything, no snacks or meals, after a certain time in the evening. With a crazy schedule, sometimes that's hard to stick to. Anyways, any tips you may have for me, would be nice too!
-Try to have only one big meal a day. For most people that's dinner. That's not always good because you have a big meal close to bed, and don't have much time to burn off all those calories. For us, we have our big meal at lunchtime, a decent breakfast, and snacks the rest of the day.
-Drink lots of water with your meals. It will help to fill your stomach so you don't eat as much food.
-Try to eat more of the good stuff (lean protein, vegetables, etc), and less of the bad stuff (potatoes, desserts, noodles, etc).
-Eat slower. It helps your mind think that you're getting more.
-Take smaller bites. Again, it helps your mind think you're getting more, AND helps you eat slower.
-Fill your plates in the kitchen, and don't set extras in front of you at the table. It makes you more tempted to get seconds.
-Try to avoid seconds all together. In my opinion, seconds or even thirds of the vegetable of the meal are not bad. We usually fix a whole can or whole bag of frozen vegetables with most meals, and between the two of us, we usually just split it and eat half the bag. When it comes to calories, it really isn't bad for us. And most times they help to fill us up.
-Measure out your portions, don't just guess. We used to guess and say we had so and so amount of food, and once we got into this fitness challenge we actually measured and know what we are eating. It's easier to track and when we know ahead of time the calories we are eating, we don't usually even think about seconds.
-When it comes to snacks, measure them out too. If you can have some potato chips or cookies or some sort of healthy snack, measure it out, put the bag/container/box back away, and then go sit down and eat your snack. Don't eat out of the package, because you will be tempted to eat more since it's right in your hand. This actually works well for me. I have fit and active cracker crisps, that I split up, otherwise I just guess and say, oh yeah I ate that amount, but when I get to the bottom of the bag, more is gone than should be. When I eat some cookies, healthy or not, I get out the serving size, put the package back in the cabinet, and I don't go back for seconds. If it was in my hand though, I would just say, yeah it won't hurt me to have just one more.
-Store your foods, other than maybe fruits, out of sight. Put them in the fridge, freezer, or cabinet. If you have foods sitting out on the counter and you see them all the time, it just makes you hungry and you want to pick it up and eat it. I think sitting fruits out is okay, because if you want to grab them and eat them, it's not always so bad for you.
-Make sure your meals are balanced. Make sure you get enough of vegetables, grains, protein, fruits, and dairy. If you overeat or undereat certain things, you may not feel full enough and that will cause you to keep eating.
These are my tips and things that I personally use myself. I feel that they work, so pick and choose or follow all these steps to improve your own eating habits! There are a few things I'm still working on perfecting myself, but I've got lots of things down. The main thing I'm still working on, is trying to not eat anything, no snacks or meals, after a certain time in the evening. With a crazy schedule, sometimes that's hard to stick to. Anyways, any tips you may have for me, would be nice too!
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