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Real Portions for Real People

“The diet I’m following doesn’t set portions but I’m supposed to be able to eat as much as I want and still lose weight on it. How can this be?”

It can’t.

The problem with the “Eat all you want and still lose weight” promise is that it only accounts for hunger. It doesn’t account for emotional or stress eating. Unfortunately, many of us have problems judging appropriate portion sizes. For millions of Americans, this can skew the meal toward too much meat or starch and too few vegetables. If your mother was like mine and loaded you up on the potatoes, bread and macaroni and cheese while limiting meats and vegetables, chances are you have some portion control issues. If you have kids, you may very well be passing these issues on to them too. The best way to judge the appropriate portion sizes for each individual are as follows:

Meat: Take a look at the palm of your hand. (Not including the fingers.) That is the portion size of meat you should have at any one meal.
Vegetables: Make a fist. That is the portion size of vegetables you should be eating per meal.
Starchy foods: Use the fist as a gauge once again. Whether you are having pasty, potatoes or bread, this is the sum total size of starchy foods you should eat in one sitting.

As for your diet, here is what I recommend:

1. Drink 2 cups (16 ounces) of water before every meal. They’ll help you to get the message that you’re full before it is too late and you’ve overeaten.

2. Keep an eye on your portion sizes. Follow the suggestions above for appropriate portions.

My guess is that if you implement these two suggestions you’ll start seeing big changes in the way you look and feel in no time at all.