How did you do on strengthening your resolve? I'll confess, I haven't yet set out my motivators (I blame lack of time and a tricky printer :p). Though this weekend somewhat revolved around a brand new motivator that should keep me going for a while. We shall see. Anyway, this week we are dealing with the "eyes were bigger than my tummy" phenomenon.
Week 8: Eat Proper Portions.
The gist of this week's challenge is learning what a portion size really looks like. I have a nasty habit of 'guesstimating' what a portion really is - and when I finally do measure my food I'm shocked at how much I overshot. Or, conversely I'm amazed at how much a tablespoon of something really is. Either way, since I'm calorie tracking, I need to be pretty precise with how much I'm really eating. So - this week's goal is to measure everything. Find out how much a cup of peas really is. Or an ounce of cheese (this one gets me every time). Until we can reliably eyeball a portion on a regular basis, we'll measure every food item we eat (or as many as we can - you don't have to haul the food scale to a restaurant).
A couple other tips the article recommends - eating without distraction so you know how much is going into your mouth, and splitting a meal with a friend when out to eat (or asking for half of it to go right off the bat). And don't forget to read the nutritional labels! Not only do we have to know how much a cup of cereal is, we also have to know how many cups of cereal comprise a serving. If 1/2 cup of cereal is only 80 calories but we usually eat 3 servings - that's definitely something to look out for!
Best of luck! I highly recommend keeping a food journal, even if you're not calorie counting. It's amazing to look back at the end of the day and see how much you've really eaten (5 cups of starch but only 2 cups of fruit? Oops, better readjust!) Happy measuring.
So I seem to be unable to post a comment on a Sunday/Monday blog until AT LEAST Thursday. I've gotten a lot better about measuring portions - and about recognizing them - in the last four months. And I did finally get my fourth 5-lb sticker star at WW this week - kind of exciting. I can also now grab an ounce of shredded cheese out of a bag almost to the gram, so keep at it. My suggestion: if you don't have one already, get a digital food scale. They are AMAZING. I would never be able to measure my quarter cup of cheese EVERY time I get some, but I can easily plop my plate on the scale, zero it, and weigh out 28 grams.
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