Thursday, July 26, 2012

Portion Control

Hands down my biggest hurdle when I started.  I always thought measuring cups were for making food not to eat it.  The first few time I used them to measure my food, my jaw hit the floor.  I could not believe the size of 1 cup of mashed mashed potatoes, corn, or how much 3 oz of meat really was.  Once I wrapped my head about this concept, it was more then clear how I got to 340+ lbs, I ate WAY to much.  I still might have only had 3 meals and a few snacks a day, but each meal was prob 1000+ calories.  I would not doubt when I ate french fries, I was prob in the 150-200 calories range in ketchup alone.  I wish I was kidding but its true.  My family thought I used to drink it.  Spaghetti was the biggest surprise for me.  I remember that mound of noodles and had them swimming in sauce.  Larosa's spaghetti sauce, YUM!  Needless to say we don't have that to often.

I would say I haven't completely eliminated some foods like spaghetti and pizza due to calories per serving.  Hows the saying go, "Everything in moderation."  If I eat Papa Johns pizza, its either a special occasion or a nice treat to myself for all my hard work.  It doesn't happen often so when I do eat something like that, I've found it taste so much better!  Those days I also don't go over my calories either.  Walk/bike/jog to make sure of that.  Prime example, today we ate lunch at Gold Star Chili.  It's a Cincinnati style chili place http://www.goldstarchili.com/  that we have ate at all our lives. Since we look at that place the same as Papa Johns, we haven't had it in almost a year.   I would normally get 4 cheese coneys (chili, shredded cheddar cheese, hot dog, bun, mustard) which is 310 calories a pop, plus an order of fries with ketchup.  A meal easily 1500+ calories.  Today I got a Caesar Salad and 1 cheese coney.    700 delicious calories that was well worth the wait.

I borrowed this from the website Meals Matter,
  • Woman's fist or baseball -- a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist
  • A rounded handful -- about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta – this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels
  • Deck of cards -- a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) – for example, one chicken breast, ¼ pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop
  • Golf ball or large egg -- one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts
  • Tennis ball -- about one half cup of ice cream
  • Computer mouse -- about the size of a small baked potato
  • Compact disc -- about the size of one serving of pancake or small waffle
  • Thumb tip -- about one teaspoon of peanut butter
  • Six dice -- a serving of cheese
  • Check book -- a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)