Portions

Happy Thanksgiving! While we're waiting to head out to the family's house for the thanksgiving feast I thought today would be the perfect day to talk portion control. Of course thanksgiving is the day to overstuff yourself with food. It's the overstuffing myself all the other days of the year that's gotten me in trouble.

The first week that we focused on portion control was the hardest. Our stomachs were stretched so we felt hungry but it didn't last long. Soon our stomachs shrunk and now it's much easier to 'get full' and not over eat. So how did we go about it? I don't put out the food on the table to dish out onto plates.

I plate our food directly from cooking pot to plate and set the plate at the table. (I made that part amusing by trying to plate food like you'd see at a fancy restaurant) This way there's no, second scoop of mashed potatoes or one more slice of roast. I make sure I stick with the portion size on the Nutrition Information. I've also cut out planned deserts with every meal. Some meals I plan a desert so I don't have to give it up entirely but usually only about twice a week. Deserts are just one of those ways I can over eat if I'm not careful.

But if I do get that sweet tooth urge and I haven't gone over my calories then there's always the pudding, brownie bites, or flavored rice cakes.

I've discovered that the biggest part of counting calories revolves around portion control. I can look at peanuts and say oh it's only 150 calories but then I look at the portion size and it turns into Oh it's only 150 calories for 1/4 of a cup! It's so easy to just look at the calories and forget to look at the portion size. You think you're giving yourself a normal portion size but come to find out it's double the size on the Nutrition Info! So you've just doubled the calories you thought you were eating.

So my motto for you all today is: Even if you over eat today, you can always cut calories tomorrow by controlling your portion sizes!