Portion control is the secret to losing weight

-
Use the list below to gain a perspective on how much food a recommended serving size really is; it may be much smaller than you realize. According to the USDA, one serving equals: one slice of whole-grain bread 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes three to four small crackers one small pancake or waffle two medium-sized cookies 1/2 cup cooked vegetables 1 cup (four leaves) lettuce one small baked potato 3/4 cup vegetable juice one medium apple 1/2 grapefruit or mango 1/2 cup berries 1 cup yogurt or milk 1 1/2 ounces of cheddar cheese one small chicken breast one medium pork chop 1/4 pound hamburger patty A good guideline to help you understand portion sizes is to translate the abstract information represented by the serving size into something visual that's easily remembered. So instead of trying to memorize lists of ounces, cups, and tablespoons, simply compare the serving sizes of particular foods to familiar physical objects. For example, a single serving of: Vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist. Pasta is about the size of one scoop of ice cream. Meat, fish, or poultry is the size of a deck of cards or the size of your palm (minus the fingers). Snacks such as pretzels and chips is about the size of a cupped handful. Apple is the size of a baseball. Potato is the size of a computer mouse. Bagel is the size of a hockey puck. Pancake is the size of a compact disc. Steamed rice is the size of a cupcake wrapper. Cheese is the size of a pair of dice or the size of your whole thumb (from the tip to the base). The best way to determine the amount of food in a given serving is to look at the Nutrition Facts label and measure it out. Although this may not be practical or that much fun, if you are able to take the time, you will soon be able to "eyeball" the amount of food and know whether there is too much or too little. For example, filling a measuring cup with the proper sized portion of vegetables, rice, etc. and then emptying it onto a plate will help you learn what these serving sizes look like. Take note of how much of the plate is covered; this will help you in the future, even if you only do it once. Simply by having and implementing this knowledge, you will have taken an important step in managing your weight. I believe weight problems are caused from over eating. The normal person can easily consume about 4000 calories a day. That’s twice what your body can burn. A normal person doing normal activities will only burn about 2000 calories and a women about 1500 calories or so. Of course, if you jog or do an hour workout everyday, you may burn more.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's the Mediterranean Diet?

-
Image
The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional foods eaten by people living in the Mediterranean region, especially Greece. It's loaded with healthy foods and research findings suggest following this diet may help reduce some of the risk factors for heart disease.  According to the Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust, the Mediterranean diet was introduced in 1993 by Oldways, Harvard School of Public Health and the World Health Organization.  The diet includes: Olives and olive oil Whole grains, mostly in bread and cereal rather than pasta Very little red meat Fish and seafood Some cheese, but less milk Lots of vegetables and fruit Plenty of legumes and nuts A little red wine The Mediterranean diet is high in fiber and antioxidants from vegetables, legumes and nuts, far greater than the typical Western diet, and low in saturated fat. Very little red meat is eaten in this region, and milk consumption is limited as well, exc...
Read more

Changing Your Life To Lose Weight

-
Image
I can let you in on the ultimate secret for successfully making a change in your life. A century’s worth of psychological research reveals an interesting paradox in who we are. On the one hand, once we reach adulthood our basic personalities remain unchanged for the rest of our lives. We keep doing the same things—and feeling the same ways—over and over. But, on the other hand, every day we change our behavior drastically in response to different environments. Most of us are one person at work, for example, and another person at home. It is easier to change our environment than to change ourselves. So, if you want to change yourself, change your environment. Said differently: Whenever possible, don’t try to fight temptations – avoid them! The easiest way to make a change in your life is to modify the world around you in ways that will naturally drive you toward making, and maintaining, the change you want. There are many ways to change your environment, but let’s focus...
Read more

Cancer and High Protein Diets

-
On the Fox TV Network the other night, one of the big stories was about high protein diets. A new study has shown a link between the over consumption of animal protein and how it can stimulate the growth of cancer cells. It seems we all have cancer cells but they don’t normally grow, unless we consume too much animal fat, dairy or fats from processed foods. Before I continue I want to explain about the link to cancer. After all, Man has been eating red meat for millions of years, right. That's true but todays red meat is not the same. Most red meat that we buy in the supermarket comes from Steers that have been raised in feed lots on a grain diet that is full of hormones and other chemicals that shorten the growing time and put more fat on the animal. These hormones and other chemicals stay in the meat and what you're buying will contain the chemicals that the animal ate. Normally a grass feed Steer that lives on the range in big herds will take 18 to 20 months to grow to ...
Read more