I am sure you have noticed that it can be really hard to keep track of what you eat. You are at a friend’s house visiting and she sets out a bowl of chips or pretzel thins. And you think, “Eating just one won’t hurt anything… Oh they are salty I think I’m craving salt... It’s ok to eat a little bit more…” and soon you have lost track- So you go to enter how much you have eaten on myfitnesspal.com and have to take an educated guess. Or you are cooking and taste the sauce to see if it needs salt. And some time later you check again and before you know you have “tasted” ¼ cup of sauce. Or you are clearing the table and your child has left a perfectly good bite or two on their plate and you finish it off as you are cleaning up. But these bites and tastes can add up! You might honestly think you are staying within your calorie allowance and you can’t figure out why you aren’t losing weight.
Attention to portion size is key when it comes to weight loss or maintenance.
The blogger Snack Girl shares, “Weight is the most accurate form of measurement for food portions. Why? The amount of food you can fit in a measuring cup or spoon can vary greatly. Think about it: A quarter cup of peanuts may have about 200 calories, but what if some of those peanuts are halved or crushed? Then you could fit a lot more into that quarter cup! A cup of chopped skinless chicken breast might have a supposed 250 calories, but is it finely chopped or closer to cubed? Big difference!"
That being said I’m not going to require you to weigh every single thing you eat. But it's a good idea to weigh most calorie-dense foods: nuts, avocado, protein (like fish and chicken), pasta, potatoes, etc.
That being said I’m not going to require you to weigh every single thing you eat. But it's a good idea to weigh most calorie-dense foods: nuts, avocado, protein (like fish and chicken), pasta, potatoes, etc.
Snack girl goes on to share, “Some foods -- like oil and sugar -- are very consistent. A tablespoon of oil will always be a tablespoon of oil -- it's not really going to vary in weight. When in doubt, check a food's nutrition label. If the serving size is given in weight, your best bet is to throw it on a food scale.
I would add that weighing also works well with items like chips or crackers that don’t fit well into measuring cups and are not easy to count due to breakage.
Also it's important to weigh and measure ingredients when you're following recipes -- otherwise, the cook times and recipe results can be altered.
Snack girl goes on to share, “Of course, there will definitely be times when you don't have access to any form of measurement... at restaurants, lunch meetings, etc. The way to handle those situations is to prepare yourself ahead of time. Pay close attention to portion sizes when you're weighing and measuring them at home, so you'll be better at eyeballing those serving sizes when you're out and about.”
I would also recommend with restaurants that you go on line before you get there to check if they have specific nutrition information available. Their individual websites often have info that is not included in the scroll down on myfitnesspal.com
So your kitchen needs to have a set of measuring cups and spoons, plus a food scale. They don't need to be fancy, just functional.
I realize I didn't give you much time to purchase a scale so it's totally OK to just measure for this challenge but if you do decide to add a scale to your kitchen equipment I like this one
So your challenge for this week (starting Wednesday May 22) is whenever possible to weigh and measure your food and drink before eating. And for every day you accomplish this you earn the 5 bonus points.
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