How much is too much? What is a portion?

Our bodies are amazing machines.  They instinctively know exactly when we should eat and how much.  Unfortunately, emotional eating, social eating and a wide variety of other variables have clouded our ability to know when we are hungry for food versus entertainment or comfort.  Additionally highly palatable foods make it difficult to stop eating before we become full.  That’s why portion control is such a powerful tool.

Portion control is a common phrase today by for many of us we have no idea what an actual portion is.  How much chicken, potatoes or rice is a serving?  Restaurants make this even more difficult.  I went to the Cheesecake Factory with a friend from Norway who ordered the meatloaf.  They brought her what looked like a portion that would feed a family of four.  She felt it was wasteful and wrong to serve one person that quantity of food and actually told the server it was offensive.    

Weighing and measuring everything we eat is the most accurate form of portion control but it’s simply not always feasible. One of the things that makes programs like Jenny Craig and Nutra System so accessible is that portions are done for you.  For the rest of us, visual cues are very helpful.  They can be used at home and when eating out.  I pulled a couple off the Baylor College of Medicine website to share here.

A baseball is about the size of one cup of green salad, frozen yogurt, medium piece of fruit or baked potato.

A rounded handful is about ½ cup of cut fruit, cooked vegetables, pasta or rice.

A large egg or golf ball is equivalent to ¼ cup of dried fruit

A cassette tape is equivalent to three ounces of meat or poultry

A checkbook is about three ounces of grilled fish

Six dice is equivalent to 1 ½ ounces of natural cheese.

Once you are eating the correct portions it’s important to find new coping skills that don’t involve food for comfort, entertainment or reward.  I’ll offer tools for dealing with emotional eating next time.

There is no right time...the time is NOW

Did you hear?  President Obama hasn’t had a cigarette in about a year?  That’s according to the First Lady.  Do you think he was waiting for the right time?  For a less stressful moment?  For inspiration?   

It’s the same thing with weight loss or exercise.  I remember telling myself I’m too busy to go to the gym.  I have a vacation coming up, it’s not the right time to go on a diet.  After all, I will only break my diet when I go away.  How about, I’ve already blown it; I’ll just eat better tomorrow. 

There is such a thing as setting yourself up for failure.  If you are going on vacation there is a happy medium between cutting yourself some slack and falling off a proverbial wagon.  For me it usually means portion control even while I’m away.  If I eat small portions then even if I eat whatever I want I don’t do too much damage.  When I get home the rule is not to give myself a hard time if I do gain a couple pounds.  I know my body is sensitive to change and that can happen.  I accept that consequence when I accept the choice of easing up on my eating habits.

 The perfect time, the right moment, the best circumstances are the perfect excuse.  After all, will there ever be a perfect time?   If you are committed to making a change the perfect time is now and if you are not it will never be.  It’s that simple.  The right time to start taking care of ourselves is always NOW.  So, what are you going to do to move in that direction today?

Do you act on emotions or commitments?

I recently asked a client this question and they were totally stumped.  Many of us we don’t give this a lot of thought and our moment by moment decisions are largely based on emotions.  Think about it.  Your alarm goes off early enough to hit the gym before work.  In that moment you realize you are tired, promise yourself you will work out later, and reset the alarm.  You are at dinner with friends and even though you're on a diet, when they order nachos for the table you indulge.  After all, you don’t want to feel left out and you can burn off the extra calories at the gym in the morning.

I heard a fellow coach once say that when our actions don’t line up with our stated commitments, it chips away at our self-esteem.  When we say we are going to go on a diet and then sabotage ourselves, isn't that exactly what we are doing?  Self-sabotage may seem fun or feel good in the moment but when it becomes a habit,  fulfilling our commitments and reaching our goals is impossible.    

So what’s that answer?  As with most things it’s simple but not always easy.  Awareness and conscious choice enable you to act on your commitments.   Be aware of how you are feeling and if necessary be willing to process those feelings.  That might mean writing about it, talking to a friend or even just saying it out loud.  Whatever method you choose, the goal is to shift your focus from the feeling of the moment to the result you want.  This shift can empower you to act on your commitments and achieve your goals.

When I find myself aimlessly walking to the fridge and I know it’s not time to eat I will have a conversation about it.  “Am I hungry?  No, I’m not hungry, I’m bored.  But I really want to fit into the skinny jeans in the closet.  How else can I entertain myself?”  Most days that works for me.  It's up to you to find out what works for you.

Redefining Normal

How do you define normal eating?  I don’t mean normal eating according to doctors, your friends, or celebrities; I mean normal by your standards.  When you go on a diet, when you attempt to lose weight you change your eating habits for that purpose.  It’s only temporary and then you can go back to “normal”… or can you?

As the saying goes, if you want to keep getting what you’re getting, keep doing what you are doing.  If you want something else you have to do something else.  So if I want to fit in my skinny jeans, I need to release the version of “normal” that caused me to buy the largest sized jeans in my closet.  That doesn’t mean I can never again have French fries or dessert but for me it does mean those choices must be the exception and not the rule.  

Normal to me is 80% unprocessed foods, eating out with others but out of my kitchen otherwise, weighing and measuring what I cook, working out at least four days a week and diet cokes on vacation only.  (I used to have a 32 ounce diet coke with breakfast every day.  It was on obsession that took considerable strength to rid myself of.)   Normal is not just about what I do and don't eat but about behaviors around food as well.  I prefer to eat out only when with others, not because I’m uncomfortable at a table for one but because I eat much healthier out of my own kitchen.  I do this imperfectly but it is what I do most of the time, normally.

Does your version of “normal” reflect the health and body size you want?  Or does it instead reflect the health and body size you had that led you to choose to lose weight in the first place?  If you are in the process of losing weight you might not know what normal looks like yet but if you are open to redefining it you are taking in important step toward a permanent lifestyle change.

Baby Step your New Years Resolutions

The New Year began only days ago.  Did you make any resolutions?  How are you doing so far?  I’m not a huge resolution fan.  There is so much build up and most resolutions end up recycled to next year’s list.  That being said, I think any day is a good day to make a positive change. 

The positive change I am committing to is losing about 20 pounds.  Half of it, I gained this fall when I had to stop running because of an injury.  I am joining a weight loss program and starting the actual program on Monday the 10^th.  Below are the steps I have taken to accomplish goals in the past and am applying now.

Answer the following:

Why are you doing this?  What benefits will you reap by accomplishing your goal?  These benefits should be tangible.  “I will be healthier” is not a tangible goal.  It may be true, but for most of us it is not enough to fight off all powerful cookie craving.  It should also be specific.  “I want to fit into my skinny jeans.”  Once you have your list carry it with you so as an accessible reminder when sabotage is lurking.   

What are your Baby Steps?  It’s important to break down any resolution into small, measureable goals.  For weight loss the following are my goals:

1. Walk for a minimum of 20 minutes on the days I do not work out. I am already pretty consistent about working out, but on the days I don’t, I am a real coach potato.  If you don’t work out then start out small: 10 minutes a day or 3 days a week.  (Something that seems manageable to you)
2. Every day I will keep an accurate food diary.  This is a meal by meal goal and this is hugely helpful.  If I have a craving but am committed to writing it down, I am less likely to indulge it.
3. Every day, until I reach my goal weight, I am committed to sticking to the prescribed food plan. This diet is more restrictive than I’m used to.  Keep in mind that committing to it for a couple months feels like a lot, but committing to one day does not.  The Twelve Step world talks about one day at a time for good reason.  If one entire day seems too like much, then try one meal, one hour, ten minutes.  If I have slipped, I slipped only one day and can recommit immediately.  If the goal is to be “perfect” until my goal weight then if I slip it can be psychologically harder to get back on track.

How can you reward yourself along the way?  My rewards are:  For two weeks of an accurate food diary I will get a manicure.  For four weeks of exercise and food diary I will get a massage.  Once I lose half my weight I can get a new pair of jeans.  A few rules about rewards:

1. No food rewards ever.  About seven years ago I discovered that when I lost weight I tended to reward myself with the very foods I ate to put the weight on.  This does not mean I can never again enjoy those foods but in moderation and never as a reward.
2. Rewards should not break the bank.
3. The best rewards are ones that empower you toward your ultimate goal or resolution.

• For weight loss I like rewards such as massages, manicures and ultimately clothing to fit the new body.  Anything that encourages self-care will work.

Support is essential.  Do you have a good support system?  Ask yourself what you need from a support system.  Do you need empowerment? Do you need accountability?  Who in your life can provide that?  Make a list and let them know ahead of time what you are doing.  That list must be more than one person.  It is unfair to ask one person to take on that burden and you run the risk they are not available when you need them.

I'll keep you up to date as to how I'm doing and feel free to do the same.