Today’s phrase that pays is …PORTION CONTROL!

It is true. The best eating habits are developed by utilizing portion control. In 2008 I successfully lost 30 pounds just by eating normal portion sizes. I didn’t give up any of the foods I love, nor did I give up junk food or alcohol. I didn’t even “measure” my portions, I just visualized what I normally would eat at a meal and cut it by oh, say 20%. After a few weeks I cut it again. After 8 months I was 30 pounds lighter and I  had barely busted a sweat. Unfortunately, I fell back on some bad habits during some stressful moments in my life so here I am trying to lose the weight, again!
　
Here is your homework for the day. Take out a dinner plate and look at it. Visualize how you normally serve up your food. Is it piled high? Does the food go all the way to the edges of the plate? These are just some of the habits that needs to be broken. Now, visualize your meal as if it were a pie chart. How big a piece of pie is given to starchy foods loaded with carbs, vs. how much is given to protein rich food and veggies? Again, habits that need to change.

For this week, I will concentrate on my portion size. I will fill only the shallow indentation of my plate, staying a good inch or two away from the edge. I will also be focusing on eating the proper balance of all the major food groups.  I started doing this again with last night's dinner and I will say, it was hard. I made meatloaf with mashed potatoes and whole green beans. In the end, I was able to stick to my own dictate. Later, I took childish delight in watch my fiance groan all night because he had overstuffed himself. Yes, he went for seconds too soon.