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Do You Measure Your Portions?

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:30:00 PDT

If losing pounds is on your mind, counting calories and keeping a food journal are great ways to stay on track and see results. In order to figure out how much you're eating, it helps to measure your food rather than eyeball amounts. I know I used to pour "one cup of cereal" into my bowl in the morning, but one day I measured and realized I was eating almost twice that amount. If weight loss is your goal, overestimating portion sizes is one reason you may not see the scale budge.

Some people find comfort in measuring and weighing everything from salad dressing, to chicken, to peanut butter, so tell me . . .

Should I Get a Food Scale?

Fit Community — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:04 PDT

Here's a question that FitSugar reader ShelleyHFan is asking in our Get Fit For 2010 group.

I think that I am getting too much protein and not enough veggies, in addition to dinnertime when I'm not sure if I have too much or too little of all these things (like rice, the meat, and veggies) on my plate. I was wondering if a food scale would help me out somehow with measuring portions and such. I've never even thought to use one (wish I'd had the idea years ago!) and I don't know how they are used exactly.

Do I have to get a really expensive one or can I get a $30.00 scale? (I saw one at Bed, Bath and Beyond for about that much.) Do you have one you would recommend? Even though I'm looking at an inexpensive one, is price important? I'm open to different price points from affordable to relatively expensive ones. So if you can recommend one that would be great.

Lastly, if you have a food scale do you find it helpful? Do you use it often?

Thanks for you input!

Share your fitness goals, advice, and encouragement in the Get Fit For 2010 community group. Be it losing weight, running a marathon, or eating a balanced diet - we're here to help and listen. And your posts might end up right here on FitSugar!

Cool Healthy Gadget: Nutritional Food Scale

FitSugar — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:00:00 PDT

I am always looking for easy ways to keep on track with my eating. This may be a bit neurotic, though control freaks do well at weight loss, but a food scale is a great way to keep track of what you're eating.

The Salter Nutri-Weigh Nutritional Food Scale ($99.99) is a computerized food scale that allows you to record daily food intake and set dietary goals plus review your progress. The scale analyzes the nutritional content of food by portion size by calculating calories, protein, carbohydrates, total sugars, total fat, fiber, sodium, cholesterol, net carbohydrates and the glycemic index of your food. The database stores nutritional values for over 1,440 foods and liquids and memorizes an additional 100 food/recipes of your choice. The scale has a two-user memory, plus an add and weigh feature, so you and your husband (or roomie) can track your food together. All you have to do is weigh the food. Pretty cool, eh? Buy it online at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Weight Loss Rules You're Allowed to Break

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:58:49 PST

If you love to eat, losing weight can seem so structured, you immediately get frustrated and grab the first decadent food you can find. Even though there are some very specific guidelines that can help you reach your goal faster, there's no one-size-fits-all weight-loss plan for everyone. Here are five rules you can bend and still drop pounds from the scale.

No Cheesecake, Wine, or French Fries
While dessert, alcohol, and fried foods tend to be high in calories, just because you want to lose weight doesn't mean you have to live without the foods you adore. Actually, denying yourself the bites you crave can backfire, causing you to feel deprived, resulting in bingeing. You can't eat these foods all the time, but it's perfectly healthy to enjoy a few spoonfuls of ice cream or a small glass of chardonnay every once in a while. Just limit your portion sizes and only indulge about once a week.

Salad, Every Day
Salads aren't for everyone, and the dissatisfied feeling you get afterward could cause you to head to the nearest pizza joint. Plus salad toppings can really add up. When a bowl of greens is covered in candied walnuts, cheese, dried cranberries, avocado, and creamy dressing, a seemingly healthy salad can run higher in calories than a burger. If you're not into a bowl of raw veggies, choose other low-calorie meals that incorporate veggies such as sandwiches, broth-based soups, grilled veggies, and whole-grain salads. You have to enjoy the foods you're eating in order to stick with a healthy meal plan.

Keep reading to find out three more diet rules you can break and still lose weight.

Healthy Dose Link Time: Zooey Deschanel's "Weird" Body Image

Susi May — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:35:15 PST

Zooey Deschanel says her normal body is a bit weird in Hollywood - Blisstree
Scale up! A healthy approach to dropping two pounds a week - Self
The best energy bar for your nutritional needs and taste buds - Real Simple
A new way to cut your workout time in half - Health
Harness the power of yoga to rev up your weight loss efforts - Prevention
Go international: what's considered health food in Asia and Europe - HuffPost Healthy Living
Get ready to run 13.1 miles in eight weeks - Carrots' n' Cake
Yoga helped Charlize Theron give up the smokes - Mind Body Green

The Essential Habits of a Healthy Home Cook

Michele Foley — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:05:00 PST

Unless you know what you're doing, cooking at home can be as detrimental to your health as eating out. As far as your body is concerned, cooking with processed ingredients high in saturated fat, sugar, and sodium might as well be like eating McDonald's. But becoming a healthy cook isn't as hard as you think. Here are some essential habits for healthy home cooks, starting from the moment you set foot in the grocery store to the second you put dinner on the table.

Shop the Right Way
Healthy cooking starts with strategic grocery shopping. Create a meal plan for the week and stock your cart with whole, fresh, and organic foods, lean proteins, and unrefined grains: an easy way to do this is to shop the perimeter of the grocery store. When you do have to buy prepared foods, choose products with the fewest and simplest ingredients. Healthy grocery options can be expensive, but here are six ways to save money when shopping organic.

Fill Your Toolbox
If cooking from scratch seems daunting, arm yourself with a few healthy kitchen gadgets. From steamers to kitchen scales, these tools will help cut back on prep and cook time, reduce the amount of fat in your dishes, and even make calorie counting and portion control easier. Here are a few of our favorite healthy cooking gadgets.

Learn how to cook healthy at home after the break!

4 Things I Wish I'd Known at the Start of My Weight Loss Journey

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:54:39 PST

No stranger to the Freshman 15 in college, in fact, I experienced something closer to the Freshman 30. It wasn't until I saw a photo of myself heading into my sophomore year that I realized I was carrying quite a few extra pounds and that it was time to do something about it. It took me a very long time to lose the weight (we're talking not until after graduation), all because I thought I knew what I was doing. Boy was I wrong. Here are four things I wish I had known at the start of my weight loss journey.

You Can't Eat Peanut Butter Out of the Jar
While peanut butter is full of heart-healthy fats, it's not void of calories - one tablespoon contains 105. I found myself spooning it straight out of the jar, wondering why my jeans weren't any looser. This is important to remember with all healthy foods: just because they aren't considered junky, doesn't mean you can eat as much as you want. Be aware of portion sizes when it comes to whole grains, nuts, seeds, and health food store snacks.

Keep reading to find out what else I wish I had known about weight loss.

Why You Snack at Night - and How to Avoid It

FitSugar — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:13:30 PST

Late-night snacking can be a calorie-loaded diet pitfall, but if you're able to recognize the reason behind your cravings, you can curb the impulse and stick to your healthy habits. Regularly find yourself back in the kitchen shortly after dinner? Here's why you keep snacking, plus how to scale back:

You skimp on food throughout the day. If you aren't eating enough at each meal, your body is going to kick into hunger overdrive later. Do you skip breakfast to save time? Breeze through a small lunch because you're too busy to keep eating? It's important to space out your food intake so that the hunger doesn't sneak up on you after dinner. Make sure to stay satisfied by eating a mix of protein, fats, and carbohydrates at every meal.
You're sad, angry, or _____. Any and all emotions can trigger the impulse to eat. Lower the odds of stress-fueled fridge raids by staying in touch with how you're feeling and choosing different outlets. If you start to regularly unwind in other ways - by calling a friend, for instance, or taking a walk - then you'll learn to deal with your anxiety before you even think to storm the cabinets.

Keep reading for more healthy snacking tips.

Lose Weight and Get Fit With Your Phone

Health — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:14:36 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

A sleeker, stronger body could be just a tweet or a Facebook post away
By Jamie Beckman

One of the best tools for peeling off pounds is already in your bag: It's your smartphone or iPad. In fact, all that texting, tweeting, and posting - the average woman spends more than 80 minutes a day on her phone, according to a recent report from the mobile apps analytics firm Flurry - can tip the scales in your favor.

And one in three of us are already using social sites like Facebook to get slender, reports research from the University of Arizona. So go ahead and steal these suggestions from women who took their shape-up viral.

Tweet Your Way Thin
Nancy Tessier, 50, lost 28 pounds by posting all her meals and snacks to Tweet What You Eat (@twye), an online food journal that lets others eyeball your noshes. "Sometimes it was a lot easier to decide not to eat something than to have to tweet it for the world to see," she says.

Posting your weight-loss numbers can help, too. The University of Arizona research suggests that women who reveal shape-up victories on a weekly basis trim down faster than those who update less frequently. If you're feeling shy, think up a Twitter handle and upload a cartoon character as your avatar so you can share the skinny without feeling self-conscious.

Health.com: Diet Tricks the Pros Tell Their Friends

Gain a Following
Get some virtual support pronto by following Twitter hash tags like #fitblog. Carla Shorts, 27, started chiming in on #fitblog's weekly live chats - and dropped from a size 12 to a size 6 in just a year. "When my weight loss reached a plateau, having women point out that my 30-minute elliptical routine wasn't going to cut it anymore was key," she says. "I started running and began to lose again."

You can also start your own hashtag, like Sherry Pagoto, 38, from Massachusetts, did with #plankaday, a challenge to spend at least a minute in plank pose each day.

Find more ways your phone can help you lose weight after the break.

6 Ways to Enjoy Cocktails Guilt-Free

Health — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:43:21 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

By Tina Haupert

For me, it wouldn’t be the holiday season without enjoying a festive cocktail or two. But unfortunately most of these drinks are heavy on calories and fat, which isn’t good when I’m trying to maintain healthy eating habits.

Instead of just sipping seltzer and missing out on all of the party cheer, I follow a few simple tricks to keep the holiday cocktails from showing up on the scale.

Start With Some Bubbly
Sorry, not champagne! On a night when I know there are a few drinks in my future, I like to start off with a glass of no-calorie seltzer (or still water). The bubbles from the carbonation give my stomach a full feeling, which helps me slow down and think about my food choices as the night progresses.

If I pace myself, I have better control around all of the delicious holiday goodies. Plus it's no surprise that the calories in cocktails quickly add up, so I also like to alternate seltzer between rounds.

Diet Tricks the Pros Tell Their Friends

Order It With Extra Ice
I like to order my cocktails with extra ice, since melting cubes dilute the drink. This creates more liquid, so I can sip longer without increasing my calorie intake.

Occasionally, I'll order my drink on the rocks, which takes me longer to consume than a mixed cocktail. Sometimes it lasts so long, I don't bother with a refill, which saves me calories in the long run.

Keep reading for more tips!