FitSugar

Healthy Eating Tip: Plate Your Veggies First

FitSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:30:00 -0700

No matter the health issue, from losing weight to preventing cancer, we all should be eating more veggies. One simple way to accomplish this task is to stop thinking of veggies as garnish and plate them first.

Try to cover at least half of your plate with healthful side dishes featuring produce. I like to think of the meat as a side dish and my salad and steamed broccoli as the main dish. This mindset helps keep the portions in check and increases the amount of vegetables I eat daily. Ultimately, I find a well-balanced plate - 25 percent meat or protein, 25 percent whole grain carb, 50 percent veggies - leads to a well-balanced diet. Try it and see what you think.

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Smarter Eats: Use Smaller Plates and Grab It to Go

FitSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:34 -0700

I grew up in a house where I was told to clean my plate. Not always a bad thing but it stuck with me for many years, even after serving sizes kept growing. I'm also a fast eater, something I've been working on, but I sometimes overeat before realizing I am full. A few things I've done to help kick my habits are using smaller plates and always taking food to go.

After inheriting some dishware from my grandmother I noticed that the dinner plates used during her era are much smaller than the ones we use today. I now use these dishes at home, which has reduced my portion size - yet I'm just as satisfied after every meal. Scientists confirmed that the brain takes visual cues when it comes to eating. If we see it, we somehow believe that we have to eat it and will end up feeling unsatiated even if we're physically full.

Portion sizes are out of control in restaurants. To remedy this I usually have half of my meal packed up to enjoy as lunch the next day. I don't go out of my way to starve myself, but it's always pretty obvious when you're given too much food at one sitting. If it's a restaurant I frequent a lot and know that the portion is going to be big, I ask my server ahead of time to make me a doggie bag before the plate even gets to my table.

Thanksgiving Portion Primer

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:25 -0800

Few of us, if any, sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with a food scale in hand. Nevertheless, portion control on this day of feasting still matters. Using visual cues can certainly help keep your plate from turning into a pyramid of starch and fat.

Turkey: A serving of meat is three ounces and looks like a deck of cards.
Potatoes and stuffing: A typical serving size of a starch is 1/2 a cup. To keep from going overboard, visualize a tennis ball cut in half. Remember, carbs should only take up a quarter of your plate.
Veggies: A serving of veggies is similar to a rounded handful, but veggies should take up at least half of your plate. Load up on green beans, Brussels sprouts, and squash.
Salad: A cup of greens is considered a serving, so about the size of your hands cupped together.
Butter: A teaspoon of butter is about the size of the tip of your thumb.
Gravy: A tablespoon resembles the size of both a woman's thumbs.

Source: Flickr User walkering

Keep it Simple: Portion Sizes

FitSugar — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:30:00 -0700

We all have a hard time deciphering portion sizes, especially when we're eating off a large plate, or even wedge shaped foods. There are some pretty simple ways to measure portion sizes but sometimes even that is too confusing.

One very simple technique for figuring out how much you should eat is using this simple diagram from the Daily Bureau of Canada.

Easy enough, right?

Did you notice half of the plate is dedicated to veggies!!! I didn't think you missed it, but I just wanted to hit that point home.

Size Does Matter: Portion Sizes Made Easy

FitSugar — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 03:00:00 -0700

I don't know about you, but I get confused with how much of what is what when it comes to serving sizes. I can read the labels just fine, but when it comes to visualizing how much 3 ounces of fish is, I have a hard time doing it.

Luckily MealsMatter.org has come up with this handy dandy way to visualize portion sizes:

Woman's fist or baseball - a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist
A rounded handful - about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta - this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels
Deck of cards - a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) - for example, one chicken breast, 1/4 pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop
Golf ball or large egg - one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts
Tennis ball - about one half cup of ice cream
Computer mouse - about the size of a small baked potato
Compact disc - about the size of one serving of pancake or small waffle
Thumb tip - about one teaspoon of peanut butter
Six dice - a serving of cheese
Check book - a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)

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Portion Control Quiz

FitSugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Portion control can be hard and downright confusing, and we all fall prey to portion distortion every once in a while. There are small tricks we can all learn to make it a little easier on our minds, and our waistlines. Take this little quiz to see how well you have your portion sizes down.

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Take the quiz

Portion Distortion: Less Is Not Always More

FitSugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:30:00 -0700

Food portions have gotten larger over the years. From "super size," to "all you can eat" most food portions are enough to feed at least two or three people. You may be thinking, "So what?" but with this growth in portion sizes comes an increase in waistlines, body weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, and heart disease. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has done a little research to put portion sizes of 20 years ago and portion sizes of today in perspective. You'll be surprised to see the differences in sizes as well as in calories.

20 years ago	Today
140 Calories	350 Calories

There's more so read more.

20 years ago	Today
45 Calories	350 Calories
210 Calories	610 Calories
500 Calories	850 Calories
333 Calories	590 Calories

Hopefully the visuals will serve as a little reminder that it's a good idea to scale down the portion sizes you get when eating out. Eat half that bagel. Order a short mocha instead of a tall. Bring half your dinner order home and have it for lunch the next day. There are a lot more interesting comparisons so visit the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to check them out.

Visual Reminder: What Portion Sizes Look Like

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:01:31 -0800

Serving sizes have grown so much in recent years that we barely remember what an average portion is supposed to look like. When restaurants offer us tremendous amounts of food, it's difficult to put down the fork and say "done," even after you're full. Overeating can sabotage your goals of reaching or maintaining a healthy weight, so here's a visual guideline from ABC showing how big the portion sizes on your plate should be.

Food	Portion Size
3 oz. of meat	Deck of cards
Baked potato	Computer mouse
Bagel	Hockey puck
Potato chips, pretzels, popcorn	Teacup
Rice	Cupcake wrapper
1 oz. of cheese	Roll of film
Nuts	Egg
Pasta	Lightbulb

To see a video clip about portion sizes from ABC, read more.

Fit Tip: Curious to know more about what serving size measurements look like? Then check out this handy chart.

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Embrace the Dixie Cup For Portion Control

FitSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:00:00 -0800

Portion control is often an exercise in willpower, something that's difficult to trust when we're looking for a satisfying snack. The 100-calorie-pack manufacturers have been capitalizing on portion-conscious shoppers and making a killing - those big boxes filled with little baggies are so pricey! Not to mention the amount of waste generated by these single servings.

Choosing a fresh snack is usually best, but when craving something that comes in a bag or box, portion control is the key to not overeating. Buy a box of Dixie cups and use them to scoop out a small snack-sized serving of cereal, pretzels, goldfish, etc.; one cup should hold just enough to fix your craving. Reuse your Dixie cup the next time you reach for a snack to cut down on the trash.

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Portion Control: It's All in Your Hands

FitSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:00:00 -0700

We all know that portion control is the key to healthy eating as well as losing and maintaining weight. When you are about to bite into a nice chunk of cheese, it is hard to recall just exactly how big four dice actually are. Four dice is about the equivalent oh a portion of cheese, but who keeps dice in their pockets?

According to Jennifer Nelson, director of clinical dietetics at the Mayo Clinic, all you really need as a portion serving cheat sheet is your hands, fingers and thumbs.

To see how Nelson told Men's Health how hands can guide you through the jungle of portion control, just read more.

Two fingers = 1 serving of cheese
Open palm = 1 serving of meat
Closed fist = 1 serving of fruit or vegetables
Cupped hand = 1 serving of cereal or grain
Tip of thumb = 1 serving of margarine, oil, or salad dressing
Thumb = 1 serving of candy

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