Although I have eliminated some foods that really trigger me, I now see myself overeating on the ones that I am eating as I am not exactly measuring my food. Does that happen to you?
So my realization is that I will have to one meal at a time and one day at a time eat the right amount/quality without overeating on it. As if I don't do it, I will carry on getting progressively worse. There seems to be no other alternative but to learn to stop eating when i am full and not indulge simply justifying that this has got proteins. It will not work like that.
So I am slowly committing myself in doing that. Do you do that or do you measure how much you eat. How was it for you?
Food scale food scale food scale. I weigh 85% of the food that goes in my mouth, and most of the rest is stuff like a can of soup, which I expect to be pretty consistent. Today I had lunch at a friends and had to "eyeball" my ham serving, and let me tell you, it made me nervous.
I love my food scale. Best $20 I ever spent. My most important tool. It's given me confidence and control.
I weigh or measure any calorie-dense food, but I admit I skip the weighing/measuring of things like raw vegetables.
The food scale is the best invention known to weight loss. It's a lot less fuss and bother than measuring, yet it's also more accurate. You will never again have to guess if your portion of fish is really a portion and a half. It also helps a lot when cooking a recipe that uses a different measuring system than what I'm innately familiar with.
Plus, it's fun to weigh things! Reminds me of chemistry lab (in a good way).
I weigh or measure any calorie-dense food, but I admit I skip the weighing/measuring of things like raw vegetables.
The food scale is the best invention known to weight loss. It's a lot less fuss and bother than measuring, yet it's also more accurate. You will never again have to guess if your portion of fish is really a portion and a half. It also helps a lot when cooking a recipe that uses a different measuring system than what I'm innately familiar with.
Plus, it's fun to weigh things! Reminds me of chemistry lab (in a good way).
I do the same thing. No need to weigh spinach, but I am meticulous about weighing foods that are easy to overeat like nuts and nut butters .
I use a food scale also. I bought the Biggest Loser one for $12 at Wal-mart. It helps tremendously because as they said as a kid, our eyes are bigger then our bellies.
We see it on our plate and want to finish it. If it's not there, it does help to not go back and get more.
I should probably get a food scale. I try to remember little things like a serving of meat is the size of my fist. But, I am also very controlling of what I eat. Although there are somethings I might get more calories then I should. I should only have 2 oz of cheese but somedays I take more, I don't measure the olive oil I put on my salad and that can add up fast. Oh- the other one I probably overeat a bit is peanut butter. That can add up very fast but I don't think a food scale would help with that.
I love my food scale and measuring cups. They live on my counter. I do Weight Watchers so I measure and weigh my food so I can accurately count points.
Also, I noticed that I sometimes underestimate the amount of food, like tonight I was having angel hair pasta. I entered 5 points in the tracker for 2 oz. of dried pasta, picked up 2 little nests (the amount I usually eat) and weighed it. Surprised to see it was only 1.5 oz. I made that amount and revised my Point count accordingly.
It's so helpful to retrain my brain from what I think a "serving" of meat is, to what 3-4 oz actually looks like. And that when it's mixed with a ton of veggies it fills me up just perfectly.
I don't weigh veggies or fruit, usually just meats, pasta and bread.
I should probably get a food scale. I try to remember little things like a serving of meat is the size of my fist. But, I am also very controlling of what I eat. Although there are somethings I might get more calories then I should. I should only have 2 oz of cheese but somedays I take more, I don't measure the olive oil I put on my salad and that can add up fast. Oh- the other one I probably overeat a bit is peanut butter. That can add up very fast but I don't think a food scale would help with that.
A measuring spoon will help with the peanut butter.
Are you counting calories on something like sparkpeople so you know when you've reached your target for the day?
I'm not counting calories on anything automatic. I eat so little that I don't think it necessary for me to be exact. I am consistently losing weight and very happy with what I am eating. When I first started my program I kept a food log to help me learn the calorie counts... now I just feel like I kind of know. Even though there are things I may be overeating I am still losing weight weekly and will make adjustments when a lack of weightloss tells me I should.
and holy cow- I must have 1-2 TABLESPOONS of Olive Oil on my salad... there is somewhere I will start to look when I need to make an adjustment. I just don't like salad dressings.
If there's any one thing that needs to be measured, it's fats--and peanut butter is basically pure fat. Healthy fat, but mostly fat. Which is why it is so delicious.
The tare (or zero, or z/t) function of a food scale makes measuring things like peanut butter easy. You put your bread (or celery, or whatever) onto the scale and hit "zero" (or "tare" depending on the model) and it resets it to zero. Then you take the bread (or whatever) and put the peanut butter on it and then put it back on the scale. Now the scale tells you exactly how much just the peanut butter weighs.
This function is awesome for things like cereal: put the bowl on the scale, zero it out. Pour in the cereal, record the weight, zero it out. Pour in the milk, record the weight, zero it out. Put in sliced banana, record the weight, zero it out. Three things 100% accurately recorded, not one messy cup or spoon, and it didn't take any longer that it would normally take to make a bowl of cereal.
For me, measuring makes me feel confident. When I eyeballed, I felt guilty and unsure. I would "hope" I was under my calories, and at the end of the day I would agonize over whether or not I could have something. Now, I know. It's much better.
I weigh everything, even lettuce. Curiously, I always get more lettuce than I'd eyeball, much less cake lol!
I'm still not very good at guessing portion sizes - when I make a roast meat, I always want to eat far more of it than A Portion. However, what I have learned is to trust the scale. I carve and weigh the measly 3 ounces recommended, add on the veggies, enter it all into DietPower and tell myself that I'm bound to be ravenous at the end, and if I am, I can go back for more; and I never need to go back. A portion really is enough. Plus, I'm starting to recognize 'sated', that place that's before 'full'. Scales are great.
Portion management and control
