I wish portion control would work for me!! But its only when I log what I eat that I see where all the calories are coming from. Calories are sneaky ... a few bites here and a few bites there really add up!
When I first started losing weight, all I really needed to do was to change the foods I was eating (lowered the fat, eliminated added sugar, etc). Then I started working on portion control and now I'm at the stage where I have to count something because I can't portion control effectively enough to reduce the weight.
Portion control only works is you are eating a healthy diet and limiting sweet/salty snacks, 100-calorie packs and other desserts to no more than 1 per day. What you eat is probably more important than portion control. For an idea of a healthy diet and portion control, go to www.myfoodpyramid.com. If you don't record what you eat, you are only fooling yourself. We all forget some of the BLTs if we don't record them when we eat them.
www.myfoodpyramid.com. If you don't record what you eat, you are only fooling yourself. We all forget some of the BLTs if we don't record them when we eat them.
Richard Simmon's food mover is an exchange program that teaches portions. The online website membership gives you worksheets and online information instead of cards. If you order it you get 2 booklets and the food mover cards.
When I first started losing weight, all I really needed to do was to change the foods I was eating (lowered the fat, eliminated added sugar, etc). Then I started working on portion control and now I'm at the stage where I have to count something because I can't portion control effectively enough to reduce the weight.
I think portion control is elusive. The typical suggestions of visual aids like a pack of cards or an egg are hard to apply to food in my opinion. Food is also larger than it use to be, the size of fruits and vegetables have increased dramatically. When I first came to America I was shocked at the size of the chickens here! Our chickens were half the size. So just reading that we should be eating something THIS SIZE drives me crazy. Why THAT SIZE?
I have always felt that we (society) rely too heavily on rules and guidelines for eating instead of trusting ourselves to find the right amount by hunger and satisfaction cues from the body. Why would I control the food amount when my body can tell me when enough is enough?
I am not there yet, I want to learn though. I am having a hard time letting go of calorie counting, but needing something more than what I am doing. I feel like controlling food somehow doesn't really solve the problem, only controls it for as long as we are willing to do it.
I have always felt that we (society) rely too heavily on rules and guidelines for eating instead of trusting ourselves to find the right amount by hunger and satisfaction cues from the body. Why would I control the food amount when my body can tell me when enough is enough?
For me, the answer is "because my body is a greedy SOB that lies like a dog to get what it wants". Now, I know that every body (and everybody) is different, and I know that people are successful working intuitively, but if I am sitting at Chili's, having eaten enough to be perfectly sated, and there are 20 french fries on my plate, I can't follow the dang conversation above the chatter in my brain going "eat those fries. those fries look good. Have a fry. Mmmmmmmmmmm fries". I literally become too distracted by the thought of more food to even chit chat. So no, I'm never going to trust my body's instincts. It has the instincts of a pool of piranhas.
My problem is that I have the hunger and satisfaction cues of a 257 pound women. There is no question that it's my body's preferred weight and if I listened to those cues, I'd be back there in six months or less. So I make choices with my brain, not my stomach. It works for me.
For me, the answer is "because my body is a greedy SOB that lies like a dog to get what it wants". Now, I know that every body (and everybody) is different, and I know that people are successful working intuitively, but if I am sitting at Chili's, having eaten enough to be perfectly sated, and there are 20 french fries on my plate, I can't follow the dang conversation above the chatter in my brain going "eat those fries. those fries look good. Have a fry. Mmmmmmmmmmm fries". I literally become too distracted by the thought of more food to even chit chat. So no, I'm never going to trust my body's instincts. It has the instincts of a pool of piranhas.
I laughed out loud when I read this. I soooo identify! I am so glad I'm not the only one who has this thought process. Until I came here I felt so alone in this battle. And while these thoughts may not be 'normal', it does a body good to hear someone else has them and has a plan to conquer them!
My problem is that I have the hunger and satisfaction cues of a 257 pound women. There is no question that it's my body's preferred weight and if I listened to those cues, I'd be back there in six months or less. So I make choices with my brain, not my stomach. It works for me.
It would have taken ions for me to get anywhere with "Portion Control." Like others here, I just cannot make that work for me. I was tired of being obese. I was sick of it and didn't want one more day of it. What I did was hardly radical but it was radical enough for me to drop the weight I needed in a practical amount of time--quickly enough that I was motivated each and every week (mostly anyway) to continue.
I read all the responses before I replied. I'm sure if you look at my weight, you would think that whatever I am doing, its not working. Losing weight for me is a mindset. Portion control works for me (when I do it). I lost 100 pounds 10 years ago and kept it off for about 5 years and then life got in the "weigh". I've had trouble getting control again. Portion control works for me (when that's truly what I do) and its the only way I don't feel deprived.
Guess I should add, I've been successful on Nutrisystem and Weight Watchers as well, but the most successful I've been keeping the weight off has been with portion control.
Does anyone do JUST PORTION CONTROL?
