Showing posts with label portion control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label portion control. Show all posts

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Thinking Slim




On friday evening my boyfriend and I ate at Mustang Sally's. It's located on 7th avenue between 28th and 29th street. At the start of the week I knew we were going to eat out. I have to admit, eating out creates a small sense of food anxiety. After all, the food is prepared behind closed doors. Who knows how much salt the chef is really using! I could easily avoid restaurants. But it's nice not to worry about dishes! 

The waitress sat us down at a nice booth and handed us each a menu. While perusing the menu, the "salad" section seemed like a safe bet. However, at the bottom of the menu was a dish that sounded mouthwatering, a cuban sandwich. I figured, oh what the heck. It only took the food about 15 minutes to arrive. The waitress delivered a full plate of two halves of the cuban sandwich, thick cut french fries, and coleslaw. I took one look at the plate and asked myself, am I really going to eat this? I worked hard these past four months; losing 16 lbs and keeping it off for a good 5 weeks. 

Bam! It was as if I had attained some sort of health superpower. I automatically removed the top slices of bread from each half and removed 2/3 of the french fry serving onto a small plate...and far away from me. I only had a small forkful of the coleslaw. Thankfully, the amount of meat and cheese inside the sandwich was a small portion.  Not going to lie, I certainly felt proud of myself! In the end, the portion I created myself satisfied my hunger. 



I Heart Healthy Tip: When eating out, request a small plate. After your food arrives, evaluate your plate: what is going to really satisfy my taste buds? Is there too much meat or bread? For example, I really wanted the crunch of the pickle and didn't need all the bread and fries. Then, use the small plate to dump the food you are going to cut out. Either offer the small plate of food to others around the table or simply take it home for a leftover meal during the week.  



Sunday, October 2, 2011

Healthy Eating Habits

You should go on a diet.
You should change your eating habits.

Which of the two sentences appeals more to you?
I know the second statement conjures up a lot more positive thoughts than the first statement! Something about the connotation of the word "diet" leads most people to think of barren salads and starvation. The problem most diets are that they are unrealistic. However, instead of dieting, losing weight results from good healthy eating habits. 

Recently, I had a friend ask me, "so did weight watchers work?" My reply came without hesitation, "I lost 15 lbs, of course it worked!" I'll admit, three months ago I couldn't fit into my favorite pair of uniqlo trousers. The metal hook to cling to the other side of the pant, wasn't anywhere close to uniting my pants. At that moment, I knew it was time to drop some pounds. However, I wanted to do it in a healthy way. So, I turned to weight watchers. I mainly joined because I wanted to lose weight and educate myself concerning proper eating habits. I've seen the weight watchers plan transform me mentally and physically. I want to share with you three vital lessons I learned from the plan.

  1. Put in the effort to think about what you are going to eat for the day, in other words, plan ahead!
  2. Load up on lean proteins, pair main meals with fruits and vegetables to satisfy a full but not overly full feeling.
  3. Portion control what you eat, eat that one cookie or muffin, not the whole box!
Here's an example of what I ate today:

Morning
1 egg
2 pieces of whole wheat toast
1/2 cup of orange juice

Afternoon
1/4 of a salmon fillet
1/2 cup of mashed potatoes
1 cup of roasted cauliflower 

Nighttime 
Steamed Chicken-3 oz
Steamed brocoli-1 cup
1/2 cup of brown rice
1 pork dumpling
(This was ordered from a chinese restaurant! Many menus now have healthier options)

Snacks throughout the day
1/4 cup of cheerios 
Banana
Pear
Vita brown with whip cream 
Protein banana chocolate muffin 

Did I starve myself? No.
I've been eating like this for the past three months and the results are stunning. I lost weight, attained knowledge about what I was consuming.  Overall, I certainly altered my lifestyle and made these eating habits a part of who I am.

If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to leave it on this blog post!