Portions and the Proper Foods

We live in the land of super size me. Even if you would never frequent a fast food joint and if you do would never consider ordering the jumbo large version of your chosen speed feed, you are constantly faced with portions of foods larger than what most bodies need to function and stay healthy.

Why talk about cutting back on portions? It is a great way to save on calories. Since many of us would like to get rid of a pound or five why not just do a little work in this area?

Consider the time-tested icons of correct portions, the tennis ball and the deck of cards. According to some dietitian somewhere long ago, proteins should be the size of a deck of cards and fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes the size of a tennis ball.

Sounds kind of small no? But if you consider a typical plate for an average dinner you would have two to three tennis balls and one deck of cards on it. This of course is because in order to get in our nine or more servings of mostly vegetables and some fruits you’d have to do that. Now it doesn’t sound so bad does it?

But are you really going to carry around a deck of cards and a tennis ball? You don’t have to once you become familiar with the concept. One of my favorite eating plan books, SuperFoods Rx Diet says, “Few people can successfully diet in the real world when the details of a healthy lifestyle overshadow the pleasure of eating.”

We don’t want to mess with scales, spoons, cups and fuzzy balls, we just want to enjoy our food right? Right but as always, awareness and planning go a long way in helping us get the results we are looking for.

If you do some comparing when you serve yourself at home you’ll have an idea of what these food amount look like and trust me, if you go out to eat and order say a pasta dish, and the dish is as big as your head, guess what? It probably contains an entire canister of tennis balls not just one or two.

Protein portions? As a former restaurant chef in many fine dining restaurants I can tell you that most fish is at least 5 oz but usually more like 6 to 8ounces. Chicken, depending on the cut, let’s use a boneless breast, can be ok at 4 oz but we usually get served two breasts or one half of a chicken? Your deck of cards would be lost next to these.

Steak and other meats in general, again depending on the restaurant will start at 8 ounces and go to what 40 oz? Who needs a deck of cards to know that a 12 oz. or 16 oz. steak is more food than the body needs? By the way, that 16 oz sirloin weighs in at approximately 1200 calories!

“I like my big chunk of salmon on a bed of rice with greens. That’s healthy right?” you might ask. Yes, on the surface, it is, but eating more protein than you need moves it into a class of unhealthy. Too much protein as a daily habit can wreak havoc on your bone strength, your kidneys, and create an acid environment in your system. So once in awhile it’s not bad to have a larger portion than you need, but day to day, eat a reasonable amount.

Here’s a fun little exercise. Put your normal portion of say cereal in a bowl just like you would any day of the week. Not a cereal lover? Use the rice for your dinner or the dressing for your salad. Don’t think, just portion what you’d usually have into a bowl. Now grab a measuring cup or spoons and measure how much you’ve got there. Check with the box, bottle or a food portion guide to see what a recommended portion is vs what you’ve got in front of you.

Often times we serve ourselves more than we need. And what you need depends on your activity level, your body’s chemistry, and your overall health.

Awareness and planning. Once you know what a serving looks like you will not likely forget.

For now, have a little fun with your portion experiments. You will be eating from a place of power and choice not chance. And this girls, is how we get the life of our dreams.