While I was in Puerto Rico this past March, I had a conversation with my husband's aunt about food here in "The States". One thing I had noticed while we were there was that even though their food is soooo unhealthy (pretty much everything is fried), there weren't nearly as many overweight people as here. She believes the difference is in the portion sizes. They may eat a lot of rich fried foods, but they do it in relatively small proportions, whereas here, we eat food that seems healthier, but we eat way too much of it. She actually said she was "disgusted" with portion sizes here. (I've heard that sentiment from lots of people not from the US) She believes that if restaurants would just start serving correct portion sizes, then obesity would disappear. I think that if restaurants one day just started serving correct portions, people would be outraged, wanting to know where the rest of their food is.
Training yourself to eat less is probably the hardest part about developing a good diet. Even though your stomache eventually shrinks, hunger pains suck for the first couple of weeks. Plus, if you're like me, I eat really fast. I don't know why, but somewhere in my brain, I think there's a belief that someone's going to take my food away if I don't scarf it down. Luckily, I've developed a few tips that have helped.
1) Learn correct portion sizes. Read the box on the foods you eat. Did you know that a portion of meat is 3oz, which is roughly the size of a deck of playing cards? A 6oz steak is twice the size of a normal portion. A serving of pasta is a 1/2 cup. The average serving of pasta at a restaurant is 2 1/2 cups.
2) Eat on small dishes. I learned this trick from my grandmother. Eat off of salad plates instead of dinner plates. Look for small ice cream bowls at the store and use those for things like cereal. When you fill a whole plate, even a small one, you won't feel like you got ripped off.
3) If you eat out at a restaurant, have the server pack up 1/2 of your meal in a to-go box BEFORE he/she even brings your meal to the table. Then you won't be tempted to overeat.
4) A 3oz piece of steak and a roll isn't going to fill anyone up. Load up on veggies and eat those first. They're almost always low in fat and calories and high in nutrition. You'll feel full by the end of the meal and will have stayed in a healthy calorie range.
5) This one is a little weird, but it works. If you eat really fast, train yourself to eat slower by eating with chopsticks. It's almost impossible to eat fast with two little sticks, unless you're holding them together to act as a shovel while you stuff your face. Use them correctly and eat one piece of food at a time. I also use baby spoons for things like yogurt and ice cream. Smaller bites = longer time to eat. It takes 20 minutes for your body to register that it's full, so forcing yourself to slow down is a good thing.
6) Eat foods that are high in fiber. Fiber fills you up and takes a long time to digest, so you stay fuller longer. Plus, your body typically doesn't absorb the calories from fiber!
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