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Knowing the standard portion size of a food might help us
prepare enough when cooking for the family, but if we use
portion sizing to dictate how much we 'should' eat, we may
be asking for trouble.
That's the tendency of 'restrained eaters' - dieters who
depend on rules to tell them what, when and how much to eat
instead of letting their bodies be their guide. The trouble
with that tendency is that restrained eaters often end up
overeating when the 'rules' conflict with what they need or
want.
For example, it's normal for the degree of hunger a person
feels to fluctuate from meal to meal. One day we might feel
satisfied with half a sandwich and a cup of soup; another
day, due to extra physical activity or being premenstrual,
we might find we need the whole sandwich to satisfy.
The diet mentality, however, doesn't allow for fluctuation.
So when we eat more than we're 'supposed' to, we feel like
we've failed. And the downward spiral of defeat and overeating
often begins.
Let Your Body Be the Guide
The longer we've depended on diet rules to manage our eating,
the more we are usually out of touch with our inner cues that
guide eating. At Green Mountain, we encourage mindful
eating to help us get back in touch, and to help ensure
that we get accurate signals from our body about hunger and
satiety.
For some of us, however, overeating has become a habit. The
challenge for us then is to know how much is really enough.
Often the meals we are served provide 2 to 3 standard portions.
That muffin from the local coffee shop, extra value meal,
or steak from your favorite restaurant are good examples.
Do we need to eat it all?
For others among us, the diet mentality often takes over
when we're trying to eat 'right.' We find ourselves struggling
with the misperception that we're eating too much when in
reality we probably aren't eating enough. Understanding standard
portion sizes may help us begin to overcome these challenges.
A Good Start - A Portion Size Guide
Often when we think of portion sizes, visions of measuring
and weighing our foods come to mind. But that's not practical.
Instead, we encourage the Plate
Model for Healthy Eating: Using regular-sized dinner plates,
place enough Grains/Starchy Vegetables to take up about a
quarter of the plate. Feature a Protein Food on another quarter
of the plate. Then fill up the rest of the plate with Fruit
&/or Vegetables.
Eating this way helps us meet the Food Guide Pyramid recommendations
for healthy eating without counting numbers of servings or
measuring anything. And remember -- it's not important that
we be exact with these proportions. Some days we might eat
a little more protein food, or grains/starchy vegetables might
take up a little more on the plate. The Food Guide Pyramid
is actually a guide of eating over time, not a prescription
for daily eating. But if we find ourselves continually shortchanging
one food group and adding to another, we might want to explore
the reasons why.
What to do when the plate model doesn't fit? Not every meal
divides up so easily. Mixed dishes like casseroles, stews
and pizzas obviously combine the foods groups into one. In
these cases, we want to use our best visual estimate - that's
good enough.
Here are a few other visual images that may help:
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One serving (3 ounces) of meat,
fish, poultry = the palm of your hand or a deck of cards
-
One serving (1 ½ ounces) cheese
= 6 dice
-
One serving (1 ounce) nuts = a
handful
-
One serving bread = 1 slice or
½ English muffin or small Lender's-type bagel
-
One serving (1/2 cup) potatoes,
hot cereal, cooked vegetables, chopped, canned or cooked
fruit = a tennis ball
-
One serving fresh fruit = a tennis
ball
-
Two servings (1 cup) cooked vegetables
or fruit = the size of your fist
-
One serving (1 cup) raw leafy vegetables
= the size of your fist
-
One serving (1 teaspoon) oil or
butter = the size of the tip of your thumb
Finally, it's worth re-emphasizing that paying attention
to standard portion sizes can help us put together a meal
or snack that gives us a good start in having enough. But
because our hunger levels vary, it doesn't always mean that
we won't need a second serving. It also doesn't mean that
we always need the whole portion to feel satisfied. That's
where trusting our bodies comes in - understanding its signals
and then responding to them appropriately.
One of the advantages of a stay at a retreat like Green
Mountain at Fox Run is the chance to re-connect with how much
food we really need to be satisfied. Our meals and snacks
are designed to provide enough without giving you too much,
and to build our participants' abilities to feed themselves
in the same way.
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