Dieting: Staying Within Minimum Serving Sizes and Portions
Cutting back on what you eat and regulating your overall food intake can be a challenge. One of the best ways to do this is to eliminate “seconds”. If that is not enough then try using a salad plate as your dinner plate. This will restrict the amount that you eat and keep you within minimum serving sizes. The salad plate works well for casseroles, and one-pan meals. It also works for spaghetti and of course, salad.
However, man does not live on casseroles alone. You need another way to see how much is too much. One way is to use a food scale. Measure everything according to the recommended minimums. This takes time, and effort and you don’t always have a food scale handy. In fact, most people don’t even own a food scale.
An alternate way to measure servings is to visualize everyday household items and relate them to your food. For instance:
* A serving of bologna or lunchmeat looks like two compact disks.
* A proper serving of meat, fish or chicken is about the size of a standard checkbook.
* Rice, pasta, and mashed potatoes resemble a softball.
* Condiments of any kind are limited to the size of a ping pong ball. For example choose a baked potato the size of a softball; top it with a Ping-Pong ball size of sour cream.
* A serving of canned vegetables will be the size of your palm. You can try a palm size serving of fresh or frozen vegetables as well.
* A serving of fruits and berries should be no larger than your fist; the same for green salad.
* Bread; only two slices, if sliced, otherwise, take a piece no bigger than a baseball.
* Eggs, two should be sufficient, or a baseball size amount of scrambled eggs.
* For cold cereal, imagine your coffee cup, this is the small cup that they use in restaurants or the one that comes in your stoneware set. Fill it up with cereal. If you are having trouble imagining your coffee cup, then really use one as a measuring device.
* Use your coffee cup to measure, coffee, juice, milk, etc, but just fill it up one time. Drink water the rest of the day.
* Hamburger patties should be the size of one compact disc, as well as the cheese slices.
Sound confusing? It’s not. Here is a sample meal plan.
Breakfast:
Coffee cup full of cereal
Coffee cup full of milk
Coffee cup full of coffee
Lunch:
2 slices of bread
One CD of bologna
One CD of cheese
Ping pong ball size mayonnaise
Coffee cup full of diet soft drink
Dinner:
Salad plate of tuna casserole
Coffee cup full of ice tea
You see all you have to remember is CD, checkbook, coffee cup, baseball, softball, and Ping-Pong ball to keep within the recommended serving sizes. Also, don’t forget to use your salad plate, it will keep you honest.
