Thanksgiving and the winter holidays are around the corner. It’s important to prepare for the excessive amount of food that we will face in the office or at home for those holiday parties. One way to keep in good health is to not overeat or, in other words, watch your portion sizes to help you control the servings on your plate.
There are various tools and methods to estimate your portions. I use WebMD’s Portion SizeGuide for my patients. It’s simple and easy to follow. Their Guide provides 2 ways to help you be mindful of your portions: 1) Use the plate model 2) Use everyday things around the house.
The plate
model is a guide I use for my patients who prefer to visualize their plate. See image above for details on how to portion out your plate.
Using
everyday things around the house provides another way for you to keep track of
your portions. Take these items with you when reading the Portion Size Guide: baseball,
lightbulb, golf ball, poker chip, cassette tape, deck of cards, checkbook, CD,
hockey puck, or dice. It will help you visualize and feel the portions.
If WebMD’s
Portion Size Guide is not for you, you can also use your hand to help guide
your portions. Guard Your Health has an informative visual on using your palm,
clenched fist, fingertip, and thumb to keep you from over-serving yourself with
food.
To continue
from my previous blog post, What’s the deal with red meats and processed meats?,
keep in mind that 1oz of meat, poultry, and fish is equal to 7g protein. So, a
3oz meat is approximately 21g protein. Following the recommended 18oz serving
of red meats per week, you may still consume about 6 palm-sized red meats (1
palm= 3oz) per week.
The bottom line: enjoy yourself and the food during the winter holidays and everyday! Just remember to be mindful of your portions and apply the above portion size guides.
The bottom line: enjoy yourself and the food during the winter holidays and everyday! Just remember to be mindful of your portions and apply the above portion size guides.
