I’m trying to eat healthier. It isn’t easy, because the food industry makes it complicated. The trend is portion control; balancing each food group so you don’t eat too much of one thing or not enough of the other. I figured it might help to use real-life numbers, so I began utilizing my scale to weigh my portion sizes.
The first thing I measure in the morning is cereal. The boxes of my cereal come in a well-rounded 12 ounce size. The serving size is usually around 39 grams–less if you don’t opt for the regular variety–per bowl. This means that 12 ounces equals about 340.19 grams. You will find yourself with a short bowl of cereal if you consistently weigh your portions at 39 grams each.
Who wants to short change their breakfast every eight days? I mix and match, opening a new box and topping off the portion size. The cycle of boxes with teeny leftovers then continues.
I’ve had fun measuring the cereal, because the scale takes a moment or so to update the weight, so I could add five of those grain-based bits and end up with 40 grams, take off two and not get to 39. Also, no matter how dry my hands are, they stick to my fingers.
Earlier today I bought an indulgent bag of popcorn. The serving size was 28 grams, which provided me with about two handfuls of the stuff. The flavored coating added weight. Silly me, I should have gone for air-popped with nothing else added, and I would’ve had 28 grams the size of a small carnival-sized bag.
I’ve learned that cookies tend to allow you one pair per serving, but I have yet to meet somebody who eats just two cookies.
A serving size of peanut butter is two tablespoons, so to cover a slice of bread for a sandwich, you would probably use more than the 2-3 servings the famous My Plate (formerly the Food Pyramid), set by the USDA, recommends as a daily guideline. It makes one rather thin sandwich. We’re used to seeing commercials with luxuriously spread goodness, often shown in slow motion and carpeting the bread a good half inch thick. Dietary wise, that’s a no-no.
Apparently we can’t keep sugar out of anything when it comes to food. It hides in plain sight in your salad dressing and, yes, even in that slice of bread on which you’re cutting back on the peanut butter. I have been trying to keep my sugar intake limited to what occurs in foods without being added, so blueberries and bananas are in, but a spoonful in my morning beverage is out.
Somebody would probably advise me to stick to a prepared meal program in which the portions are measured for me, but the expense for those weekly deliveries is exorbitant. Also, have you ever tried to read the labels on prepared foods of that type?
Anyway, if the numbers on the scale go down instead of up, I’ll be happy. And I’ll reward myself with four cookies.
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