Measure It Out

Here's another blog entry from our guest blogger this month, Caitlin Massey.

It's no secret that portion sizes are growing larger and larger, but studies have shown that they have enlarged between two and five times what they should be!  Cornell University studies conclude that the average calorie count per serving has increased 63% in the last 70 years.  It's no wonder that American's average weight has also increased along with it.  If you are trying to shed a few pounds or are stuck on a plateau, take a look at your portions.  Larger size bowls and plates often skew our idea of what a proper serving is, so be sure to read the label for the serving size of the food you are eating.  If your cereal says 1 serving is ¾ cup, measure it out before you put it in the bowl to get an accurate understanding of the energy you are consuming.  Also don't assume that just because something is small it doesn't have many calories.  Measure and count it out!  Even underestimating your calories by 100 per meal/snack can break your weight loss efforts (100 calories x 3 meals and 2 snacks = a 500 calorie underestimation which is 1lb a week!).  Also, try to avoid drinking your calories.  The University of Kansas Medical Center has concluded that consuming liquid calories is correlated to post-meal hunger.  This is because getting calories from solid food versus liquids reduces ghrelin (your hunger-producing hormone), meaning your desire to eat will be less intense which typically results in smaller portion sizes.  So get meticulous (at least for a while until you can spot the correct portion sizes you should be consuming) and start seeing better results!!