I had a conversation with a friend the other day about eating/exercising/weight loss and she asked me about my personal eating habits. After giving her the scoop she told me I should share them here. I know I've mentioned some of my "tricks" in the past but I felt like it would be a good idea to share my tips for staying in control.
I have a hard time restricting myself from any food. When I say no this and no that I always end up binging on it. So instead of going on food lock down I alter my initial instincts when it comes to eating.
I try to use a smaller plate whenever possible. I have 2 salad plates at home that I like to use for meals. I end up with less of a portion than a dinner plate would allow and am never left feeling empty or unsatisfied. On the rare occasion I end up using a dinner sized plate I ALWAYS feel over full/stuffed/uncomfortable at the end of the meal.
I never go back for main course seconds. Let's be honest, lasagna has about 50 bajillion times more calories than the steamed broccoli you served with it. And although a fruit salad has alot of natural sugars it's a way better "double dip" than the sloppy joes. If I need more after my salad plate portion I'll go back for seconds and dish up on healthier sides.
When we eat out Michael and I always split our meal. If we go fast food we'll order one value meal, split the drink and fries and each get our own "entree." It does get obnoxious sometimes though because he is a very picky eater. I'd say that almost always one of us ends up compromising on what we really want so that we can split. It may sound annoying but it's cost effective with both calories and dolla, dolla bills. :D I also split food with the kids because alot of times I'm not as hungry as the drive through menu would have me believe. I'll end up with a few left over nuggets and some fries. It's enough to keep me satisfied until my next meal, even if it comes earlier than normal, which I can make healthier anyway.
If there is a time when I go out and order my own entree, I won't order anything else. If I go to In N Out I get a cheeseburger animal style, of course, and nothing else. No fries for me thanks, I already have a giant cheeseburger to clog my arteries with. If I really, really want a whole meal I will get a kids meal. I've heard that a kids meal is actually the appropriate size for an adult anyway.
I love to eat fruit before a meal. When I start cooking dinner, I'll rinse some grapes or cut up an apple. This helps begin to fill me with a fibrous food that is relatively low in calories. I end up eating less of the dinner that I've made which could be anything from homemade pizza to alfredo. I also eat the same kind of fruit numerous times in a day. I don't know why but I used to not eat more than an apple a day because I felt like I wasn't supposed to or something? But now, when I buy the Costco packs of apples I treat them like a constant daily snack morning, noon and night. I will eat 2 or 3 apples in a day and it feels and tastes great. I get fiber, quick energy and nutrients. If you have lots of fruit, eat lots of fruit. The same goes for veggies too of course.
This may seem like alot of things but I like having a whole arsenal of tricks to help me in various situations. If I can make wise portions a part of my daily diet I know that I won't gain weight no matter what I eat.
Now the next part of this post (it's long, I know) is about why I can eat what I do and stay the same size. I exercise a lot. I burn at least 600 calories every time I teach. Add that to the small portions and you get success in maintenance.
Do you know how much you burn during your workouts? I've used this example before but let I'll share it again. If you run a mile, you burn 100 calories. If you walk a mile you burn 100 calories. Picture it like this, if you heat up some left over pizza in the microwave it takes 1 minute. If you heat it up in the oven it takes 10 minutes or so. The same level of heat can be achieved using different methods at varied lengths of time. Now, if I burn 600+ calories in a one hour Zumba class, it is equivalent to me going 6+ miles. If I wanted to go the 6 miles in the same amount of time I teach a Zumba class I'd end up with 10 minute miles. Basically all of this break down is to show you that I burn a lot of calories and eat fatty foods in smaller portions to end up staying where I'm at. If you don't know how much you burn I would recommend getting one of those watches or some kind of Body Bug that tells you. It's nice to know.
If you want to lose weight you have to burn
alot and eat less. It is a simple equation: calories in and calories out. The first being the lesser of the two. I AM NO EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE. If I were to stop exercising like I do and keep eating the fatty foods, even in smaller portions, I would gain weight.
Do you have any questions?
