Is bigger really better? When I was growing up, before I was consciously aware, I always gravitated towards the largest Christmas gift, or the biggest slice of pizza or the piece of Grandmother Stafford's fruit cake that contained the most candied fruit and nuts. Sometimes, I would sneak into the 5 gallon pail of vanilla ice cream and eat several scoops directly from the melting pail, thinking of course that I was not really consuming that much when in reality I was consuming more!
When it comes to food and drink in regards to loosing weight, knowing the appropriate serving size in relationship to the calories associated is a good habit to make a part of your diet regime because most of us have portion distortion issues.
For example, if you ordered a glass of red wine and received the larger glass featured on the left side in the picture above, you would probably think, WOW this is a REALLY large pour and drink the glass. If you gave it a second thought, you would most likely think that calories for this glass of wine would be higher than the approximate 100 calories per 5 ounce glass that you already know but hopefully not much more. After finishing the glass perhaps you might order a second and happily leave thinking that you probably consumed only 300 calories? NOT! The larger glass in the picture holds an entire bottle of wine, which is about 27 ounces. The smaller glass is my 3.75 ounce wine glass that I referenced in my That's Amore post from April. I realize that this example might be extreme, but this is what happens when there is no awareness regarding what an appropriate serving size is and the calories associated with it.
Over the past 20 years, portion sizes have dramatically increased. Recently, I viewed a
Portion Control for Weight Loss video. I was shocked to learn that the size of a bagel today equals approximately 5 slices of bread, YIKES! This is also evident in the ever increasing size of 7-11's Big Gulp over the years. The Gulp (20 ounces) was born in the early 1980's and has continued to grow - Big Gulp (32 ounces), Super Big Gulp (44 ounces), Double Gulp (64 ounces) and finally, the Team Gulp (128 ounces). Just imagine the sugar content and the calories for a Team Gulp filled with Coke. Starbuck's perhaps a more modern example offers an array of sizes - Short (8 ounces), Tall (12 ounces), Grande (16 ounces), Vente ( 20-24 ounces), Trenta (31 ounces) for their specialty coffee drinks. When you start adding the syrups, the sugar, the whip cream, the caramel or chocolate the caloric intake of your "simple" cup of coffee rapidly increases.
An easy way to be more conscious of what you are putting in your mouth, when and why you are doing so is to keep a food diary. Before eating, weigh the item, measure the item, read the label and record; over time, this new knowledge will become instinctive. Studies have shown that people that keep food diaries loose more weight and keep the weight off longer. Per ScienceDaily (July 8, 2008), "Keeping a food diary can double a person's weight loss according to a study from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research. The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted..."
For example, if you ordered a glass of red wine and received the larger glass featured on the left side in the picture above, you would probably think, WOW this is a REALLY large pour and drink the glass. If you gave it a second thought, you would most likely think that calories for this glass of wine would be higher than the approximate 100 calories per 5 ounce glass that you already know but hopefully not much more. After finishing the glass perhaps you might order a second and happily leave thinking that you probably consumed only 300 calories? NOT! The larger glass in the picture holds an entire bottle of wine, which is about 27 ounces. The smaller glass is my 3.75 ounce wine glass that I referenced in my That's Amore post from April. I realize that this example might be extreme, but this is what happens when there is no awareness regarding what an appropriate serving size is and the calories associated with it.
Over the past 20 years, portion sizes have dramatically increased. Recently, I viewed a
Portion Control for Weight Loss video. I was shocked to learn that the size of a bagel today equals approximately 5 slices of bread, YIKES! This is also evident in the ever increasing size of 7-11's Big Gulp over the years. The Gulp (20 ounces) was born in the early 1980's and has continued to grow - Big Gulp (32 ounces), Super Big Gulp (44 ounces), Double Gulp (64 ounces) and finally, the Team Gulp (128 ounces). Just imagine the sugar content and the calories for a Team Gulp filled with Coke. Starbuck's perhaps a more modern example offers an array of sizes - Short (8 ounces), Tall (12 ounces), Grande (16 ounces), Vente ( 20-24 ounces), Trenta (31 ounces) for their specialty coffee drinks. When you start adding the syrups, the sugar, the whip cream, the caramel or chocolate the caloric intake of your "simple" cup of coffee rapidly increases.
An easy way to be more conscious of what you are putting in your mouth, when and why you are doing so is to keep a food diary. Before eating, weigh the item, measure the item, read the label and record; over time, this new knowledge will become instinctive. Studies have shown that people that keep food diaries loose more weight and keep the weight off longer. Per ScienceDaily (July 8, 2008), "Keeping a food diary can double a person's weight loss according to a study from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research. The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted..."
I can personally confirm this to be true. As part of my current diet regime, I have recorded everything using LoseIt!; an easy application for the iPad. As mentioned in a previous blog Tool Time, "it not only keeps me honest but also teaches portion control and calorie counting, which when not tracking is something that can easily be over looked and over estimated. Boy, what a reality check this was for me!"
WebMD has a nice portion control comparison tool. It provides all of the food groups and relates a serving size to an inanimate object, one that you can easily remember. For example, 1 cup of broccoli equals a baseball or 1.5 ounces of hard cheese equates to 3 dice or .25 cup of almonds equates to a golf ball, 3 ounces of cooked fish equals a checkbook. The tool offers many categories - vegetables, milk & dairy, grains, meats & beans, fruit, fats & oils, sweets & treats, and mixed dishes. Check it out!
Recently, I finished Dr. Clyde Wilson's class Nutrition for Reducing Body Fat class at Stanford Continuing Studies. Dr. Clydes has more simplistic approach to gauge portion size. He uses the "two fists, a palm and thumb" method. Two fists should be your vegetable portion, the palm should be the size of your protein portion and the thumb the size of your fat portion. Prevention.com has an easy chart illustrating this concept. They suggest printing the guide and using it until the comparisons become an innate part of your diet regime.
I just finished reading French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. Guiliano was a long time spokesperson and former President and CEO of Veuve Clicquot. Her book is a delightful tale about the way in which French women eat in order to keep their slim physique. It is written from the experiences and observations of Guiliano growing up and living in France. She provides tricks and tips that French women use and includes wonderful recipes and anecdotes. The premise of the book is to eat and drink keeping quality in mind i.e. "don't waste calories drinking bad wine;" eat small portions and enjoy the entire dining experience. Guiliano is like each and every one of us in that when there is no awareness, weight gain is inevitable.
In chapter two she writes, "My Parisian pastry gluttony was wonderfully diverse. In the morning there was croissant or pain au chocolat or chouquette or tarte au sucre. Lunch was proceeded by a stop at Poilane, the famous breadmaker's shop, where I could not resist the pain aux raisins or tarte aux pommes (apple tarte) or petits sables. Next stop was at a cafe for the ubiquitous jambon-beurre (ham on a buttered baguette) and what remained of the Poilane pastry with coffee. Dinner always included and was sometimes simply an eclair, Paris Brest, religieuse, or mille-feuille (curiously called napoleon outside of France), always some form of creamy, buttery sweetness. Sometimes I would even stop off for a palmier (a big puff pastry sugar-covered cookie) for my gouter (afternoon snack). As a student, I was living off things I could eat on the go. Hardly any greens were passing my lips, and my daily serving of fruit was coming from the fruit tarts. I was eating strangely lopsided fare without the slightest thought and with utter contentment except, of course, for how I looked." When Guliano realized that the eating habits that she learned while studying and living in the United States had "gone right to (her) head and opened (her) up to the dangers of this delicious Parisian minefield," she knew she had work to do!
Many of this French woman's tips for weight loss and for staying trim are just the things that I believe in and have been practicing for quite some time - keeping a food diary, using a scale to weigh foods, drinking adequate amounts of water, keeping a healthy emergency snack handy at all times, eating two servings of plain yogurt each day, walking, and of course keeping portions under control! I always new that I was a French woman in a previous life!
Another great point that both Guiliano and Dr. Clyde Wilson emphasize is, one should never eliminate completely the foods and beverages that one loves while trying to loose weight. If one deprives oneself of their favorite things, over an extended period of time, catastrophe! Not only will you over indulge to the point of being sick but also you will probably not stay on your weight loss track.
A friend recently lost 30 pounds following a commercial diet plan for several months. This plan did not allow for her favored treat, popcorn covered in butter. At the one month mark, she realized that she would not continue to be successful unless she could have her buttered popcorn. She decided that she would reward herself after her Tuesday weigh-ins with this favorite treat. She did this every Tuesday night for the remainder of the program. My friend did not experience catastrophe; she successfully completed the weight loss portion of this program and now is on maintenance. She did this her way, without depriving herself.
When it comes to food and drink less is really more if you are trying to lose weight. Mireille Guiliana's comment "quality over quantity," is right in line with my motto "don't waste calories drinking bad wine." So, to answer the question, is bigger really better? No, unless of course it is regarding diamonds, dogs or champagne. Then, bigger is definitely better!
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Many of this French woman's tips for weight loss and for staying trim are just the things that I believe in and have been practicing for quite some time - keeping a food diary, using a scale to weigh foods, drinking adequate amounts of water, keeping a healthy emergency snack handy at all times, eating two servings of plain yogurt each day, walking, and of course keeping portions under control! I always new that I was a French woman in a previous life!
Another great point that both Guiliano and Dr. Clyde Wilson emphasize is, one should never eliminate completely the foods and beverages that one loves while trying to loose weight. If one deprives oneself of their favorite things, over an extended period of time, catastrophe! Not only will you over indulge to the point of being sick but also you will probably not stay on your weight loss track.
A friend recently lost 30 pounds following a commercial diet plan for several months. This plan did not allow for her favored treat, popcorn covered in butter. At the one month mark, she realized that she would not continue to be successful unless she could have her buttered popcorn. She decided that she would reward herself after her Tuesday weigh-ins with this favorite treat. She did this every Tuesday night for the remainder of the program. My friend did not experience catastrophe; she successfully completed the weight loss portion of this program and now is on maintenance. She did this her way, without depriving herself.
When it comes to food and drink less is really more if you are trying to lose weight. Mireille Guiliana's comment "quality over quantity," is right in line with my motto "don't waste calories drinking bad wine." So, to answer the question, is bigger really better? No, unless of course it is regarding diamonds, dogs or champagne. Then, bigger is definitely better!
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