Not What But How Much

Mom never stops
being your mother

Portion control is an easy way to eat anything you want and still maintain health.  It's your body's way of handling the food you eat in the best way possible.

Food has come a long way in the last 65 years, hasn't it? In 1950, the sacrifices of WWII were behind America. People were eager for the opposite of "go without."

Popular "makes" for dinner on the kitchen table were tuna-noodle casserole, green bean bake and Chicken a la king.

The 50s brought the Betty Crocker Cookbook, and it had pictures with the recipes. Duncan Hines' cake mix and Saran Wrap rolled into the marketplace along with Eggo frozen waffles and Cheez Whiz. Home kitchen cooks were surprised and delighted by the new food choices -- and that was just the beginning of America's colossal food explosion.

Everywhere you look, people today talk about eating healthy, lose weight, exercise, avoid fatty foods, fast food and pie a la mode. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem pay enormous "who knows how much" money for flights of advertising time on television, the Internet and other media. Fitness gurus push their exercise programs, DVDs and books. Everyone seems to know what's best me. Who isn't sick of hearing it?

If you feel overwhelmed by all the conflicting nutrition and diet advice in your life, from TV advertising to television shows to books and magazines and the talking heads in your life, you’re not alone. It seems that for every expert who tells you a certain food is good for you, you’ll find another saying exactly the opposite.

My Story

I was confused, and that didn't work well for me. You see, I love breakfast cereals. I love to drown my cereal in milk and sometimes have two bowls. 

I thought breakfast cereal was good for you… until I learned how to check packaged food labels and track my carbohydrates.

My biggest surprise was the portion size. One day I was commenting on how I'm tracking my carbohydrates and my honey commented how much cereal I pour into the bowl. Huh? I was stunned by his comment.

I pulled my measuring cup from the drawer, poured the cereal into it and watched with wide-open eyes as it flowed over and spilled all over the counter. He was right. I should limit my cereal to one cup of cereal and one cup of milk or close to that measure for a healthy portion size. I'd been eating 2 times, sometimes 3 times that portion. Yikes!

I know health should not be taken for granted. After that, I choose what I eat with a heaping spoonful of knowledge. I realized that it wasn't so much what I eat, but how much of it I eat.