's motd Monday June 9, 2008

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MEASURE UP!

Monday, 09 June 2008

Are you really watching your portion sizes carefully when you eat? You know that for all of these years, I've always preached the importance of your portion sizes.

You eat big portions and, well...you get big. But if you eat smaller-sized portions...you get smaller. Makes sense, doesn't it? Oh, I know there are a few exceptions to this rule for many of us but the basic truth is still there.

I grew up watching people eat enormous sized portions of food. At the restaurants my family went to when I was a kid, the plates were big and they'd always be filled with food. And hey, I grew up loving big portions of food, too! I loved taking seconds and sometimes, even a third!My family used to go to a restaurant in New Orleans called the Court Of Two Sisters. On Sundays, they'd have a buffet that wrapped around the entire restaurant! I wanted to stay there all day!And because of the way I ate, I was a big roly-poly boy. And the day I lost my roly-polyness is by cutting down on my portion sizes.

I was a big bread eater. Oh, I could eat four to six slices of toast in the morning. Now when I have toast, it's just one slice. I used to eat 12-14 ounces of meat in one meal. But now when I do occasionally have meat, it's only a 4-ounce serving. I used to use butter like it was a "freebie." Now, sometimes I'll use a little butter in a recipe, for flavor and I always add it in the right size portion.

When we had spaghetti at home back in New Orleans, it'd be piled like Mt. Everest on my plate. Now, I only have a "legal-sized" 1/2 cup serving.Now I've got to talk about salad dressings. Oh salad dressings, let it pour, let it pour, let it pour! My salad bowls used to look like an ocean of dressing with a few tomatoes and pieces of lettuce floating out "at sea!" But now my dressings are low in calories and only coat the salad, not drown it!And cookies? Hey, pass that plate of cookies my way! I used to eat a cookie using one hand while the other hand was already busy reaching for another. (Gasp!) But today, I have just two cookies and make them last.I know, it's hard to measure portions at restaurants or at someone's home. And sometimes it's hard to measure when you're cooking your own meals, too. But to me, it's much harder to carry all of that extra weight around on your body, wouldn't you agree?So today, at this beginning of a new week, get your measuring cups, measuring spoons,FoodMovers and your exchange booklets out. And start to measure up and honor you weight loss goal!Love,