Tag Archives: portion control

5 Strategies for Beating Mindless Eating

Whether you’re at your computer chomping on a bag of pretzels or watching television shoveling spoonful after spoonful of ice cream into your mouth, mindless munching is one surefire way to pack on the pounds. In fact, just mindlessly eating 100 calories a day, the equivalent of a large apple or a palmful of almonds, can lead to gaining up to 10 pounds in a year.

To prevent this mindless eating weight gain, put into practice these five ways to beat unintentional extra calories.

1. Never get too hungry. The more powerful your stomach growls, the more likely you are to ravenously consume a surge of calories before your body and brain can register that you’ve had enough. Therefore, aim to eat every three to four hours with meals and snacks comprised of healthy carbs, good fats and a lean protein.

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Posted on April 25, 2023 by heather

Should You Put a Child on a Diet?

Recently, I was profiled in Redbook magazine, answering the question, “Should you put your child on a diet?” My reply was yes.

I’m not advocating starting your eight year old in the Weight Watchers plan, packing the lunchbox with Slim-Fast shakes and enrolling your daughter in a prepared meal plan. I’m also not advocating counting calories with your child, focusing on the number on the scale, or instructing her on weighing out her meals. Rather, I want to talk about helping your child to be healthy, and in some cases, this does mean keeping an eye on her weight.

One of my own daughters began to look a bit heavy. At her 6 year old pediatric check up, her doctor told me that she was getting too heavy and she illustrated this by comparing her growth curve on the chart. She told me that I needed to begin to keep an eye on her portions. I decided that I would begin an experiment. Without telling my daughter what I was doing – because I had no desire to call her attention to the issue – I decreased her portion sizes slightly. She had been eating a little bit more than she probably should have been, and had also become fairly sedentary due to an exceptionally rough winter. It’s tough to get out there when it’s cold and wet all the time.

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Posted on April 7, 2024 by Carmen

How to Follow the New Dietary Guidelines

In 2005 the US Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion made major changes to the Food Guide Pyramid. Vertical stripes replaced the building blocks to help represent moderation by the narrowing of each group from bottom to top, proportionality by the different widths of the stripes, variety by the new colors introduced, and the importance of physical activity and gradual improvement through the steps and slogan “Steps to a Healthier You”.

Recently, the USDA released new dietary guidelines for 2024, but the changes aren’t nearly as drastic. As Kelly said so well, “While it may be surprising that not much has changed since 2005 when our health obviously has, the new 2024 Dietary Guidelines show that how to eat healthy hasn’t changed, we just need to follow the guidelines now more than ever.” So just how do you follow the Dietary Guidelines for health and even weight loss? I have been teaching clients how to do this for the last five years with the help of the USDA and MyPyramid.gov.

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Posted on February 2, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

400 Calorie Fix Diet Perfect for Your Resolution

It’s hard to find a practical diet that you can fit into your daily life. Oh, they’re out there but it can be difficult to sift through all the bad ones. Prevention Magazine has re-released its 400 Calorie Diet, which debuted January 2024. The book aims to provide effective weight loss in a manner that can be sustained long-term.

The 400 Calorie Diet is pretty clear-cut. Consume four meals a day, each containing about 400 calories. By practicing portion control, the diet advocates eating whatever you want, within reason. With 400 tips and recipes for 400-calorie meals, you’re bound to find something in there for you. Included are tips for dining out, drive-thru and coffee shop meals that, let’s face it, everyone encounters on occasion.

This is a diet that can be used regardless of your eating habits, simply reduce the number of calories you consume and eat consistently throughout the day. The responsibility of choosing those calories wisely is left to you – fresh meals prepared at home versus fast-food.

If you’re looking for more immediate results, The 400 Calorie Diet features a two-week Quick Slim. The Quick Slim jump-starts your diet by reducing your caloric intake to 1,200 calories per day. It also places greater emphasis on exercise. The classic 400 Calorie Fix also encourages exercise but it doesn’t provide samples or specific routines. You can find great fitness routines on the Prevention site Find a Workout.

(WINNER SELECTED: “PALOMA”) Win a copy of The 400 Calorie Fix! Leave a comment on this page with your New Year’s Resolution and what you’re doing to achieve it. We’ll draw one winner on January 7, 2024.

*DISCLAIMER: Only residents of the U.S. are eligible to win. DietsInReview.com will draw one winner January 7, 2024 and will notify winner via the email used in the comment form. Winner has three business days to respond and claim prize or forfeit prize. DietsInReview.com is not responsible for lost or stolen packages, nor failed shipments due to user providing incorrect address. DietsInReview.com may replace the prize with one of equal value if prize is not available. Prize value is $31.95; not redeemable for cash. Prize provided by Rodale.

Other Diets by Prevention Magazine:

400 Calorie Diet Re-Released on December 21st

Flat Belly Diet Boasts a 91 Percent Success Rate

Biggest Loser Club Gives You the Ranch Experience at Home

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Theresa

How Biggest Loser Shay Sorrells Stays Healthy for the Holidays

I understand that this is one of the hardest times for people to stay on track. One of the reasons is the way we think about holidays. Why oh why do we believe that as we alter or modify a tradition it will ruin everything? I promise, traditions started somewhere and making new ones is not against the law!

Last year when Thanksgiving rolled around I had just three weeks until  the Biggest Loser season 8 finale. Needless to say, there was no way I was cooking a Thanksgiving dinner and missing time in the gym or having oodles of leftovers haunting me.  So, we made a new tradition and we went to a restaurant! I ordered the kid-sized Thanksgiving plate, that had turkey breast, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing and a little slice of apple pie. I did ask them to hold the gravy and the roll (I picked my carb battle and had the potatoes and stuffing instead of the roll). It was the perfect portion and I was completely satisfied! (more…)

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Shay

Bento Lunches are Healthy Meals in a Box

The word “bento” or “obento” is Japanese for a meal served in a box. If you’ve noticed the compact lunch boxes popping up on cafeteria tables near you, than you’d likely agree that the bento trend has officially reached Western culture.

According to Deb Hamilton’s popular bento blog Lunch in a Box, a bento lunch is a “compact, balanced, visually appealing meal packed in a box.” Hamilton, who lived in Japan for nine years and speaks fluent Japanese, began creating bento boxes as a creative meal option when her husband was diagnosed with celiac disease.

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Posted on November 22, 2023 by Maris

Simplify Portion Distortion Without Gadgets

Guest blogger, Monique Muro earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a Creative Writing emphasis from Cal State Long Beach. She currently assists with the PR and Social Media marketing for the revolutionary supplement AllDaySlim, and works as a freelance writer on the side. An avid reader and writer, her articles can be found at Suite101, eHow, Ezinearticles.com, Demand Studios, CNN iReport, and Examiner.com. She writes on a variety of topics including fitness, books, movies, and current events.

Portion control will make or break your diet, without question. Eat more than your body can burn off, and in due time, the results will make themselves known in that subtle pinch at the waistline when you pull up your favorite jeans.

Most of this is due to a little known thing called “portion distortion”, a catchphrase that describes how we determine which portion sizes are “normal”. Take a bagel, for example: Twenty years ago, a bagel three inches in diameter, about the size of a compact disc, was an adequate size for breakfast, clocking in at 140 calories. Today bagel sizes average a whopping six inches in diameter, and upwards of 350 calories. Bigger sizes are now considered the “norm”, as the food industry recognizes the nation’s ever increasing demand for more food.

But the devil is in the details when it comes to carving out the right portion size. How much money do you have to spend on specially marked cups and scales to accurately diminish your portions?

Here are some tips to follow that make it easier to eyeball your serving sizes without having to spend money on extra gadgets. (more…)

Posted on September 18, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Caroline Manzo Drops 25 Pounds on an Old Fashioned Diet

Caroline Manzo DietCaroline Manzo has been looking pretty fabulous recently. Not only does she have a more fashionable hairstyle, she’s recently lost 25 pounds, according to the Huffington Post. The reality TV star of Real Housewives of New Jersey got her weight down the old fashioned way, by eating less and exercising more.

But Caroline isn’t into denying herself her favorite foods, she’s just been paying close attention to portion control. “I eat what I want. I just eat the bad things earlier on in the day,” she told People Magazine. “If I want pasta, I have it for lunch instead of for dinner. That’s all. If I want a piece of cheesecake, I have half instead of a whole.” She’s also cut down on liquid calories. “I stopped drinking soda and juice … [I drink] just one coffee a day and buckets and buckets and buckets of water.”

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Posted on September 2, 2023 by Health Buzz

Portion Distortion: The Last Supper Gets Super-Sized

It is said that art imitates life. And, this holds true even in depictions of the divine. A study conducted by a Cornell University professor and his brother, a Presbyterian minister and religious studies professor, has found that depictions of the famous Last Supper of Jesus Christ has seen a growth in the food portion sizes over the last 1,000 years.

But, the obesity crisis has only been a problem in the last few decades. So, what can be taken from these findings?

“The last thousand years have witnessed dramatic increases in the production, availability, safety, abundance, and affordability of food,” says Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab and author of “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.”

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Posted on April 2, 2024 by Jason

Serving Sizes, Packaged Food Nutrition Labels May Get a Makeover per the FDA

nutrition labelIf you have ever read a nutrition facts label, you have probably seen the “serving size” listed right at the top. But do you know where that number comes from? (Hint, not an independent third party.) It’s actually the manufacturers themselves. Buy a big packaged muffin in the store and chances are the serving size is half a muffin. Check the cookies. The serving size is probably one or two. It’s not just junky foods either. I checked my package of alfalfa sprouts. One serving is supposedly 2/3 of the entire package. Now, I love my sprouts, but I’m lucky to get a small handful on a sandwich or salad.

So why is this an issue? Well, if you haven’t heard there’s an obesity epidemic going on in the United States. We don’t get enough exercise. We don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. We sit too much. We eat too much food we don’t bother to make ourselves. We eat a lot of stuff out of boxes and packages. Probably most important, many Americans don’t really know how to nourish ourselves and balance out our eating.

Weight management is multifaceted. But when it comes to the purpose of nutrition facts labels, it’s all about educating the consumer about how much food, calories, and nutrients are in a realistic serving. So recently, the FDA has said they need to look at what they can do to help people manage how much they eat and make sure they aren’t confused by the information provided. (more…)

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Rebecca

Food Finds: California Almonds Snack Packs

If there is one thing that I always try to communicate about managing your weight, it is definitely portion control. High calorie foods need to be consumed in smaller portions to keep total calories in check. Even healthy foods like salmon, avocado, and nuts that provide healthy fats need portion control, or you could be going over budget and the next thing you know the numbers on the scale don’t budge and you aren’t happy.

That’s why I was thrilled to see this cute idea from the California Almond Board for easy portion control and portability.

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Posted on October 30, 2023 by Rebecca