Portion Control

One of the things that we are working on here is portion sizes. Do you know how big a serving is? I know that I struggle with this all the time. I am always amazed when I see just how much more we eat than we should. WebMD has a great interactive visual guide to learn about portion sizes. Kidshealth reports that just an extra 50-100 calories a day could add up to an extra 10lbs a year.

Here are some things that we are doing to reduce our portion sizes...

~using smaller plates. The plates look fuller with less
~eat at the table. When eating at the table you not only connect better with your family, you enjoy your food. You also think about how much you are eating. I know that it is tempting to eat in front of the television, but that can lead to mindless eating. You want to be cautious on what you are eating.
~Divide the plate. We are going to do our best to have half the plate veggies, a quarter grains and a quarter proteins.
~Read Labels. We will read the package to see what a serving is. This will help our pocketbook and waistline!
~Measure, Measure and Measure again. We have a kitchen scale and we will use it. My kids are already learning to measure their cereal. We will continue to measure everything else. This is also a great way to incorporate everyday math.

Posted in: healthy eating