Portion Control

You know, I have never really been on a diet before in all honesty. Sure there have been times I tried to eat healthier and be more active. But I have never seriously given too in depth thought to the foods I eat, or the portions of the foods I eat.

This week on my first week as a NutriSystem Nation blogger, I have learned a few big lifestyle changing lessons about food and eating.

Having food sent to my house to consume has been helpful, it takes the strain out of making good choices at the store when it comes to what I am going to eat. A challenge has been that, I might have a spread of meals awaiting me, but I am still cooking for 3 other people. If I want to eat healthier after this journey is over, I have to gradually get my family making better choices and enjoying healthier and simpler foods.

So, this week when I did my shopping, I tried to mostly stick to the perimeter of the store. I bought lots of veggies like cauliflower, squash, onions, tomatoes. I bought watermelon and apples, low fat cheese, hummus and carrots. Unsweetened tea, bottles of water.

When I got home and put the groceries away I was happy. My family however was not. They said "There is NOTHING to eat!"

True enough I neglected them. The next day I did it again, but I got granola, pretzels, pita chips, plain popcorn sans butter and salt. Lemonade. Sausage and beef stew. One small package of Oreos 

They were happier this time.

But, I realized 2 days later they have eaten the granola, pretzels, pita chips, both bags of popcorn and all but 3 Oreos....

Okay... I ate those 3 Oreos,  and I did eat some of the pita chips. I didn't feel bad until the serving size came into my mind. What I thought was a little snack was actually more like 1.5 servings of Oreos and 2 servings of Pita Chips.

How easy it is to indulge or cheat on your diet {ahem} and go over board in a flash.

This led me to understand portion sizes and portion control in a new light.

Today, as we stopped at the store again, I helped them select good snacks. {Pretzels, popcorn, whole grain crackers}. When we got home I opened each bag of treats. I set up a food scale and an array of baggies. I made portion appropriate bags of snacks and placed them in a big basket.  {Don't forget to set the tare on your scale so it weighs 0 with a baggie!}

This was time consuming. This was tempting to sample one of this and one of that, but I didn't. I focused on the volume of food that should go into each bag and I walked away untainted from the call of snacks.

I also walked away knowing that should I falter, should I need a treat, I won't be blowing all of my hard work by overeating junk food. I can visually see how much I can have  and savor it while it lasts.