Eat Less, Eat Better
Tips for Eating Better:
- Eat breakfast every morning to give metabolism a boost.
- Limit portion sizes of food high in calories, such as cookies, cakes, other sweets, french fries, fats, oils and spreads.
- Have a fruit or vegetable with every meal and snack.
- Drink skim milk instead of 1 percent, 2 percent and whole milk.
- Try to decrease the total intake of food by 100 calories a day by skipping the snack time sodas; replacing potato chips with fruit; and leaving off the butter.
- Drink 64 oz. of water a day.
- Eat proper portion sizes at home.
- When eating out, choose small portion sizes, share an entre with a friend or take part of the food home.
- Eat slowly and pay attention to the body's signs of fullness.
- Beware of diet schemes and impossible weight loss claims: Diet Scam Watch
Portion Control . . . Using Every Day Items to Measure Portions
Sometimes it's not what we eat that adds calories, but how much we eat. See Portion Sizes Growing with Our Waistlines (.pdf).
The U.S.Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid is a tool to help in controlling portion sizes and acts as an outline for what to eat each day. The following information provides daily serving recommendations of the USDA Food Guide Pyramid:
- Fats, Oils and Sweets - Use sparingly
- Milk, Yogurt and Cheese Group - 3 servings
- Vegetable Group - 3-5 servings
- Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts Group 2-3 servings
- Fruit Group - 2-4 servings
- Whole Grain Bread, Cereal, Rice and Pasta Group - 6-11 servings
What is a serving and what does a serving look like?
Fats, Oils and Sweets
- 1 teaspoon butter or margarine = size of a postage stamp
- 2 tablespoons salad dressing = size of a ping-pong ball
Milk, Yogurt and Cheese Group
- 1 cup milk or yogurt = size of a softball
- 2 oz. of cheese = size of four dominoes
Vegetable Group
- 1 cup raw leafy vegetables = size of a softball
- cup of other vegetables, cooked, chopped raw = size of a lightbulb
Meat Group
- 3 oz. cooked meat, poultry, fish = size of a deck of playing cards
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter = size of a ping-pong ball
Fruit Group
- 1 medium size fruit or cup fruit = size of a baseball
Bread, Cereal, Rice and Pasta Group
- 1 pancake = size of a compact disk (cd)
- cup cooked cereal, rice, pasta = size of a baseball
- 1 muffin = size of one large egg
Last Modified: Mar 28, 2009 10:19 PM
