Portion Control is the Key to Weight loss

[Guest guest]

Portion control is first step to weight loss

(with or without the Band - Sandy)

By TIFFANY ARNOLD

April 12, 2010

On bad days, chocolate can seduce away sadness.

Eating in a hurry, it's easiest to scarf something fried, fast and cheap.

These scenarios are a source of mounting concern over the nation's growing

waistline. We eat more than we should.

" Everything is oversized, " said Cheryl Frushour, a registered dietitian at

Washington County Hospital's Bariatric Surgery Center.

The Herald-Mail sought out nutritionists and others who have struggled with food

for advice on portion control. In the fight against obesity, one approach is to

replace old habits by creating new ones. Why not start with the food?

Mindless grazing carries the risk of instilling bad eating habits, setting the

stage for obesity and the health risks associated with being overweight.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flagged being overweight as a

health risk factor for adults and have linked it to illnesses. According to CDC

data for Washington County, nearly one out of every four adults living in

Washington County was obese in 2008. The figure is about the same as the

national average, 26.7 percent.

But there's hope. Here are a few more tips:

Portion vs. serving

This is an important distinction, Frushour said.

A serving is specified on the food label, as a way for the manufacturer to more

easily explain how the contents of the food. The portion is something different.

" Portion is how much you actually eat, " Frushour said.

To start, don't eat things out of the bag or container. Pour it into a separate

glass or plate the food. " That way, you can detect how much you're actually

eating, " Frushour said.

Example, a bottle of water might be divided into two servings on the nutrition

label, but that doesn't mean you're drinking twice as much as you should be if

you were to drink the whole bottle.

So how do you know what a proper portion is?

Tammy Thornton, a registered dietitian at the Washington County Health

Department, said it helps to divide your dinner plate the following way:

• 1/4 meat for protein and fat

• 1/4 starch for carbohydrate

• 1/2 vegetables

Listen to the voice that says `I'm full'

Thornton said eating a combination of protein or fat with a carb or fiber helps

with satiety, or feeling full. She gave this example:

It's 4 p.m. and you're at work and you're hungry. You eat an apple.

" But that apple isn't going to hold you over very long, " Thornton said.

Put some peanut butter on that apple, suddenly you feel full. Why? The peanut

butter is a source of fat and protein.

" Protein and fat help you feel full, " Thornton said.

Children have a keener sense of when they're full, and this is where parents can

run into trouble.

Parents can become unhappy dealing with a child who doesn't want to eat

something the parent perceives as healthful.

Thornton and Frushour warned that the Clean Plate Club has a hidden cost to its

members: overeating.

" As a child, kids know when they're hungry or that they're full, " Thornton said.

" We (adults) destroy that when we interfere. "

Frushour said it's the parent's responsibility to provide healthy options for

kids. Thornton recommended putting foods in separate bowls and allowing the

children to serve themselves.

If they've got many healthy options, parents should feel confident their kids

are getting the proper nutrients.

Thornton said a good rule of thumb for kids is about a tablespoon per year of

age. She used meatloaf, potatoes and veggies as an example.

" So if you're 4, you get four tablespoons of meatloaf, four tablespoons of

potatoes and so on, " Thornton said.

Question your motives

Sometimes hunger is really " hunger. " Thornton said the latest brain science

examining the psychology of why we eat too much has more to do with behavior and

habit than actual hunger.

Often people are eating because they are bored, or simply eating because the

food is there.

" If people are stressed, they come to find out they're eating out of stress, "

said Thornton, who teaches a series of classes called the Solution Method for

Weight, which targets resiliency to stress as a means to weight loss.

" Until you have the skills to process the stress, you can't change, " Thornton

said.

Deal with stress

" At some point, I discovered that when I was upset, I could go in the fruit bowl

and I could eat six or seven apples and I could feel better, " said Barbara Gere,

who said it took her more than 20 years to gain control over her compulsive

eating.

For Gere, 58, of Frederick County, Md., eating was a way of coping. Eating would

take away negative feelings. The emotional pain was just as bad as the negative

health outcomes, Gere said. For compulsive eaters, the triggers can differ.

" I can really binge on roast beef and turkey, " Gere said. " We used to have those

on Sunday dinners. That's when we (her family) didn't have fights. "

Frushour said these sorts compulsive eating issues are beyond the realm of what

a dietitian or nutritionist can handle.

" I would recommend seeing a therapist or a counselor, " Frushour said.