's motd Tuesday Oct 19, 2010 - Portion COntrol

[Guest guest]

PORTION CONTROL

Tuesday,

19 October 2010

About

75 years ago, a group of dietitians got together and

talked about the portions of foods that

people should eat in order to stay healthy. They

began with the recognition of the six food groups

which are proteins vegetables, starches fruits,

dairy and fats. Then, depending on

your body's build and height, they created a chart

to show how many portions of food from each of the

food groups you needed and the number of calories

you should have each day. Those dietitians

published this chart in many journals across the

United States and their chart still holds true to

this day.

When I

created Deal-A-Meal and the current updated version

of it, the FoodMover, I based my portions and

calories on their recommendations. So everything

you eat on the FoodMover is always counted in healthy-sized

portions for you.

Now, from personal experience, I've discovered that

the two food groups people have the most trouble

with are fats and starches. And how's about a

little bold truth here? See, one teaspoon

of margarine is one portion of fat. One

teaspoon of olive oil is one portion of fat.

One-eighth of a medium avocado, a teaspoon of

mayonnaise, 20 small peanuts or ten small olives all

equal one portion of fat. Shocking, isn't it?

I mean, when's the last time you made egg salad and

used just one teaspoon of mayonnaise,

huh? Or when's the last time you ate just

one-eighth of a medium avocado? (Come on now!)

On the FoodMover, you don't get that many portions

of fat. And you can't just "eyeball" your portions,

either. You have to measure them, using

those trusty measuring cups and spoons. And don't

tell me you don't have any. (My goodness, they sell

them everywhere!) Hey, chances are, you've got four

sets hiding in your kitchen somewhere. LOL.

Now let

me talk about starches for a minute. (My favorite

food group and I may as well admit it.) Think about

the last time you ate a bagel. Half of a

2-ounce bagel is one portion of starch. One

six-inch round serving of a pita also equals one

portion of starch. One slice of whole wheat bread,

a half-cup of sweetened cold cereal, one six-inch

ear of corn, a half-cup of spaghetti or one-third

cup of brown rice all equal one portion of starch.

Now consider these portion sizes carefully and tell

me, when's the last time you measured one-third cup

of brown rice? See, none of us where raised eating

the correct portion sizes of food. And years later,

we discovered that, for all of those years, we'd

been eating our foods as if we were a set of twins.

My goodness!

If you don't already have one, get

yourself a FoodMover. In the package, you'll

find a Food Exchange Guide. It'll take you about 20

minutes to read through the food groups and see

what's a correct portion size of each food from the

six food groups.

I'm

telling you, portion control is the weigh

to go. Correct and smaller-sized portions will

equal...a smaller you!

Love,

You can see more info on the Foodmover

HERE. - Sue in NJ