One of the most frustrating things about dieting is what happens after you stop. You've worked so hard, being mindful of every thing you've put in your body. You've weighed. You've tracked. You've sacrificed. Finally you hit your goal weight and it's time for maintenance mode. And then -BAM- 5 pounds get added to the scale.
We all know that the number on the scale is definitely not the only, nor the most important,
metric that we use to track health. But it can be very telling.
It happens to a LOT of people. The second we leave strict "diet" mode, the weight starts to come back on. So then we switch it back to hardcore restrictions, maintenance mode, weight comes back. And the cycle of yoyo dieting has begun. So does that mean we always have to be hyper vigilant and always weigh every french fry that comes our way? Thankfully, no.
One of the biggest ways to combat yoyo dieting is with portion control. It's easy to think that at a restaurant we're going to be getting a bit more calories than we would if we're eating at home (false: it's a lot more. But more on that in a minute.) But we actually do it to ourselves at home as well. Most of the time we aren't even really sure all the different ways that we are piling on the extra calories--heaping scoops of pasta, large slices of bread, dressing on salad, sugars in sauces...it all adds up. A few larger-sized portions a day and you'll see the number on the scale start to creep back up.
The first step to portion controlling like a boss is to actually know what a single serving looks like. Then you can go from there and really rein it in. The more knowledge you have over the food you put in your body, the better decisions you will make.
Food Portion Size No. of serves a day Fruit 1 medium piece or ¾ cup 2 Vegetables ½ cup cooked or raw Min of 2-3 cups Lean meat/chicken 100-150g cooked (palm size) 1-2/day Fish 150-200g (hand size) 1-2/day Rice ½ cup cooked 1-2/day Oil 1 tspn (thumb size) 1-2/day Avocado ¼ medium or 2 tbsp 1/day Multigrain bread 2 small slices 1/day Wine 1 20ml or 1 small glass 1-2/day Nuts 10-15 or 30g 1/day Sauces 1 tbsp 1-2/day