Why you NEED to weigh/measure your food

Hi Healthy Friends!

Ok, so I know most of you are rolling your eyes, "weigh my food?"  Is she serious!!!

Yep...I am.

I know how you feel, I was one of you.

"I am not going to weigh/measure my food, do you know what a hassle that will be?  Who does that anyway?"

Well, now I do. Why?  Well, that is simple.  It is the ONLY way to learn what portions are, and portion control, folks, is the ONLY way to make your weigh loss goals and healthy living a success!

and...it is a lot easier than calorie counting. (which by the way is REALLY the ONLY way to loose and keep it off, but it gets old VERY fast and is very difficult)

So here is the deal....

Do you know what a portion of lean protein should look like? or can you guess what 3oz looks like?  Or a portion of crackers or cereal?  I bet YOUR idea of a portion is a WHOLE lot different than an ACTUAL portion.  I know mine was, I thought a BOWL of cereal was a portion, I mean doesn't everyone?  and how much can a bowl hold anyway?  Well the typical american bowl, holds about two portions, just so you know.

So, if you, like me, had deluded views about what a portion is then do yourself a HUGE favor and grab yourself a food scale!

They are pretty cheap (below is the one I use and I got it for $25 on Amazon, Free shipping and it comes in cool colors!) it is a GREAT investment in your health, so just do it.

Get a sexy one, so you can leave it on your counter.  That way you WILL use it.

So now that you have a food scale, all you have to do is use it!  I mainly use it for meat.  I weigh my 3oz (approx) of COOKED meat for my meals.  I don't weigh everything, really just my meats.

When I started this venture, I was using just an iPhone app that counted calories.  It was neat, and I was loosing weight, but I found it very difficult, especially because I don't make meals using pre-prepared foods, I cook using all fresh ingredients, so it was a super pain to add all my ingredients to the calorie counter, then figure out what ration was in my portion, NIGHTMARE!  and It was very discouraging.

But after weighing my meat portions, I started to get a good feel for what a portion was.  Now it is much easier for me to estimate my portion of stir fry without all the complicated math.

I don't weigh my produce, it is pretty much all "Free", meaning that Produce is so high in nutrients and naturally low in calories that I don't bother weighing it, in fact when I am real hungry, I just beef up my produce portion of my meal so I am eating more without loading up on calories!

As for whole grains, I stick to a portion as defined by the package.  I ALWAYS try to find whole grains with NO added sugar of ANY KIND!

I won't lie, it is VERY HARD and UNBELIEVABLY FRUSTRATING when shopping to read the ingredients on things like bread, (which should only really have Flour, water, yeast) but has 35 unidentifiable ingredients and of course 2 or more are sugar or it's derivatives, but once you find a brand you like, it's ok, and like I said I "Try".  If I have no alternative, I get a loaf/variety that has the fewest ingredients and the sugar is either "Sugar" "Honey" or "Molasses"and I tend to lean towards the brands using the "Honey" or 'Molasses" (more on that in another post)

Here is a list of my go to WHOLE grain staples:

Bionature Organic Whole Wheat Pastas

Rice Select Whole Grain Rices/Couscous

Uncle Sam "Original" Cereal

Kashi Whole Grain Puffed Cereal

Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted Oat Cereal

Wasa Crispbread, Multi Grain

Pepperidge Farms Jewish Rye Bread - Whole Grain Rye - the one with the Green label (NO SUGARS ADDED!!)

All of these can be found in most grocery stores and if not, it is all on Amazon.com (they are cheaper on Amazon than at my local grocery store)

These are great choices for whole grains, and are very versatile.  Yes they are a little more expensive than what you are used to buying, but now that you are dedicated to eating healthy, you will be sticking to portions so they should last longer and will add greatly to your health.

Once you have your scale, invest in a set of measuring cups/spoons (you can get a set at the Dollar Store) and that is pretty much all the tools you need to live health and loose weight naturally and for good!

Once you get a grasp on portion control you have mastered the first step in making a life long change that will ensure that you leive the best you can be!

Oh and by the way, it has been about a month and a half since I have started this, (June 24th to be exact)

It is not hard, and once you are used to it, it is second nature

And...

I have lost 15lbs!

WOOT WOOT!

I hope you are motivated to join me take back our lives from food manufactures!  Tell your friends, "Join the Revolution"

America is too valuable to sink into obesity and disease!

Good luck my friends!

Kerri

Hi.
My name is Kerri Arthur.
I am not a genius.
I am not a model. (never was, never will be)
I am not a Doctor.

What I am is a person who is thoroughly frustrated with conflicting information on what is "good" or "bad" for us as humans to eat.

As I was getting dressed today, it occurred to me, you can buy a book on the "Care and Feeding" of just about any breed or variety of pet (or jokingly, any relationship situation, thank you Amazon) But for some reason, we are expected to rely on information given to us by a government appointed office that decides what and how much of anything is "good" or "bad" for us as humans to eat.

Not only that, but those pet books don't really seem to change, but the what is "good" or "bad" for US seems to change on a yearly or even daily basis!

What is that!!!

How the heck are we supposed to understand what we need and provide it when the info is constantly changing!!!

I mean, "current" medicine should have figured this stuff out LONG ago!

Even "nutritionists" give out conflicting info, and why?  Because they get their statistics from the same GOVERNMENT appointed body that is supposed to be working on this. Hmmmmm......

Well.... I am tired of this and am making it my new mission to try to demystify the needs of the proper care and feeding of Humans.

I used to have the mindset... "life is too short... so, eat the donut!"  Well, my new mindset is... "Life is too short to die young and feel like crap! So, learn what to do to stay healthy and do it!"

I invite anyone who questions what we as Humans can do to take our care into our own hands to join me as we team up to FINALLY answer the question;  What do Humans need and what should we feed ourselves to satisfy those needs?

Not only that, but being Humans, we LIKE to eat and savor our food, so my second mission will be to find yummy, awesome ways to get us what we need SENSIBLY (I don't expect everyone to go to extreme shopping to get hard to find ingredients)

Ok, So here we go!