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portion-related stories

Lose Inches From Your Hips, Portion-Control Trick: Twitter Finds

Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness




feelgreatweight
feelgreatweight
feelgreatweight Erase 2 inches from your hips with this ab-blasting workout: http://bit.ly/s4rkg


Cooking_Light
Cooking_Light
Cooking_Light Portion primer: A fist=serving of fruit, a cupped hand=a serving of grains, & an open palm=a serving of meat.



Real_Simple
Real_Simple
Real_Simple Pick produce milk & eggs from the back of the case. Older products tend to be pushed forward @ the grocery store. #simpletip

Overwhelmed by all of the "Follow Friday" recommendations on Twitter? Each week AOL Health's Twitter alias Healthpop and That's_Fit search the Twittersphere for the greatest diet and fitness Twitterers, and each week, we'll highlight the best-of their best tweets (no Twits here). Got any great advice for our Fit Follow Friday post? Give us a shout on Twitter and let us know all about it!

Portion Distortion - Your Vice is Eating Too Much

Your Turn


Figuring out what your vices are and finding ways to reduce the effect they have on your diet is a surefire way to lose a few pounds. So last week, I asked you what your vices are. Here are your top answers:

  • 28 percent of you said you struggle with portions -- you eat healthfully but you eat too much.
  • 24 percent of you are sugar fiends -- your vice is dessert.
  • 17 percent of you are addicted to snacking.
  • 11 percent of you consider liquid calories your vice.
  • 9 percent of you are love being lazy -- way more than working out.

Want some portion advice? Click here.

Late Night Snacking - How It Can All Go Wrong

Nutrition & Supplements

potato chips
Recently, I wrote about how late night eating is no worse for your waistline than eating at any other time of day. That's true, and I'm glad that myth about late-night eating has finally been put to bed. However, eating at night isn't without a caveat.

For many people, eating late at night consists of snacking on popcorn, chips or other treats. If these treats are in moderation, that's not such a bad thing. But late-night eating often equals mindless eating, and that's never a good thing. Just think about it -- you're watching the latest episode of Lost and munching on chips straight from the bag. Before you know it, half the bag is gone and you don't even know how it happened.

Just because you have a green light to eat late at night doesn't mean you can eat mindlessly. Opt for healthier snacks such as cut veggies and hummus and always measure out your snacks so you don't eat more than you intend.

Weight Control - How to Know When You're Full

Nutrition & Supplements

gas gaugeYou know that little click you hear when your gas tank is full? Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a little warning like that for our stomachs? Just some subtle little chime that rings in to let us know it's time to stop eating? Unfortunately, our bodies are much more subtle than that.

For most people, it takes 20 minutes for our brains to realize our stomachs are full. Today may be the age of lightning fast e-mail, but our bodies are still relying on the pony express. That's why portion control is so important; when you keep your portions reasonable, you know you're not taking in more than you need. It's also important to eat slowly -- relish each bite and enjoy your food. When you take your time eating, you give that pony more time to get the "You're full!" message to your brain.

I just stumbled across this article about a woman who had a condition that caused her to faint when consuming things like sandwiches or soda. It sounds like a horrible condition and she must be relieved to have a diagnosis. However, I did find it humorous that she's not pleased about her post-treatment weight gain.

Just for fun -- if you could have any signal tell you when you're full, what would it be?

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Slivers vs. Slices

Daily Fit Tip

Want to have your cake and eat it without feeling guilty for weeks too? Here's a tip:

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Giada De Laurentiis is Addicted to Chocolate

Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements

Giada De LaurentiisFood Network star Giada De Laurentiis knows her way around a kitchen -- especially when she's cooking up one of her tempting Italian dishes. But how does she stay as slim as she is when she's eating pasta and other not-so-light foods?

De Laurentiis says: "Food is not the enemy." In fact, she readily admits that she's addicted to chocolate and doesn't think she could give it up. De Laurentiis swears by portion control and says, "It's not food; it's how much you eat." De Laurentiis enjoys pastas and other heavier foods in small portions and makes sure she eats more greens than carbs.

De Laurentiis also believes in enjoying food. She says good quality ingredients enhance your enjoyment, and she recommends buying ingredients that are in season for maximum flavor.

Food Network Stars(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Rachael RayGiada De LaurentiisBobby FlayPaula DeenAlton Brown

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Portions - how they size up now

Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

We know portion sizes have grown. They've grown a lot -- and many of us have grown right along with them. But DietBlog is providing some fairly shocking comparisons of portions now compared to 20 or so years ago.

Consider these four items -- take-away coffees, potato chips, chocolate milk, and soft drinks. A standard bottle of pop used to be 12 oz, containing about 160 calories, but now, a dollar (or more, depending on where you are) in a vending machine will get you 20 oz and 245 calories. Chocolate milk is worse, having doubled in size and calories.

That's not the worst of it, though -- coffee, which once was only available in convenience stores (do you remember the days before Starbucks?), generally came in a 7 oz cup, so even with sugar, you were just getting around 85 calories. Now, a large coffee is more than double the size and with all the extras you can order, you can take in just shy of 500 calories. But chips are the icing on the big, fatty cake -- snack bags used to have just about 150 calories, and now, some snack bags that come with sandwiches have 500 calories!

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Think small: Play the portion game

Nutrition & Supplements

I love the portion size game -- you know, like what's equal to one-fourth cup? Answer: A golf ball. What's one ounce of cheese look like? Answer: Two dominoes or four dice. How about one medium-sized bagel? Answer: A hockey puck. I don't know about you, but these references definitely help me measure serving sizes. Check out this table for more on sizing up your sizes.

Ah sizes. We're eating more calories than ever in this country and our portion sizes, especially those eaten away from home, are making us fat and unhealthy. One fix: Don't lose sight of how much you should be eating -- this video should help.

Thanks to EatingWell.com for the powerful portion advice.

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Clear up portion confusion with this video

Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

How much you eat is just as important as what you eat, says the man narrating this Cleveland Clinic video. True. I'm thinking cashews right now -- good for me but not if I throw them back mindlessly.

Ah, portion control. A wise concept. Not always easy to manage, though. Back to the video -- it's a great one for helping to visualize appropriate serving sizes, like the following.

A serving size of cheese is equal to four dice. A baked potato: the size of a computer mouse. Meat, the palm of your hand. Peanut butter, the tip of your thumb. Veggies -- think one fist. Starches and fruits -- half a fist or a cupped hand.

Want a actual look at these suggestions. Click here. In a mere four minutes, you'll be educated on serving sizes, portion control, and you'll walk away with a few great tips for slimming down on snacking -- hint: don't eat from the bag, serve up a small portion in a bowl.

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Daily Fit Tip: Order an appy

Daily Fit Tip

Today, due to a sudden onslaught of severe hunger, I headed to a nearby restaurant for a satisfying lunch. I ordered something healthy -- chicken, veggies and rice -- and was amazed at the amount of food they brought out. It took serious muscle to lift that plate. It was literally overflowing with food. Despite being famished, I could only eat a third of what was on my plate, and I felt grossly full afterwards.

My point? Restaurant sizes are way too big these days. Avoid overeating by making smarter -- and smaller -- choices. Some suggestions? Order off the kids menu (if they'll let you), ask for a half portion, opt for an appetizer instead of an entree or go for a side salad with some sort of lean meat. You might think it won't be enough, but I bet you'll be surprised -- it doesn't take much to satisfy hunger without feeling too full.

And next time you head out for a meal with the girls? Choose a tapas place where you can choose from a selection of appetizer-sized meals.

Daily Fit Tip: Do your math

Daily Fit Tip, Obesity, Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

You've hear it before: Eat smaller portions. Use smaller plates. A little friendly reminder never hurt, though, and to drive these points home, consider this: A muffin once weighed 1.5 ounces and housed about 210 calories. Today's muffin is not so dainty with its hefty four ounces and 500 calories. I know. I know. I ate a pumpkin muffin recently and was appalled at what actually went into my body.

The point here, according to the Publix Greenwise magazine is that everything, from bagels to burgers, is ballooning in size. So are our waistlines. It's more important than ever then to watch ourselves. Watching how we distribute the food on our plates is a good starting point. So start with a nine-inch plate and proceed as follows.

Divide your plate into quarters. In three of your quarters, pile on the whole grains, the veggies, the fruit. Fill the remaining quarter with lean meat, fish, or poultry. That's it. The smaller plate, dominated by plant-based foods, is key for keeping calories in check. Simple stuff, right?

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Sizing up servings with just a glance

Healthy Habits, Diet & Weight Loss

Portions are important when it comes to matters of health and weight management. But it's hard to control our portions when measuring cups, spoons, and scales aren't readily available. Since guesswork can sometimes be dangerous, we need some sort of guide when estimating our serving sizes.

Try this on for size -- Well & Fit magazine, published by the Publix grocery chain, offers these tips for estimating serving sizes at a glance.

1 cup = a small fist
1 ounce of cheese = an index finger
1/2 cup of rice or oatmeal = a light bulb
3-ounce serving of fish or meat = a deck of cards
1 serving of fruit = a tennis ball

OK, now I've got a few visuals. How about you?

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Hollywood's latest diet secret: Portion plates

Diet & Weight Loss

According to Woman's World Magazine, the hottest diet gimmick out these these days is something you keep in the cupboard -- Portion-control plates which give you a visual guide to how much you should be eating of each food group. Here are some their picks:
Sounds like these companies are making money off a very simple concept. But if you want to save your cash, remember this rule of thumb -- Half of your plate should be fruits and veggies, a quarter should be protein, a quarter should be whole grains and if you didn't use fat in cooking, have a little dressing or sauce on the side.

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Breast Cancer Nutrition: A survivor weighs in

Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

Scientists are finding more and more evidence to indicate there may be more than family history, genetic mutations, and bad luck at play when it comes to who gets cancer and who doesn't. Now, more than ever, we are learning that cancer may have less to do with chance and more to do with lifestyle. That's why many of us -- me included -- jump on the health bandwagon, clinging to the hope that a good diet and a good amount of exercise will keep cancer at bay.

Breast cancer survivor and writer PJ Hamel offers on My Breast Cancer Network 10 recommendations related to breast cancer and nutrition. They cover everything from antioxidants to soy to fat to fiber. Check out the whole list here. And then take a peek at this -- a recipe for cookies Hamel developed using each of the 10 tips she provides. She calls them her Take-10 Cookies.

For more from Hamel -- she blogs about all sorts of cancer and health-related topics -- point and click your mouse right here.

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Eating too much? You might have portion distortion

Nutrition & Supplements

How good are you at measuring portion sizes? If you think a portion size is whatever is on your plate, you might need some educating. Standard portion sizes are a measure of food developed by nutrition experts to give us some idea of how much we should be eating, and more often than not, the portion size we should be eating is much smaller than what we are eating. Whether we're cooking for ourselves or eating out, we often over-estimate how much we should be eating, which is why weight-loss programs centered around portion control, such as Jenny Craig, are so popular.

Whether you think you know your portions or not, take this quiz. You'll be surprised by just how much more you are eating than you may have thought.

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