Ok, so one of the biggest issues we have in our fabulous country is portion control. We live in the land of plenty, where we can get whatever we want, whenever we want. There’s a Dollar Menu every where we go, so we can get 5 Burgers for $5 bucks!! Woo Hoo!!  We have completely swapped quality for quantity. Bigger is better and super sized is best. The truth is, the average person is eating far more calories a day than they need. If you really want to lose weight, the best thing you can do is portion control.

My hubs is a personal trainer, right? So he’s the first one to tell you that working out is great for you. But he’s also the first one to tell you that eating right is 80% of the battle. Most healthy people only work out 3 to 5 times a week. That’s 3 to 5 hours out of a 168 hour week. So it’s silly to think that working out alone is going to take care of any real weight loss. What you put in your mouth, and how much, is 80% of it.

I think the hardest part of losing those pounds is the first few days of cutting back. The real challenge for me has always been that my stomach is used to eating a certain amount. So those first days of ‘getting back on track’ means letting my stomach shrink back to it’s normal size. To most of us that feels like we’re starving ourselves. But we’re not! You still need to eat, and often. Just do it in smaller amounts. Remember that you never want to have the feeling of being ‘stuffed’. Try to eat just enough to feel sated. The trick to that is snacking so you don’t get so hungry that you over eat. If you eat small snacks between meals, you can keep the hunger pains away so that when lunch time rolls around you don’t gorge yourself. One trick I do when I go to a restaurant is to cut my meal in half. I eat half then, and half later or I save it for the next day. And I ALWAYS have snacks in my bag and a big bottle of water. Keeping yourself hydrated and eating smart snacks will save you!

So eat less, more often. And whatever you do, don’t ‘save’ your calories for one big meal. Self control has always been a big issue of mine, so I know all the little cheats! 😉 There’s no magic pill, you just have to put your health first! Last nights meal was Turkey meatballs with Spaghetti Squash for Doug and I and I made Tortellini for the kids. Baked Zuccini on the side. Everyone was happy and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything!