Portion Control

When I was on FitOrbit, I could have just eyeballed my "1Tablespoon Dried Cranberries" or "1 Cup cooked oatmeal." However, if you know me, you know I wasn't going to make all of these sacrifices (family meals, $11/week to FitOrbit, $45/month to YMCA, my time, my effort) to just piss around with maybe getting my portions kind of right. Can you imagine if I was a little over on all of my measurements? That would add up to significant calories pretty quickly.

So, since Day 1 on FitOrbit, I measured that shit. I had a partial set of measuring spoons and a partial set of measuring cups. So, I went to the store and bought a complete set of each. In hindsight, I might have wanted to buy two complete sets of each. It seems like I'm constantly rinsing them and washing them and when I need a certain one, it's dirty. Anyway, they do the job.

Measuring Spoons, Cups, & Scale

I also bought a small food scale from Target after about a month. This is especially for meat. I was trying to buy a package of ground turkey for example and if the package was 18 ounces, I would try to eyeball 4 ounces. This is just part of my personality--but it bothered me. I want to KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that I did not overeat.  So, I weigh meat using the scale. If I prepare a salad that gets 4oz of chicken, I prep all ingredients in the bowl, I place the bowl on the scale to zero it out, then I add chicken piece by piece until I hit 4.0 on the scale. I love it.

Food Scale in Action

And not to be super obvious, but based on my results, it worked.  Now, I still weigh and measure food. This is something that I would like to stop doing maybe by the end of the summer. I want to feel so comfortable with what 4oz of meat and 1 cup of oatmeal looks like that I don't have to worry about measuring. This would also save me a lot of time, rinsing, and dishes. I'm not complaining about the hassle. It has given me a better body--WORTH IT.

Oh! I do have one tip for you that you probably already know: all grains expand to double in size. So, if your recipe calls for 1 cup cooked rice, measure 1/2 cup uncooked rice and cook it. After cooking, it will be 1 cup. Around February, I told Jen that I got to have 1 cup of oatmeal plus other stuff (orange, eggs) in the morning and it seemed like a lot of food. She clued me in that I was making 2 cups of oatmeal because it expands. Whoops.