Sizing Up

September 15, 2011

The infamous ‘holiday season’ is fast approaching and for many people, the last thing on their mind is stepping anywhere near a Weight Watchers meeting. I admit, in the last few weeks, I’ve been busy. Really busy. And I’ve been bad. Really, really bad. And I definitely haven’t wanted to weigh in. But I did. I’ve managed to do a pretty decent job of maintaining or only gain .4 or .2 but it’s not the direction I’d like the number to go.

But this season I’m prepared. I’ve got the knowledge, I’ve got Zumba, I just need the power. Willpower that is.

My plan is to continue working out, to continue tracking what I eat and then to completely and utterly enjoy every bite of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. YUMM!

Since tracking isn’t always the easiest thing to do, I’m going to work on ‘sizing things up.”

One of the hardest things I’ve come across with the Weight Watchers Points Plus plan, is that I can’t guess points based on calories. Previously, most of us figured out that each point equaled about 50 calories. So, if something had about 200 calories, it was probably 4 points. Since calories aren’t even considered now, I’ve found myself calculating more and enjoying foods that aren’t packaged as a single serving. If they aren’t packaged, though, that means I have to measure. Something I’ve never been good at.

For lunch one Friday (we get free lunch at work every Friday), we had Hy-Vee food catered, which included a tray of veggies, a try of fruit, chicken wings, a ring of shrimp, smoked salmon, crackers and my favorite…cheese cubes. Now I have been trying for over a year now to accurately measure those little squares of goodness, but never felt very successful. I know an ounce of cheese is about 3 points, but what’s an ounce? Lo and behold I found some great images on the web that finally answered my cheese dilemma, as well as my peanut butter one.

A 3-oz. serving of meat equals a deck of cards

A medium potato equals a computer mouse.

A handful of popcorn is about 1 oz.

1 oz. cheese equals 4 dice

2 Tbsp. peanut butter equals 1 Ping-Pong ball

And a few more:

3 oz of fish = checkbook, not the checks but a checkBOOK

2 tablespoons of salad dressing = one full shot glass

1 cup of pasta or cereal = size of baseball

1/4 Cup of mixed nuts, dried fruits, granola = size of golf ball

1 tsp. of butter or margarine = postage stamp (the standard size guys, let not get crazy here)

I can never remember this right off the top of my head, so I’ll be penciling them in to my Dining Out Companion and/or my Pocket Guide.

For those of you just starting the plan, there are a couple tips we ‘old heads’ use to control our portions. When eating out, ask the waiter for a to-go box with your meal. Put half of it in there for later. If I’ve had a chance to calculate my meal, I don’t do this. I enjoy every bite. But if you have no game plan, or decide you just can’t resist the bread or appetizers, this is the way to go! Also, when dining in, use smaller plates and bowls.

I purchased these perfectly portioned bowls at Big Lots a few days ago and have already put them to good use. I used Cheerios to test it and the cup is just a little bit bigger than one cup. This will be perfect for cereal, snacks, fruits, even measuring out one cup portions of main dishes.

The biggest problem I had and still have when it comes to my weight loss journey is the amount of food I consume. You never underestimate a bowl of ice cream. How many people do you know that pull out a handful of chips, count two too many and toss them back in the bag? Yeah, me either. The trick is to measure immediately so you don’t have to talk yourself out of finishing off the bag. And it pays off in the long run…