Before I began this weight loss journey, I really had no concept of correct portion sizes. When I began weighing/measuring/calculating things, it was definitely a bit of an adjustment. (And I was shocked to realize what an enormous amount of food I'd previously been consuming.)
On Tuesday afternoon I went for a run and when I finished I was hungry. I decided to skip having a snack and just wait an hour and eat dinner. By the time I'd taken a shower and the meal was prepared, I was ravenous. Like, hungry to the brink of craziness. And I looked at my plate of food with two little chicken drumsticks and six asparagus spears and the Old Food Voice whispered, "There is no way that is going to be enough food."
But I sat down and enjoyed every morsel. Juicy flavorful chicken glazed in a fabulous balsamic-mustard sauce. Fresh from the farmer's market asparagus roasted until it was tender-crisp. So very very very good. And not only was my mouth happy, but my tummy was satisfied. Barely 300 calories of quality healthy food was all that was needed to vanquish the Hunger Monster. Old Food Voice was very wrong. Lesson learned.
Last year I went on a pretty restrictive diet and now I am really questioning portion sizes and the regular wisdom of what is "required". If your environment tells you x is needed will you crave that? Even if it really isn't needed? I think yes. Maybe we really don't need so much food and maybe current guidelines are, in part, that way to support industries... food, retail, restaurant.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right. Restaurant portions are unbelievably huge!
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