How did you all do on Week 1 of the 50 Habits? I hope you were challenged to walk more. Let me know in the comments how this has challenged you!
As part of the on-going series on health habits, here are two more habits from my Dad:
Health Habit 3 –Eat more slowly, increasing enjoyment and eat less
From Eating Well magazine, “When eating, it takes 20 minutes for your body to register fullness. And according to a University of Rhode Island study, you can save 70 calories by eating slowly over about half an hour versus eating in under 10 minutes. If you ate slower at every meal, that would translate into losing about two pounds a month. An easy way to slow down your eating is to put your fork down between bites—or consider using chopsticks.”
This one has helped me reduce my previous habit of taking a reasonable portion and then going back for seconds before my digestive system realizes the first portion is on its way. When I slowed down, I found resisting the seconds to be much easier. Now, I take a reasonable portion, and slowly enjoy its flavor, and stop.
Health Habit 4 – Use a smaller plates (to help control portions sizes)
From Eating Well magazine, “As serving sizes have increased, so have plate sizes—and seeing appropriately sized portions swimming on a giant plate can make you feel like you’re not getting much food. Put your main meal on a 7-inch plate, which is about the size of a salad plate or child-size plate. Choose a 1-cup dessert or cereal bowl instead of a soup bowl, a 6-ounce wineglass rather than a goblet. When you’re eating out, ask for an extra salad plate and transfer the proper-size portions of your food onto it when you’re served your entree. Then ask the waiter to take away and wrap up the rest.”
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– Switch your soda Your body doesn’t register calories from liquids the same way it does those from foods, so you won’t get those “stop eating” signals to help you compensate for the overload later on. Change from two glasses of regular soda or fruit juice to a flavored or carbonated water (check the nutrition info on the water to see if it says zero calories and no extra sugar added). Saves 300
– Snack smarter Portion out the day’s snacks into pint-size zip bags, or buy single-serving portions. For example, four regular Oreos have 200 calories versus the 100-calorie snack bag version. Or go even healthier by packing vegetables or fruit in the zip bags. Saves 175 (over two snacks)
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