Recently I posted another cooking video, Creamy Crab Salad,
which is located at DietHobby, under RECIPES, Mealtime.
This is a low-carb recipe that is low-calorie when eaten in small amounts.

Portion control is understanding
how much a serving size is
and how many calories a serving contains.

Portion control is important for weight management
since a person’s weight is determined by their total calorie intake.

Healthy eating, (using Aristotle's philosophy)
is the desirable middle between
the extremes of excess and deficiency (over-eating and not eating enough).

A "serving size" according to a package
may bear little resemblance to the amount of the food
which most people eat at a time.

First-time dieters can find the process of calculating serving sizes
and calorie counting confusing;.
and because there are so many varieties of supermarket products,
serving sizes are commonly inaccurate.

Portion sizes can be estimated by using objects as a point of reference.
One way of determining portion size is to compare hand size.

For example a healthy serving of protein should not be larger
than a palm size piece of meat.

Carbohydrate servings such as pasta can be measured by fistfuls.
A healthy serving of pasta should be one fistful.

A great many people don’t understand that
a standard “serving size” is NOT the amount of food
that their parents, family, friends, or restaurant places on a plate
and serves to them.

Here are some examples of standard serving sizes.
If you only have half, you’re having one-half a serving;
and if you have more,
consider the fact that you’re having extra servings.

One serving of grain:
one cup of whole grain cereal, one fourth of a bagel, one cup of pasta.

One serving of vegetables:
five cherry tomatoes, five sticks of celery, one whole carrot.

One serving of fruit:
a medium apple, fifteen large grapes, half a banana.

One serving of dairy:
one cup of milk, three cheese cubes, half cup of low fat cottage cheese.

One serving of meat:
1/4 chicken breast, daily guide line: one fist full per meal.

Fats and Sugars:
as little as possible, dairy and meat contain plenty of necessary fat,
while fruits contain enough natural sugars.

Recently I posted another cooking video, Peach Quick Bread,
which is located at DietHobby, under RECIPES, Sweet Tastes.

This is a reduced-carb and reduced-fat recipe
and is low-calorie when eaten in small amounts.

It contains wheat and some sugar, and is a tasty treat
for those who have a food plan which allows those specific foods.

                    
Many of the posts in various diet forums
deal with the subject of Bingeing.
Recently, in one such discussion,
one of the members asked other forum members this question

“Have you ever examined when the binges occur,
what feelings you have before the binge?
I mean, have you ever considered they may be
a reaction or an acting-out to something other than food restriction?
I ask this because bingeing can be a form of self-expression.”

 As a person who has struggled with a lifetime of bingeing,
I agree with the above quote, however...
I have spent MORE than 20 years in therapy dealing with this issue,
and the feelings surrounding it.

This made me feel much better about it,
and gave me emotional tools that have very helpful in my life.
BU FRANKLY all of that Therapy... plus the many, many self-help books,
and eating disorder tactics like Intuitive Eating
did little or nothing to reduce or eliminate binging.

 Recently I began seriously considering
the possibility that my binges MIGHT well be a
"reaction to something other than food restriction".

MAYBE it isn't basically a psychological problem.
MAYBE it IS REALLY a physical reaction to the way the chemicals
in some of the specific kinds of foods that I eat interact with my own body.

I don't know.
I'm experimenting with that possibility right now.

                       
Many people think of calories like money in the bank.
We get x number of calories a day to “spend”
(taking into account height/weight, age, gender & activity level).
Valuable little commodities to do with what you will.

Living the thin lifestyle, I also tend to think of calories
like having money in the bank,
and how I get to decide to spend those calories every day.

I track my calorie bank account with my computer software program.
It makes life a little more manageable,
and is extremely helpful for weight-loss and for weight maintenance.

We can also compare calories to money in the following way.