Starving Foodie

Portion Control

Last week, I was in Seattle to visit some old friends.  Dinner consisted of baked beans, dinner rolls, and some great Italian sausage made at Oregon State University.  OSU is an ag school and they routinely have fresh meats, veggies and other items for sale. The sausage was good and the homemade baked beans were phenomenal.  I had only 1/2 a sausage and loaded up on the salad.  I did have a second helping of baked beans, but the first portion was purposefully a small one.  There were some chips on the table, which I had Juli move to the other end.  Out of arms reach.

Steamer Pot Delight
I love seafood. Clams, fish, oysters, squid, conch, prawns, octopus, urchin eggs, and the list continues. Provided it is fresh, I like it. On our way back from Cape Flattery, we stopped at The 3 Crabs in Sequim. I opted for the steamer pot as it was not fried, pan seared or broiled – I was hoping to cut back on the fat by having something simply steamed. I ate everything but the half crab, only had one dinner roll and skipped the desert. Clams, shrimp, oysters, and fish are relatively low in calories. So despite what appeared to be a large portion, there was actually very little. About a dozen small clams (~7 cals each), two larger oysters (~ 10 cals each), 4 small scallops ( ~ 5 cals each), 3 medium shrimp (~ 5 calories each) and about 3 oz of cod (~ 90 cals). Seems like a ton, but only comes to about 230 calories. Throw in another 30-50 cals for the butter in the broth, 100 for the dinner roll, and 100 for a salad and you are still under 500 calories.

Splitting Portions
I also dined at a very nice bakery/restaurant. Juli and split a portion of bruschetta and then had a bowl of soup. I’ve not been successful at this yet, but I good tip I received while at H3 was to split your portion first and have it wrapped immediately. This prevents you from picking at the other half. Also, I try not to linger around at the restaurant. I try to get away from the table as soon as possible. If the conversation is continuing, drop by a coffee shop or bar. Have a (as in one) glass of wine or stick to club soda.

Apps as Meals
Increasingly, I’ve been pairing appetizers with a salad for my meal. A place near my house does Angus beef tips on their bar menu. This is about a 2-3 oz portion of beef — that’s plenty. Pair it with a house salad and a dinner roll for a complete meal. At another restaurant, I found a crab cake appetizer was plenty when combined with a salad. Pairing apps with a salad or soup is a great way to control the portion size.

Portions are Key
I’ve long given up eating fried, greasy foods. Rarely indulge in sweets like ice cream, cake or pie. I eat pretty clean. However, I was not eating good portion sizes. Dinner was often out-sized. In retrospect, I think this overstuffed my stomach and when it started to shrink, I started feeling hungry again – at least psychologically. So I would snack. Eating smaller portions at dinner actually makes me less hungry later on. Perhaps I’m just paying more attention to what I eat because there is less of it, but getting portions under control has helped me continue my weight loss.

Portions are Everything when Traveling
I’ve managed two successful trips this past month with no weight gain. I think I may have actually lost a couple of pounds. The key thing was having snacks, such as apples and fruit, and keeping a close watch on portion. I know almost always ask about portion sizes of apps, salads or soups before ordering. If you don’t order too much, you cannot overeat. Never forget:

If you are hungry, you can always order more.

Benchmark … still losing
I think I’ve lost another 10 lbs since H3. I need to get on the Wii fit and look at the dates to be sure. But the weight continues to come off despite 2 weeks of travel and 1 week with a sinus infection. I’m hoping this month I can be back on track for 2-3 lbs per week.