Watch your Portion sizes of food!

Image Courtesy: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/

So now that we know what serving sizes are, we come to portion sizes. Portion sizes are your own version of serving sizes. Maybe meat the size of a deck of cards is too less for you to even judge its taste, and you pile up enough on your plate to enjoy it to the fullest, now that's your portion size.

Limiting portions can help you lose weight and ultimately prevent complications. 

Here are a few steps how you can control your portions:

1.     Don't skip meals

You're more likely to eat an extra-large portion if you haven’t eaten anything for a long time. So, it is advised to have small frequent meals during the day and if this is not possible atleast try not to skip any main meals during the day. 

2.     Know the serving sizes of food

Remember the visual aids of serving sizes and accordingly plan your portions.

3.     Measure and weigh food

This is perhaps the most accurate method to control portions. Weigh and measure your food using measuring cups and weighing scale.

4.    Serving size vs. portion size

If your portion size is more than the serving size then do keep in mind the amount of calories, fats and other nutrients taken by you.

5.    Use portion-control plates

These are handy plates with painted lines (or just smaller plates in general) that help measure carbohydrates, proteins, cheese, and sauces.

6.       Develop good "eating out" habits

First, fill up your plate with green veggies, and get full on those before eating other food. 
Then, when ordering a meal, ask the server to only put half the meal on your plate and takeaway the other half. 

7.    Plan your meals

Write down what you eat, think before you eat, and then eat slowly. Snacks should typically contain no more than 100 calories and 15 grams of carbohydrate, so plan ahead. 
Some good choices include three cups of plain popcorn, 17 small grapes, or a tennis-ball size piece of fruit.

Following is a table showing the number of servings of each type of food to be taken in a 1600 KCal and 2000 KCal diet:

Food Type	1,600 Calories	2,000 Calories
Grains At least half of your servings should be whole-grain.	6 servings per day	6-8 servings per day
Vegetables Eat a variety of colors and types	3-4 servings per day	4-5 servings per day
Fruits Eat a variety of colors and types	4 servings per day	4-5 servings per day
Fat-free or low-fat dairy Products	2-3 servings per day	2-3 servings per day
Lean meats, poultry, and seafood	85-170 g (cooked) per day	Less than 170 g per day
Fats and oils Use liquid vegetable oils and soft margarine most often	2 servings per day	2-3 servings per day
Nuts, seeds, and legumes	3-4 servings per week	4-5 servings per week
Sweets and added sugars	0 servings per week	5 or fewer servings per week

How to calculate the serving size of your recipe?

Your from-scratch recipe might look absolutely yummy, but there's no label to tell you how much a serving should be. To figure that out, you need to weigh the dish and calculate how much each serving will weigh.

·         Weigh the Dish

Weigh the food not counting the weight of the dish it is contained in. For most recipes, you'll either need to weigh the pot or pan before you begin cooking and subtract it from the final weight, or you'll need to transfer the food to a new dish after cooking. If you're transferring the food to a new dish, weigh the empty dish first and either record its weight to subtract from the total or zero in your scale to account for it. Weigh the finished recipe in the new dish to find its total weight.

·         Divide the Recipe into Servings

Once you know how much the entire finished dish weighs, divide the weight by the number of servings in the recipe, which is usually listed in the recipe. Round the result to a memorable number to find the average serving size. For example, if your carrot pudding weighs half kilo (500 g) and yields 4 servings, the result would be 125 g per serving. Divide the recipe into weighed individual servings after calculating their size if you don't want to use the scale every time you'd like a helping.

·         For Recipes without Serving or Calorie Information

If your recipe does not tell you how many servings it yields, you will need to determine this yourself by a calorie count. Use an online food catalog to find information for each ingredient and add the calories from each ingredient to find the dish's total calorie count. Next, you can decide how many calories you want in each serving. For example, if you want each meal of 300 calories, divide the calories in the recipe by 300. Round the resulting number to make a whole number - this is how many servings the recipe yields. If the recipe has 1,300 calories, divide it by 300 to receive 4.33, round that down to four and you have the number of servings in the recipe.

·         Save the Information

Calculating serving size information for a recipe is time consuming and can dirty extra dishes. Save the information for every recipe that you calculate so you will have it on hand if you make it again. 

Read more on Serving Sizes in the Nutri-knowhow column. 

Post by Faiz Lahori

Menu Planning - The Art and Science!

“What should I make for breakfast/lunch/dinner?” seems to be a question that horrifies every woman who cooks for a bunch of picky, choosy and sometimes health conscious food lovers. Every individual loves different type of food and it is on the shoulders of the “woman of the house” to please everyone’s wishes and taste buds. With the super growth of the health conscious funda, now it’s not just about eating to please your buds rather it’s about pleasing your body and consequently it’s about smart cooking and menu planning.

Menu planning can be said to be a process of planning and scheduling intake of meals for a general or specific individual requirements.

The best way to achieve balanced diet is to plan meals in relation to other food for the whole day.

It is advisable to eat small regular meals during the day rather than one huge meal.

A good menu is one which will not only provide adequate calories, fat and proteins but also minerals, vitamins essential for the physical well being of each member of a family. The diet should contain ‘Basic five food groups’.

A family meal should cater to the needs of the different members. A growing adolescent boy may need rich food to satisfy his appetite, whereas a young child may require soft and bland diet. Pregnant woman may require more greens in the diet. Heavy worker may require more calories and B vitamins than other members of the family. Meal pattern varies with age, occupation and lifestyle of the family members.

Planning of meals should be done in such a way that recipes should be simple and nutritious. The planned meals should also fit into the budget of the family and the cost of the meals can be reduced by bulk purchasing and using seasonal foods.

Losses of nutrients during processing, cooking should be minimized. Sprouted grams, malted cereals, fermented foods enhance the nutritive value. Good quality protein should be distributed in all meals. Pressure cooker can be used to conserve nutrients.

The planned meal should meet the recommended dietary allowances of an individual as well as cater to preferences of vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

Variety in colour, texture and taste should be introduced in foods by using different kinds of food and cooking method. The interval between meals should also be considered.

Effective menu planning is rewarding in terms of time and money, especially the little effort that it takes. Here are some tips for successful menu planning:

• Make a commitment: As with any goal―losing weight, exercising, or eating healthier―the first step is to decide that you’re going to do it. Ask people who eat with you about their likes and dislikes about foods and then factor their preferences into your plans.

• Pick a planning style: Planning for the next day or planning for the coming few days or planning for the entire week. Use planners or calenders to do this.

• Make a shopping list: Make a list of things you buy frequently (such as milk, eggs, chicken breasts), then add extras so you don’t have to start from scratch each week.

• Cook perishables first: Cook with perishables like fresh fish or salad greens early in the week.

• Grade your efforts: Critique your meal each time after finishing it.

• For menu planning to be done most effectively, you need to set aside a regular time to do it: Begin by collecting: a pad of paper and pen, your grocery list, if you have one started, any cookbooks or magazines you’ll need, your laptop to access Simple Bites, or your other favorite food sites, for menu planning tips and dinner ideas.

• Decide what you want to prepare: Soup or Salad, Ethnic, Pasta, Casserole and Quick & Easy. Or the cooking styles – grilling, crock-pot, stir-fry, roast.

• Save one day a week for a new dish from a cookbook or a food blog if you like to try new things. If it’s from a blog, make sure you print out the recipe and keep it with your menu plan or in a notebook just for that purpose.

• Make a note of where the recipe is as you write down the menu for each day.

• Keep your shopping list next to your menu planning sheet: As you write down a menu item, look at the recipe and review it, writing down what you need to get from the store.

• If you tend to have a lot of leftovers from your meals, plan one day as LO (leftover) day:  It’s a buffet on the cheap that cleans out the refrigerator and reduces the amount of food you waste. And as a bonus, it’s a no-cook night for you.

• Lastly, look for twofer opportunities:  What’s a twofer? It’s getting two meals from the effort of one. You can do that by using the leftovers from one meal in the next meal, or doubling the recipe and freezing half for another dinner on a day when you absolutely don’t have time to cook.

The size of your family, the time you have for cooking, your family’s food preferences, and whether or not you have picky eaters ALL affect what you cook.

Post by Faiz Lahori