Portion control - What does 200 calories look like??

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calorie s-look-like.htm

I subsribe to Wise Geek, a sort of fact a day website/email.

This was in today's email.

Click on the thumbnail for  full size pic, quite fascinating I thought,

Its amazing how much or how little it can be, depending on the food item.

Pretty neat page... Thanks for sharing it :)

Wow!  That's a great visual cue for how much (or little) you can eat of certain foods.  The half sandwiches are an eye-opener!

Thank you so much for sharing this.  Quite an eye opener.  It's nice to have a way to sort of 'eyeball' things when you don't have a food scale of measuring spoons/cup handy.  Ultimately, that's the way to go because when you're at a friend's home, or eating out, you want to be able to do that ("eye-ball" your portions).  Thank you again so much.  Hope you don't mind, I shared the link (just the link!) with the weight loss yahoogroup I run.  

I'm thrilled to have people share it. Too many people have no idea how much they are really eating.

For portion control I practice measuring at home. I measure out a portion, guess how much it is, and then double check. I'm not perfect, but I've gotten pretty good at guestimating, which helps keep me in line.

I bookmarked that one!  Thanks.

I'm glad I like celery

Too bad I like Bailey's! Hehe. The glazed doughnut made me laugh because it had the tiniest sliver cut from it. I always think I am only eating a serving of things like trail mix and cereal, but then I measure them and am shocked at the true serving numbers! Oops. Now I portion them into ziplock bags right after I buy them.

What a great tool. This should be expanded into a searchable database.

Erik and Igor...go to a photography school and hire a bunch of students to start snapping shots! It could be a great addition to your site's array of features if each item had a photo that showed the actual portion size.

Wow. Thanks for posting that.

That''s how I gained weight--I kept convincing myself that the junk food I was eating wasn't really so bad.

I think I'm going to print it and tape it to the fridge.  That would be a motivator to make good food choices.

Wow! That really shows you how you need to watch what you eat. Geez, I agree with jayjay.

"I think I'm going to print it and tape it to the fridge.  That would be a motivator to make good food choices."

That's part of how I got in trouble also, major denial about how much I was really eating, not to mention the poor choices.

"its just a few chips, a little bit of ice cream, only a burger..."

and I wondered how I got to 300 pounds.

I knew I was eating high calorie, but some of those calorie dense foods, fool you into thinking you aren't consuming that much when you really are.

One really has to be educated and pay attiention these days.

Two TBLS of peanut butter (which is healhty btw, in limited quantities), vs over 3lbs of celery.. makes you stop and think..

Edited by me, because I apparently can't spell.

That's part of how I got in trouble also, major denial about how much I was really eating, not to mention the poor choices.


Yep, compounded (for me) with a binge eating disorder and depression, and you can see how easy it was for me to get over 400 lbs.  I knew the basics on how to eyeball certain things (for example a serving of beef was equal to a deck of playing cards), but it was really interesting to see the ones on that site!  And the group loved it too, by the way - thanks again.  Even they said it was quite an eye-opener.

Even now, when I have a bad day, it's still good vs. my old 'bad days'.  I look back on how much I would have consumed (bad portion control + BED + depression) - I would have easily been taking in 5000+ calories for the day.  Now, even when I have a binge, I find my calories don't go above 2200, so I guess I'm making progress.  :D 

Wow... I never really realized that til now.... thanks for the start to an epiphany.  :D  :D

I always think I am only eating a serving of things like trail mix and cereal, but then I measure them and am shocked at the true serving numbers! Oops. Now I portion them into ziplock bags right after I buy them.

You know - I love that idea!  I never would have thought of that!  I think I'm going to purchase some of the smaller ziplock bags next time we go shopping and do exactly that!  I love it!!!!!!!

I use the single serving trick a lot, especially with items I would other wise over eat. I also make sure to put the rest away out of site, not sitting in front of me.

When I see food in front of me, I want to eat it, if I am hungry or not, it is like it is taunting me.

I also practice measuring my portions. I take what I think should be a normal portion than measure it to see how close I really am. Sometimes it can be quite the eye opener.

I also make sure that the fruits and veggies are always ready to go and right in front of me, which makes me more likely to grab them. I try to limit the amount of crap I have in the house, often easier said than done with a teenager and my idiotic ex around. (this is the guy who thinks a can of beer should count as serving of barley!!)