Lunch, water, and portion size.

I made spaghetti last night, with whole grain pasta and added, onions, peppers, celery and carrots. So for lunch I had left overs with a half slice of Toasted Wheat Berry bread. 

I took a pic to show off the serving size, do you know how little we are really supposed to eat, and how fast calories add up? Just a few extra scoops and you are adding 100's of additional calories. Do you know a serving size of cooked pasta is just a 1/2 cup?

My before plate, which is a salad plate.

I am using a salad plate and you can see just a half of piece of toast.  Without measuring I can tell even this is over a serving size, because I tell myself lies that, "it is OK and there are veggies, it is whole wheat, it's extra lean ground beef", but don't fall for it folks. Don't fall into the, "it's OK, because", trap, "it's OK, I worked out, it's OK, I skipped lunch, it's OK, it's low fat"  all traps that lead to extra calories that lead to extra weight.

I also made a point to drink water while eating, that will slow your eating and help you feel fuller so you eat less. And your brain can catch up and realize it has eaten enough.
I need more water, and I also have to say, I am really surprised at how little we should be eating.

I wanted more, but didn't need more.

That truly was the turning point for me, portion size, knowing serving sizes, listening to my body, and accepting hunger. Your body will adjust to smaller portions, just takes time about a week or so.

And I ended up not even eating all my lunch, cause I know what full feels like now. I am comfortable with how much I ate, I am not stuffed, but satisfied.

This is a 1/2 cup of cooked pasta on a dinner plate. One Serving.

Okay after I finished eating I realized I am kinda of a douche, if I tell you watch the serving size and don't show you the actual size, I had more spaghetti, so I got out my handy dandy 1/2 cup measuring cup and a full size dinner plate to show you. I was pretty close with my lunch serving after all. But in the past more than half my full size plate would have been covered with noodles and sauce. So get out those cups, measure your serving spoons, know what a serving is and what it looks like, then you learn how it feels when you eat one. I have one serving spoon I use all the time, I measured it and now when I dish up soup or casserole I know what how much I have taken, a 1/4 cup. Much easier to figure out your true calorie intake. And that really is the bottom line, what and how much you put in your mouth.