Sometimes Size Does Matter

Take a quick look at these two plates. Which plate has around 450 calories?

Surprise! Both plates have exactly the same amount of food. Okay, maybe it’s not a surprise, maybe you’re well aware that plate size influences how much we eat, but did you know that plate sizes are slowly increasing? The two plates above are my ‘good china.’ The plate on the left is a salad plate, something that used to be called a luncheon plate back when people thought you should eat less at lunch. It measures eight inches across, about the same size as my grandmother’s dinner plates. Today’s dinner plates are between eleven and twelve inches. As plate size slowly creeps up, so do portion sizes.

As writers we know the actual size of something doesn’t matter much compared to how it is perceived. An object can loom large or shrink into nothing when our hero fears it or needs to find it respectively. Unfortunately, your dinner plate uses the same magic trick on your feeling of fullness after a meal. Visual cues help us to gauge how full we are; if you eat off a larger plate you’ll eat more before you feel full.

A study published in Obesity Research asked subjects to rate how satisfied they were and estimate how much they had eaten after consuming a bowl of soup. However, some subjects were given ‘bottomless’ soup bowls that refilled via a pump hidden under the table. It turned out that if a subject’s bowl never emptied they ate 73% more soup. More importantly, after eating they didn’t rate themselves as more satisfied nor did they believe they had eaten more than subjects with a normal bowl.

How can a healthy writer cope? First, try eating off of smaller plates and bowls. You’re likely to eat less without even realizing it. I’ve found using bowls and serving dishes marked with the size to be helpful as well. I know I’ve eaten half a cup when half of the one cup container is empty, instead of just guessing. I have cheap Ziploc containers and durable Pyrex, both do a great job.
Second, stop and look at your food. When all the right words are flowing from my finger tips, I often eat with my eyes on the monitor and one hand typing. It’s great for my daily word count but it means I’m not visually processing how much I’m eating. Similarly, take your food out of its bag or package. It’s a lot easier to know you’ve had ten M&Ms if you counted them out and put them in glass dish instead of snatching a handful or two from the bag as you stand over the sink.

How big are your plates? Do you think plate size matters? Do you eat while typing too? Let me know in the comments below.

Curious to read that study? It’s here: Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake

Want to make the dish you see pictured above? It’s here: Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops with Red Pepper Grits

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When she’s not cooking, buying, or dreaming about food, Rachel Kleinsorge writes steamy paranormal mystery romances. She is currently waiting for the call from her agent, the amazing Carolyn Grayson, while working on her next novel.

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Finding What Works for You

By Sara Reinke

As we head into the new year, armed with resolutions to lose weight, it seems there is no end to the wealth of information available to help us achieve our goals. Just turn on your television and you’ll find them—advertisements featuring workout DVDs promising cardiovascular “boot camps” to toughen you up, prepaid diet programs where food is delivered to your door in perfectly portioned servings, or any number of pills, supplements or energy drinks guaranteed to reprogram your metabolism, decrease your body’s fat absorption or reduce your hunger pangs.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with so many options coming at you so fast. And if you’re like me, instead of adding to my motivation to lose weight, all of these options only work to discourage me.

Let me give you an example. A friend of mine is trying to lose weight. She’s putting herself through her own personal hell, sweating through 80 minutes of cardio workouts daily, plus free weight training at her local gym. She’s lost 30 pounds, but man, she’s working at it.

I hate to sweat. I’m lazy by nature. I’m cheap. And I like to eat. There’s no way I’d endure some drill sergeant of a personal trainer screaming in my ear in so-called “motivation.” There’s no way I’d put my body through the torture of nearly an hour and a half of intense physical exercise. And there’s no way in hell I would shell out perfectly good money for a gym membership to be subjected to that kind of abuse. That’s just not something that suits my personality, my physical abilities.

Another friend lost more than 50 pounds doing Weight Watchers. She counted points religiously, attended meetings and inspired other friends to join her. She almost inspired me to join her, too, but then I went online and found out how much Weight Watchers costs. (See my note above about being cheap.) I was able to repeatedly talk myself out of even trying Weight Watchers just for the price of the program alone, never mind the commitment to a weekly meeting and weigh-in session. I work full time, in addition to my writing pursuits, and am a wife and mother, full-time jobs in and of themselves. So I discovered I’m commitment-shy, too, meaning I didn’t want to put forth the time, effort or energy demanded of a regimented program.

Nutrisystem? I’m too cheap to try it. Same thing with diet pills and weight-loss tonics. Fad diets? I like carbs too much to give them up, lettuce too little to eat nothing but and will bite you like a rabid dog if you try to take away my chocolate.

This probably means that as a food-lover with a penchant for carbs, chocolate and cheese, who is too cheap to commit to a gym or diet program and too lazy to sweat, I’m doomed to be overweight forever. Right?

This time last year, I’d have told you yes. But today, I know differently. Last spring, I took a little online health quiz and saw that my body mass index, which is an indicator of the percentage of fat in your body given your height, weight and gender. At the time, I would have admitted to being a little overweight. I would have admitted to hiding behind other people in photographs, or avoiding having my picture taken altogether. Had you asked, I would have said, no, I’m not happy now that my size 18 pants are getting too tight and my 1X shirts too snug, so I have to purchase size 20 and 2X. But it wasn’t until I saw that BMI result that I realized just how big the blinders I had been wearing were. I wasn’t overweight.

At 5’6” and 190 pounds, I was obese. I was at critical risk for developing adult onset diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, respiratory problems and other obesity-related health issues. I realized I had to do more than go on a diet. I had to find someway to change my life for the healthier.

But then I found myself overwhelmed by all of the options I described earlier. And by feeling overwhelmed, I was also able to postpone getting healthy and losing weight, because I was waiting for what I thought was a magic pill, an easy answer, the quick and simple solution that would melt my pounds away while requiring nothing more of me than I was already giving.

But there is no magic pill. Not really. By that, I mean there’s no one thing that works every time for every person. Everyone has to find out what works for them. That’s why those cardio boot camps DVDs have real-life people in their commercials on TV describing how much weight they’ve lost or how many inches have melted off their bodies from doing the exercises. For those folks, and plenty of others, those DVDs are their magic pill. Just like Weight Watchers was the magic pill for my friend and Jenny Craig was the magic pill for Valerie Bertinelli. But that didn’t make these methods right for me—and doesn’t make them right for you, either.

For me, what worked was counting calories and walking. I decided to do this after almost buying a little carton of Weight Watchers yogurt. I was buying it for the label alone, figuring if it said Weight Watchers on it, it had to be the healthiest. Right? But then I compared it to another brand of yogurt and realized it had 20 more calories for the same sized container. And thus, the idea for counting calories and reading nutrition labels was born.

I kept a food log, first in little spiral notebooks I carried in my purse, and now that I have technologically vaulted headlong into the 21^st century, I keep track on a little app on my iPhone. I write down everything I eat, whether I want to admit it or not, and the calories in each and every item. When I was trying to lose weight, I limited myself to 1,500 calories a day. Once I’d hit my goal weight, I allowed myself 2,200. Because I ate too many sweets over the holidays in spite of this, I am back to 1,700 so I can get back to my goal weight.

Because I love food, I wasn’t willing to go without anything I like, and by counting calories, I don’t have to. I can eat bread, rice, potatoes, French fries, cheese, fruit—anything I want. It’s the portion size that counts. I’ve learned how much I can eat and still remain within my daily caloric allotment.

I added a salad to my lunch every day, and for those first few months, ate Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine frozen entrees. The calories are already totaled for you, the portions already sized, so you don’t have to worry about it. And you can learn what 300 calories worth of salisbury steak and macaroni and cheese looks like, so you can later fix a plate for yourself and keep within that range. Today, I’m better about estimating by sight what a proper portion of food looks like. When I’m in doubt, I still pull out my food scale and make sure. (You can buy these cheap in your grocery store, less than $10. Money well, well spent.)

I read nutrition labels. I compared different products and bought the ones with the least calories. Spaghetti sauce, pasta, soups, rice cakes, puddings—you name it, I learned about it and went with the healthiest. I decided if it was more expensive, it would be worth it in the long run. And it was still less expensive than a paid-diet supplement or gym membership, so that kept my cheap self from grumbling too much.

I found little ways to keep my gluttonous self happy. For example, Jell-O sugar-free puddings help ease my craving for chocolate. Jell-O sugar-free gelatin is another indulgence, especially if topped with Redi Whip fat free (5 calories!) whipped topping. Rice cakes take away my urge to chomp on something salty and crunchy. Microwave low-fat popcorn works well, too. Partially skim milk cheeses have fewer calories per serving than regular cheese. Baked French fries are every bit as good as their fried counterparts, without all of the grease and added calories and fat.

I also discovered new indulgences I never would have otherwise tried. For example, I love the grilled chicken snack wraps at McDonald’s, ordered without any sauce. Most places put way too much sauce on sandwiches anyway, and the snack wrap comes with cheese, which, with the chicken, tastes delicious without drowning in ranch dressing.

When I go out to eat, if possible, I check the menu’s nutritional information online before going, or use my iPhone to check it out once I’m there. Then I can make healthy choices on the fly. I tried a grilled pork tenderloin at Olive Garden doing this—something I never would have picked had I not been calorie conscious. And it was incredibly delicious.

One thing I’ve seen stressed on Biggest Loser, and with which I have to agree whole-heartedly, is to not be afraid to order off the menu at a restaurant. I substitute healthy sides like a salad or grilled vegetables for French fries or not-so-healthy dishes. I always ask for sauces to be skipped or served on the side. Salad dressings, too. I don’t always get the least-caloric salad dressing, but even if I don’t, when it’s on the side, I use only a fraction of it by dipping each bite into it, instead of dumping it all over my food. Pull the skin off your chicken. Order a side of vegetables with your steak instead of a potato. Have salsa with your tortilla chips instead of queso dip. Order fish if they’ve got it—preferably white, like tilapia or mahi mahi. Keep all of your meat portions under 6 ounces and you won’t overdo it. Share a dessert with your husband or kids—or your husband and kids. These are just some of the rules of thumb I keep in mind anymore when dining out.

When I say I walked as part of my new diet/exercise changes, I don’t mean on a treadmill. I have one at home, and I’ll get on it if Biggest Loser is on, but ordinarily, it sits in my family room, collecting dust bunnies beneath it. I like to walk outside. I call it my daily dose of Zen. Whether it’s 98 degrees outside or 22, you’ll find me twice a day, Monday through Friday, hoofing a path around where I work. A group of my coworkers join me, and that helps keep me motivated, even on days when I’d rather stay inside and eat M&Ms. I probably average 3.5 or 4 miles an hour, which means for each 20-minute trek, I burn anywhere from 65 to 75 calories, or roughly 130-150 calories a day. Not bad.

I set realistic goals for myself. When I was 20-something years old, I could quit eating for a week and drop 10 pounds. I’m almost 40 now and have had two kids. My metabolism doesn’t work that way anymore. So I tried to be optimistic but realistic with my weight-loss expectations. One to two pounds a week is a healthy weight-loss range. And you’re more likely to keep the weight off if it’s lost gradually like this, through healthy methods.

Eating less and exercising more in a fashion that suited my activity level and personal preference. That’s all I did. That’s my magic pill. I’m not saying it’s going to work for you. But by doing this, I went from 190 pounds in April to 150 pounds in September and I’ve kept it off. With the exception of four pesky pounds I gained around the holidays, which I am now half-way to losing. I’m healthy and happy, no longer hiding in photographs. And my BMI is well within the normal range for my proportions.

My advice to anyone with a New Year’s resolution to lose weight is to go for it. Find what works for you—whatever that may be—and stick to it. Trust me—if I can do it, anyone can.

Sara Reinke is the author of urban fantasy and paranormal romances, including The Brethren series from Zebra Books. Visit her at her blog: http://sarareinkeauthor.blogspot.com/

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My New Calorie Tracker

I mentioned a few days ago that I was trying out a free trial of a computer program to track my food and exercise. I decided to buy this program from Calorie King tonight because I like how it allows me to click and drag many common foods into sections for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks. I can also customize foods and add them to my listings if they aren't in the system. Not only does it tell me the calorie count but also things like fat content, carbs, fiber, protein, etc. And it shows me in a chart how many units of each of these I've taken in for the day and how that compares to my limit as determined by what I input for my weight, height, rate of activity and weight goals (whether I wanted to lose or maintain). I actually shoot for fewer calories than it's telling me I can have, but not below the 1,200 limit that I've seen mentioned many places as the low end of the safety spectrum.

The program also allows me to put in what exercise I've done for the day, how many calories that has burned, and how that affects my allowable calorie intake. There's a check-in function that allows me to put in weekly weigh-ins and other info if I want. It also lets me track my fluid intake and lets me know how much more I need in the day. If it only had a place to keep track of steps, but that's okay. I'll put that in the check-in area.

After I've been using the program for awhile, there's a function that will let me see progress charts over time.

How do you all track your food intake, exercise, etc.? A computer program? Spreadsheet? Write it in a notebook?

Oh, and I killed a pedometer today. When I got home from running three hours of errands, I looked at it to see how many steps I'd tallied only to find it was dead, dead, dead. Luckily, I had another and strapped it on. I sure wish I knew what the step count was before the other one died. I feel pretty confident I went over 10,000 today. I've had more than 2,500 on the second one, and that's just been since about 3:30 this afternoon. Most of my walking was before that.

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Fast Food Tips

I was on the road again this past weekend, and that always gets me to thinking about the eating choices at fast food restaurants. We all know that fast food can torpedo a daily calorie count faster than just about anything, but it is possible to make some choices that don't involve consuming your entire daily calorie allowance in one meal. Luckily, most fast food restaurants have their nutritional information available online, and they're often included in calorie count books you can keep in your purse or the glove compartment of your car. If you keep your calorie counts lower for the other meals in your day, you can consume some fast food for one -- whether by choice or necessity. I have to admit sometimes I crave specific fast foods like Chicken McNuggets. No, it's not haute cuisine, but I like what I like.

I saw an article today that mentioned how fast food restaurants in New York are now not only making the nutritional info available online but also displaying it prominently in their restaurants -- very handy for customers trying to make the best decision possible. This article, which can be read by clicking here, also includes some tips for making better fast food decisions.
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Progress:

After a weekend at a writers retreat where I was speaking, I was afraid the scales would reveal a weight gain today. But it didn't! Awesome. I really need to increase the exercise though because I've hit my first plateau. I'm sitting at the 12 pounds lost mark, and I've been here for awhile. I want to hit the next milestone of 15.

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Inaccuracy in Labeling

Since I've been counting calories, I've paid a lot more attention to the nutritional labels on food products. So I was not happy to see an article today that talked about how testing has shown that nearly 1/4 of the labels are inaccurate to some extent. To me, there is something fundamentally and morally wrong with inaccurately labeling food products when consumers' health depends on the accuracy of such listings. This isn't just true of people counting calories in order to lose weight. My mom has to buy a lot of sugar-free things now, but according to the article, sugar was found in a pie labeled sugar-free at a major store chain.

If you'd like to read the entire article, you can see it here.

I guess until the labeling becomes more accurate, maybe I'll overestimate a bit on the calorie counts. When unsure, I tend to do that anyway. I'd rather overestimate how much I'm eating than underestimate. I've often wished there was a machine you could put a prepared dish into and it would tell you accurately how many calories are in it. Wouldn't that be awesome?
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Today's progress:

Calorie intake: 1,123

Exercise: I'm still recuperating from being sick, but I made myself get outside and walk for 30 minutes today. Sure, I was exhausted afterward, but it was a first step back toward my normal hour of walking. Hopefully, I can get up to at least 45 minutes tomorrow. And an extra bonus -- it was a gorgeous fall day today -- cool, clear blue sky, low humidity, breezy. Perfect walking weather.

Steps: 10,120

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News about Fast Food Lunches

I've been doing a lot more looking at restaurant Web sites lately for the nutritional information. I was pleasantly surprised by how many have this information available, but I wish it was universal. For instance, Cracker Barrel doesn't have one, and other restaurants (like Famous Dave's BBQ, from which we got takeout tonight) only has a partial listing. When the official lists aren't available, it takes a bit more investigation and sometimes estimating. I estimate on the high side when I'm not sure because I don't want to think I'm taking in fewer calories than I actually am.

When I do eat out, I've made different decisions than I've made in the past. As I mentioned in a previous post, most of the time I cut the portions in half and make the meal last for two. I also am trying out different menu items. For instance, at Famous Dave's I used to get the BBQ chicken wings and dip them in ranch dressing. I really wanted them tonight, but they aren't listed in the nutritional information -- which leads me to believe they're one of the higher-calorie options. Instead, I tried the char-grilled chicken sandwich and only ate half of it for 222.5 calories.

I saw an article today (read it here) about how high the average calorie counts are with fast food lunches. I cringed as I thought of all the times I had a burger and fries and an apple pie from McDonald's or a Frito Pie and cheese tots from Sonic. I can still have these on occasion, but not all at once and I have to plan for them. And they need to be the exception rather than the rule, no matter how much I crave them.
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Today's progress:

Calorie intake: 1,335

Exercise: 45 minutes mowing (I feel better because of the exercise, and perhaps the neighbors won't stage a lawn intervention.)

Steps: 7,502

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Why I Need a New Phone

You might be scratching your head about the title of the post and what it has to do with being healthy, but here's the sitch. Today I went to my RWA chapter meeting. We always eat lunch afterward, but we don't decide where until after the meeting. We ended up at O'Charley's, and I thought, after looking over the menu, "I'll be good and have a salad." If I'd only had a phone with Internet capabilities, I would have looked up the nutritional info online and known that the Tortilla Salad was NOT a good choice. It had 590 calories and didn't really fill me up. I was still hungry when I got home. I ate a cheesey bread stick left over from dinner last night to tide me over until dinner, but I was going to have to go slim on dinner to stay in my 1,200-calorie range for the day.

But by dinnertime, I was about to chew my arm off I was so hungry. No way I was going to make it. Not to mention I've been craving Mexican food. And I know when I crave something I have to feed the craving or I will begin to obsess about it. So, I accepted I was going to go over the calorie count today but looked at the menu to figure out something that was much lower in calories than what I would normally get. I didn't need the queso dip or the sour cream or the entire bag of chips. I ended up with a single chicken quesadilla and a bit of refried beans and four tortilla chips. Higher in calories than most of my dinners of late, but not as not as bad as the giant burrito or slathered-in-cheese chimichanga I normally get. And it satisfied the craving so that tomorrow I can get back to a staying-at-home, healthier eating plan for the day, and thus a lower calorie count. I may shoot for something in the 1,000 range tomorrow to counter today's big number.

Have any of you ever eaten something, thinking it was a good choice, only to find out later it wasn't?

Anyway, my phone is ancient, and after my deadline I'm going to start exploring getting a new one that has some Internet surfing capability so I'm not attacked by a Giant Calorie Salad again.

Today's progress:

Calorie count: 1,674

Exercise: None again. Yes, I know I was going to do better today. Sigh. Not that this is good for the health (unless you count my stress level), but I am getting several pages written today. I'm up to 13 now and want to get at least 2 more. Was shooting for 20, but I'm beginning to get tired. If I could only write and walk at the same time.

Steps: 4,925

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Getting healthy

By starting this blog and making my efforts to live a healthier life public, I'm hoping that having to put my ups and downs out here for the whole world to see will keep me on track. And, in the process, I hope that I can help fellow writers (or others with sedentary desk jobs) to take steps to become healthier too.

Why do I think I need to make the extra effort? Several reasons:

1. I weigh a bit more each year from all the hours in the chair and not enough going for walks or doing aerobics.

2. Both of my parents have had heart attacks; my dad's also had a stroke; diabetes and anxiety run in my family; and living a healthier life will hopefully keep these things at bay.

3. I turn 40 next year. I hear it becomes much more difficult to lose weight and get fit after 40.

4. I worked a long time to become a published author. Kicking the bucket now just as I'm getting started as a published author would really bite. I still want to be writing and publishing books when I'm in my 90s! :)

5. I don't want to be depressed when I go clothes shopping.

6. Exercising and making smart eating choices makes me feel better, and I want to feel good physically and mentally.

So I'll be sharing my progress over the days and weeks and months to come as well as some tips and useful Web sites, books, etc. Basically anything I think will serve as inspiration. I hope you'll share your own ups and downs, your own tips and inspirational stories. And while my focus will be on fellow writers and others who have desk jobs, you don't have to fall into those categories to take part -- just anyone who wants to live a healthier life.

So, goals:

1. Lose 35-40 pounds. I have a healthy target weight in mind. I'd love to lose this by next July, when the Romance Writers of America National Conference will be here in Nashville. I plan to weigh each morning and post about how far I am from my target weight.

2. Wear my pedometer every day, and make sure I get in 10,000 steps. According to The Walking Site, an average sedentary person may only get in 1,000-3,000 steps a day. I've been wearing the pedometer lately, and I notice that on an average day with no exercise, I get in about 3,000 steps. So getting in those extra 7,000 steps requires me to get off my tookus and move. The Walking Site says that walking 10,000 steps equals about 5 miles.

3. Don't drink Coke. I like Coca-Cola -- the real stuff. Not diet (bleh!), not caffeine-free. So it's best that I just cut it out altogether. After a few days, it's actually not that hard. I pretty much just drink water all the time.

4. Much harder for me is giving up sweets. I have an enormous sweet tooth. But I'm limiting the intake and looking at options with fewer calories.

5. Figure out what my max caloric intake needs to be each day in order to lose weight.

6. Portion control. No seconds.


Today's progress:

Calorie intake: 1,584 (Just did some research and figured that I can take in 1,994 calories a day and maintain my current weight. But I want to shed pounds, so I'll go for less than that.)

Exercise: 1 hour of mowing the lawn (Calories burned = 437.4)

Steps: 10,051 (Calories burned = 198.8; estimate since all this walking isn't done at one time and therefore I can't judge the mph rate at which I was walking)

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