Watch what you eat

The BF (oops I mean BT, betrothed) and I have undergone the brilliant endeavor of joining weight watchers in order to get our eating and drinking habits in check. They have unconsciously gotten a bit out of hand. You know how it is when you’re in love, right? Drinking a little more wine, eating out a bit more, eating larger portions (it’s hard to cook only for two) and generally not paying attention can add on the pounds and make you unaware of what you consume.

That’s where WW comes in. I have always been a huge fan of the weight watchers system because it's all about portion control. You eat what you want but pay attention to how much, which is something I have lost track of. Did you know that a serving of pasta is only the size of your hand? That’s insane. I could eat enough spaghetti to fill both hands and feet and then some. A serving of cheese is the size of 2 dice. Now that’s not to say you don’t eat the entire wheel but know that you’re eating 25 servings.

The tricky thing is how to figure out how many servings you’re supposed to eat in a day in order to maintain health and keep oneself from packing on the freshman 15, or in my case the fiancé 5. Now I have always been a giant believer in mindful eating and paying attention to your body to know when your hungry/what to eat etc. but sometimes when you’re busy it’s hard to pay attention and that’s why the BT and I have decided to enlist help.

There are tons of ways you can learn how much you need to eat. The USDA has a fabulous site called www.mypyramid.gov that explains healthy eating and portion control and there is even a tracker so you can track what you’re eating and pay attention. Most of the time I don’t even realize I’m snaking on food at work unless I am writing it down and actually paying attention. Also I was recently introduced by an awesome colleague of mine (Mary-Ellen Di Paola; the best dietitian I know) to Harvard's own version of the governments' healthy plate. www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/

It is extremely informative and I think Harvard did a great job.

This week I would love everyone to start paying attention to what they consume. Maybe you will find that you don’t eat enough. If you look at your day and realize that your food intake consists of 7 cups of coffee and a muffin until dinner, it might explain those afternoon headaches. Maybe you aren’t reading a label and instead of one serving in your Trader Joe's salad, it’s 2. (I did that)

If paying attention drives you crazy or makes you a neurotic mess then please disregard this message and go back to mindful eating. You can read more about that here: wellnesswithsarah.blogspot.com/2010/05/in-fog.html Otherwise, have a great week and Bon Appétit’

Be Good to your Body, it's where you Live