Choose Your Dinner Plate Wisely!!

Your weight could be on the line! 

Did you know that grandma's plates were smaller? That in time plate size has grown to an average of 2-3'' more than they used to be. Causing us to eat more! I checked out Walmart.com just to see what the average dinner ware set was, and it looks like a dinner plate is around 10 inches and a salad plate is around 7 inches. There were other sets that had 12 inch plates though. And to be honest, if I didn't know better I would have grabbed the 12 inch set and filled up my plate the next night for dinner! Who knew?

Like many of us, we struggle with weight, and we just dont know when to stop eating. We should rely on our bodies to tell us that enough is enough, but for most people- we do not. When something tastes good to me, or I spent a lot of time cooking it, I'd rather eat every last bite on my plate than waste it. There are starving children in Africa, so why would I want to throw away a few scraps of delicious food? Well maybe if I had used a smaller plate, I would have finished when my stomach was full, and not have had any food to waste! But there are alot of things that can trick your mind about food. Not only does a plate size effect how much we eat, but if we are eating something with a fancy, gourmet label we automatically assume the food tastes better than if we would have chose a generic brand. Same is said for the way food is prepared and how it looks - if the display is pleasing we convince ourselves that the food is better.  

Measure the plate set you have at home. Try to go for a plate that is 2 inches smaller than what you would normally use. Cutting down 2 inches in your plate ware could cause you to eat 22% less the food than you normally would, which would result in possibly some weight loss! Tonight I chose to go with my salad plate, which is around 7 inches. And because I did this, I had enough dinner to pack up for tomorrow's (possible) lunch at work. 

For once in my life (or maybe just a long ass time) I felt proud tonight. I had a bag of organic, baby potatoes, and instead of cooking the whole bag I only cooked enough of what I thought would just feed me for one serving. I did the same thing with my chicken. I cooked one breast out of a 3 piece package. I also saved half of my butternut squash and only cooked a little bit. Which when I ate dinner, I cut all those portions in half, which fit onto my 7 inch plate, and when I got down to my last bite... I was actually FULL!!!!!!!!!! I did not feel like I had to have seconds, I did not feel like I had to go grab a snack or dessert out of the cabinet, and here it is almost 2 hours later, and I am still full. 

And I managed to still stay 300 calories under my goal - here are some pictures to enjoy~ as you can see my house is rid of chips, cupcakes, and other fatty, sugary, junk and full of fresh fruits -n- veggies, like below.

For lunch I had tuna & onions in a flaxseed wrap, with a slice of watermelon and some Special K sour cream & onion cracker chips. Which are delicious and so low in calories - 27 chips is like 100 calories or something, that is like triple the serving size than any chips or crackers that I know of. 

For dinner I boiled up some butternut squash and I threw a piece of chicken breast in the oven covered in cream of mushroom soup to keep it creamy (dry chicken sux) alongside some organic, baby, potatoes. I just put a little spritz of oil on top the potatoes.

 

When my butternut squash was brought to a boil, I drained the water, then mashed it up. I added a little bit of salt and pepper and 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. It was delicious. A little spicey though, which must have been from the pepper? Yet I only added a little bit.

And hubby has not been on a health kick like me, although I have been trying to slowly get him to eat better. He doesnt eat bad though, just when he does eat, he has absolutely NO portion control what-so-ever. I have watched him eat a whole 12 pack of peanut butter cups, or a whole bag of chips. And to be honest (not to be mean) but it makes me sick. It's no wonder why he has gained 70 lbs since we met ten years ago. And myself, has gained 60. He talks about jogging often, I just need to keep motivating him to do so!

Anyways, off track - so before he got home from work I made him this plate below. It's piggies-in-a-blanket, which is mini hot dogs rolled up in pillsbury dough croissants. We have had them in the fridge for weeks. I was going to initially stuff them with spinach and cheese, but never got around to it. And instead of making some french fries, I made him a cute little fresh salad, and he loved it <3

 This completes my entries for today. I think I had too much time on my hands. I should have been exercising instead of blogging and watching tv. But I stayed home sick from work, I woke up with a 3 hour long migraine, and couldnt stay away from the bathroom for more than 5 minutes. But still, I managed to clean up the house, cook, blog, and do a shitload of home work due tomorrow and Friday. So... goodnight!