When you become an aging baby boomer you find many good reasons to learn about the value of discovering ways to increase metabolism.  Some of these appear in the form of fat cells around your hips or stomach or as sagging muscle tone in most places!

Tony and I instigated a physical check up a couple of years back.  After recovering from the shock of learning that we were more unfit and overweight than we had allowed ourselves to believe, we took action in an effort to improve our lifestyle and extend our lives.  We started a daily walk, or run and interval training circuits.  We love the benefits of these and discovered these to be one of the most effective ways to increase metabolism.

But Tony was pleased to learn more from our doctor about including muscle building as part of our regular exercise regime.

'Why?’ I asked, imagining an over-developed Amazon about to take over my body.

‘Because’, came the reply ‘A pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat and if you have more muscle on your body, you will simply burn more calories as a result.’

As I wasn’t born with a rapid metabolism guzzling body, I need to work at maintaining a healthy weight, so with assurances that I would look better not bigger I agreed to build my muscles.  I wanted more muscle than fat.

We already owned a great muscle building guide called ‘Definition’ by well known fitness expert Dr Joyce Vendral.  Her updated DVD’s are even better.  We purchased inexpensive dumb bells and followed her easy program as part of our daily routine.

We started slowly and gradually increased our muscle building challenges. The great benefit for us was that once we started to build muscle our bodies did start burning more calories.  They had to, even while we slept, or went to a movie, or read a book. It was like putting our calorie-burning metabolism program on autopilot.

Yes we still enjoy cardiovascular exercise, because that’s ultimately how our body is going to burn existing fat.  But we’ve found that muscle building is one of the valuable ways to increase metabolism.

If two aging baby boomers can enjoy the metabolic benefits of a muscle building program any one can.  Muscle building has exponential benefits too.  The more fat you transform into muscle, the more calories you’ll burn simply to maintain that new muscle and the cycle goes on and on!

If you build muscle and then leave it alone, over time, the muscle fibers will weaken and you’ll lose that wonderful calorie-burning factory.  But that’s no problem, because all you need to do is to re-include some muscle building in your exercise routine and gradually re-build it. Go on, buy the dumb bells and get started.  You’ll love the results! 

Warm regards  

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

If you’d like read more information about the benefits of muscle building as a way to increase metabolism and promote weight loss, go to our website www.Boost Metabolism for Part 1 of Muscle Building – Effective Ways to Increase Metabolism

Getting to work, school or day care on time can be one of every day’s greatest challenges for many families.  Breakfast, the first meal of the day, can end up being eaten in the back seat of the car!

If this is the case, and depending on the food choices you make for this kind of eating on the run, it is possible that your kids may be getting way less protein than they should from an equivalent meal at home. To improve the quality of the nutrition from breakfast-in-the-car, select from the following kinds of foods instead of standard takeaway donuts and flavored milk.

Select foods that travel well. Fruit and vegetables along with peanut butter on wholegrain bread or crackers don’t require refrigeration.

Make fruit and vegetables accessible for young eaters. Research from Cornell Food and Brands Lab reveal that kids are 12% more likely to eat an apple if it is cut up. Baby carrots and strawberries are ready to eat alternatives. Sliced low-fat cheese, rice crackers and bags of rolled oats or shredded wheat are other healthy choices.

You determine the food portion size.  Use small plastic bags and the kids will think they are getting plenty!

Think about Takeout Treats. If all else fails and you need to get breakfast to go, make sure the food selection there is always chicken not burgers, grilled not fried, and milk or water not shakes.

Going the movies with the kids may be part of your weekend family fun. If so, follow these suggestions when eating on the run there so you all stay healthy and still enjoy the movie.

Plan movie treats before you leave home. A small, individual box of raisins, trail mix or nuts can last the distance of most movies, especially if they have you on the edge of your seat.

Prepare and package your own popcorn.  Research shows that plain popcorn with a seasoning of your choice like hot chili sauce or paprika is a much healthier alternative to a tub of popcorn swamped in melted butter and seasoned with lashings of salt.

Pre-arranged movie food like this is always healthier for your kids. It reduces the possibility that they will join the ranks of those mindless movie munchers who eat, unaware of how much they actually consume. Healthy eating on the run at the movies can be more ‘cool’ by including an ice cream cone, lollypop or a soda.

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Rowena French strives for a food, work, life balance. For more ideas about how to maintain a healthy body while eating on the run, read her other articles posted on this blog. Read her website http://findweightlosstips.com/ for more weight loss tips and to speed up your metabolism try her suggestions on http://www.speedupmymetabolism.com/

Our busy lives filled with the demands of work, family and friends, can present us with the challenge of preparing healthy and nutritious food to be eaten while we’re on the run in one of the busiest parts of our everyday – our workplace. Research at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University shows that if we plan what we eat ahead of time it is possible to eat on the go, still stay healthy or even lose weight.

As we spend a large proportion of each week at our work place, it’s worth exploring healthy ways for eating on the run there. A very large proportion of office workers eat at their desks at least two or three occasions every week. If you recognize this scenario, you can still eat healthily by preparing snacks or meals that provide energy and keep your hunger pangs at bay. Try these ideas at your workplace.

•    Store your healthy foods in the office fridge. Include low-fat cheese and whole grain crackers, low fat   yogurt, raw vegetables, natural almond butter or a fat free dip like salsa. These are likely to be popular, so make sure you keep them in sealed, named containers!

•    Include foods that are filled with protein to help you feel satisfied for extended periods of time. Canned salmon and tuna, lean meat and skinless chicken or turkey is great in sandwiches and salads. These are easy to prepare foods for those of us for whom eating on the run across lunch.

•    Heat up healthy foods from home in the office microwave. If you get to work early, start with wholegrain oatmeal for breakfast. Heat up broth later in the day. Along with apples and salads, broth contains water and is a low-cal way of filling up as part of your lunch.

•    Go armed with healthy snacks. Eating on the run between meals is often the undoing of those who need to watch their weight or actively shed extra pounds. Replace the bowl of candy on your desk with healthy alternatives

o    High in protein and tasty as well is the Japanese snack edamame made from soybean
o    Energy bars need to be high in fiber and low in fat and sugar and contain 5-10 grams of protein
o    Dried fruit contain natural sweetness, fiber and antioxidants
o    Cheese needs to low fat and eaten in small servings. It provides calcium and protein
o    Apples are easy to store, don’t require refrigeration and stave off hunger remarkably well.

These tips for healthy eating on the run at your work are easy to prepare and include foods from each of the major food families. If your work life consumes your time and energy levels, it’s important to eat wisely and fuel your body so you can continue to meet your daily challenges there. If need to lose weight, take care to limit the number of snacks you eat between meals.

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Rowena French strives for a food, work, life balance. For more ideas about how to maintain a healthy body while eating on the run, read her other articles posted on this blog. Read her website http://findweightlosstips.com/ for more weight loss tips and to speed up your metabolism try her suggestions on http://www.speedupmymetabolism.com/

Finding time for 30 minutes of moderate, regular exercise, to stay healthy doesn’t seem too much to expect most days. Or does it? How can we squeeze another moment into our lives filled with demanding bosses, kid’s soccer practice and those forever reoccurring mealtimes? Making time for exercise is tougher that it sounds and is the most common cause of the sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle in many western nations.

We can’t all afford a personal trainer or to employ staff to organize our schedules around an exercise routine but there are many busy individuals who prioritize regular exercise and stay committed to this, regardless of life’s ups or downs, its peak times or quieter moments. This is how three people include and benefit from the exercise in their lives.

Jane a physiotherapist has a husband, three kids and a physiotherapy practice of her own. She has plenty to keep her busy so exercise must be something she enjoys for it to ‘get a guernsey’ in her schedule. She tried a gym membership but was unmotivated by the indoor setting and turned to outside activities instead. Exercise there means that her children can join her on bike rides and fun runs.

With no extended family living nearby and without a nanny Jane needs to schedule the delivery and collection of her kids to and from school, ballet, soccer and swimming. She and her husband share child care so that they both get a chance to exercise, even if its not always together. Time for regular exercise is prioritized in the same way as any of the other occasions that are part of their week. Both parents enjoys modeling a healthy lifestyle to their kids and Jane is fitter than she has ever been.

Rob is a flight attendant. On a succession of long distance plane flights he gained weight over two years. He wanted to regain his previously healthy body. Regular exercise seemed the way to do this but with irregular living arrangements in different parts of the world, Rob couldn’t join the soccer, tennis or basketball team.

He chose instead, individualized exercise and took up running and swimming. He used hotel gyms or walked around local parks. He doubled his aerobic capacity over time by establishing low running expectations and then exceeding these. He has reached his goal weight and if he hasn’t run for a while these days, he follows the C25K program ‘Couch to Five Kilometers with an alternating schedule of running and walking to regain his fitness.

Marco owns a popular restaurant. As a chef he contends with the double dilemma of a demanding work schedule and being surrounded by tempting food each day. Marco schedules lifting weights and running at the gym near his home three mornings a week en route to work. This is a more successful arrangement than the gym near his work as he could never get away from the restaurant to make gym sessions. Sometimes he books a personal trainer to challenge and motivate him. Marco doesn’t like exercising alone but he values time on the treadmill away from others and his cell phone.

None of these exercisers are exercise ‘nuts’ but they have each learned to accommodate it as an important part of their lives. Is then, the answer to the challenge of regular exercise and better health the capacity to settle for less than perfect lives?

Jane and her husband balance what was previously joint time with their family. Rob works out alone away from home when he’d prefer to play sport with friends and Marco gets up earlier than he’d like three times a week. Despite this, each person interviewed works, takes care of their families and stays healthy.

If they can settle for life a little less perfect life to accommodate exercise and a healthier future, can you?

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Contact: theteam@mightydigitaldownloads.com

Rowena French counts regular exercise as one her greatest achievements after many past failures. She power walks her neighborhood daily listening to downloaded podcats on her iPod! Want to learn more about the benefits of exercise for weight loss and healthy living? Read more about regular exercise and healthy eating on my website www.findweightlosstips.com

I wonder if your cooking and food tastes have changed or ‘matured’ as mine have over the years?

I used to salt my vegetables way more than I would ever consider doing today. I used to eat more meat than I do after reading Michael Pallan’s ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemna’. Now meat is more the side-dish that my vegetables and salad once were. I drink milk and eat yogurt for all the benefits they provide my body but only the low-fat and unflavored variety.

In general I think my cooking and food tastes reflect a simpler, less rich diet. Not because just I know that this is better for me but after years of reduced fat, less meat and less salt, I prefer the taste of food prepared in this way.

I have however, one eating ‘Achilles heel’ for which I can thank my dear mother. My sweet tooth developed as a result of her passion for the sweet things in life, especially on the dinner table. I grew up surrounded by puddings with ice cream or lashings of cream. Cakes and cookies were always part of our morning coffee. My cereal was always buried under a mountain of sugar and I was a mature adult before I experienced a real cup of tea, undiluted by milk or flavored with sugar.

This sweet ‘addiction’ has been difficult to control across the years. When I gain a few pounds, it’s generally because my sweet food intake has risen. As I shed this unwanted weight, I still crave something sweet, long before a baked potato!

How do I manage this life-long ‘sweet tooth’? I’ve reduced but not eliminated processed sugar from my daily menu. I never eat sweet foods when I am hungry. These are always an ‘added extra’ to the protein, fiber and grains that I eat. Generally, I take care to only to eat a small portion of sweet foods that won’t impact on my overall weight.

I maintain regular sugar intake from fruit but I sometimes indulge in cooking with processed sugar. I eat this food in moderation and I don’t starve my family of cake from time to time or the occasional rich dessert.

So how does this differ from my mother and grandmother’s cooking and food choices? I serve smaller portions of cakes or desserts less frequently as well as undisguised tea and oatmeal that can always be sweetened with a spoonful of honey.

Try my easy Orange and Poppy Seed recipe for your next morning tea!

Orange and Poppy Seed Cake

a peeled orange (without the pith)

3 eggs

60z butter

1 cup sugar

Blend briefly in blender

Stir in:

1 and a half cups self rising flour

2 and a half tablespoons of poppy seed

Cook for 50 minutes in a moderate oven (350F/180C).

Melt 1/4 cup caster sugar and 1/4 cup orange juice slowly in a saucepan.  Pour over cake as it cools.

This has a delightful citrus flavor that detracts from its sweetness but remember to serve in small portions!

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French says that cooking and food can interest those who want to maintain a healthy body shape or even lose weight. Food is not meant to be dull and boring! The more we know about cooking and food the better we are able to nourish our bodies and still enjoy small portions of less healthy foods. For ideas to make cooking interesting, nutritious and sometimes just a bit naughty, stay updated through my blog posts or check out my website at www.mightydigitaldownloads.com

If you’ve ever wondered how to prepare meals that will help you lose weight and include some of the unhealthy foods that you crave, we can help. Weight loss and an occasional treat do belong in portion control eating and the healthy meals at the heart of your eating plan are easy to prepare, nutritious and very satisfying.

Fresh foods are always the healthiest to include in your menu. By providing a variety of different flavors and textures they make eating interesting. Herbs like parsley, some rosemary, oregano or basil add special tastes to a wide range of meals. They can be grown in the smallest apartments and easily included in menus. Investing the time to grow or buy ingredients like these will help you vary your meals and is well worth the effort.

Some ideas below are based upon foods from each of the main food groups. No foods types are omitted. Even those that don’t fit the ‘healthy food’ category should feature from time to time. You enjoy these foods and you should eat them occasionally in small portions. In this way portion control eating makes losing weight possible without feeling as if you are ‘going on another diet’.

To lose weight on a regular basis you need to eat foods we call ‘slimming sensations’. These foods are low in processed sugar and fat and provide your body with the necessary nutrients. As you continue to lose weight, feel confident enough to include an occasional (small) slice of your favorite cake or share dessert with a friend. Your weight loss will continue even with a small portion of something you love.

The way to include all foods in your menu as you lose weight is to make sure that you limit the amount you eat of these and the frequency of this. A small potion eaten infrequently is the answer! This is the key to making portion control eating an enjoyable eating experience instead of a boring diet. Make sure that most food you eat is healthy and filled with the necessary vitamins, minerals and fiber your body needs and low in sugar, salt and fat. Doing this will allow you the capacity to enjoy a small treat containing more salt, fat or processed sugar than you generally allow from time to time.

Portion control is not about ongoing deprivation that makes you crave the wrong foods more than you should. A small serve of something you really enjoy, as a special treat will not counter balance the value of all the vegetables, lean meat, fruits and cereals that you include in your menu. You’ll still come out ahead and feel better for it, more determined to work towards your weight loss goals.

The following suggestions are healthy food choices for a meal comprising food from each of the main food groups. A meal plan like this can be prepared quickly and easily at home or ordered when you dine out. You can even prepare or order a healthy meal like this and add a special treat without compromising your intake of important nutrients.

Appetizers

Fresh, steamed seafood such as shrimp cocktail

Eggs

Never fried, poached or boiled

Salads

Salads with low-cal dressing, lemon juice, vinegar, or vinaigrette

Breads

Crackers or whole grain rolls

Potatoes and Substitutes

Noodles – preferably whole wheat noodles

Fats

Olive oil, low-calorie salad dressing

Vegetables

Boiled, steamed or raw

Fish, Poultry, Meat

Broiled, grilled, roasted, baked, never fried poultry, fish, or seafood

Desserts

One scoop or ½ cup of ice cream or sorbet

Flavored coffee

Beverages

Seltzer water, low-fat milk, sugar free drinks

Coffee, tea

Planning a portion control meal like this revolves around a balanced proportion of foods from each food group. Your meal plan should include 50% vegetables and fruit, 25% grains and 25% proteins. To make healthy eating a part of your life forever while you still lose weight or maintain your weight loss, always include those less-than-healthy-foods that you really love, in small portions now and then.

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

The answer is ‘Yes’ because eating at home or eating out, the guidelines are the same. You can continue to follow a portion control eating plan when you dine out because the choices you make about what you eat and how much you consume should remain the same. A balanced healthy meal is available to you when you dine out, provided you ask for it!

The obvious up side about eating in restaurants is that there is a wide selection of dishes available to you and some one else prepares your meal and even clears away dirty dishes! There are however some downsides for those managing their food portions. Restaurants often serve meals that are way too large. All-you-can-eat buffets are disastrous if you are unable to control and manage the portions you eat. Avoid this type of restaurant, at least in the beginning of your journey towards controlled eating.

Even if dining out provides some challenges to those just beginning to enjoy the benefits of portion control eating, restaurants do expect special requests from patrons with special dietary needs. You have these, so make sure you ask that they be accommodated. Ask your server to hold the sauce, substitute a salad for fries, or hold the bread. Some restaurants will allow you to order from the lunch or children’s menu, so don’t hesitate to ask.

When it comes to dessert, you have options that will see you keeping the integrity of your healthy eating without appearing that you are going without. Fresh fruit is a healthy alternative to a very rich caloric dessert so order this or just ask for a coffee.. If you crave a sweeter dessert make sure you eat only a small amount or share it with you partner or a friend.

As you dine out, consider these tips so that you can continue to lose weight:

• Only eat a main course
• Don’t fill your self with bread before the meal begins, one slice only
• Drink water before your meal and while you eat
• Restrict your alcohol, one glass can go a long way
• Make sure that you food is cooked healthily; baked, broiled, steamed or baked
• Skip fried foods, a couple of French fries only if you weaken
• Ask that sauces, sour cream or butter be served ‘on the side’ and use only a little
• Select food portion just as you do at home
• Request that no food is sautéed for you
• Fresh fruit for dessert
• Avoid any large meal regardless of the ‘value’
• Ask for the kid’s menu for adequate sized portions

Regardless of where you eat, take time to savor the flavors, textures, and aroma of your food. Enjoy eating this and allow sufficient time for your stomach to learn (from your brain) that you have eaten enough. Resist eating until you have over eaten because the damage will already have been done. As you begin to feel full, reduce your eating and then stop and push your plate to one side. This is an important step in the process of potion controlled eating and can be taken either privately at home or publicly in a restaurant.

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

Thankfully portion control eating does not include depriving yourself of everything you enjoy eating! Overall you do need to consider what type of food you eat and how much of this is right for you in this eating plan. Regularly depriving yourself of foods you really enjoy will not help you to healthily reduce and manage your weight. In fact it is likely to undermine your efforts in the long run. So, this is how portion control can help you successfully lose weight and still eat chocolate!

Chocolate bars have expanded in size more than 10 times since they first became available. This reflects our increasing taste for chocolate and our increasing consumption of it. The implication of this for consumers of chocolate today is the need to decide how much of a chocolate bar is good to eat, instead of assuming that the entire bar is up for grabs! You can eat chocolate but in moderation. It’s not hard to determine a moderate serve of chocolate, so you can get a taste of something so rich and decadent!

Foods that fit into the same category and are rich in sugar include donuts, ice cream, cookies, desserts, creamy toppings. An occasional indulgence in these special treats is OK as long as it only happens occasionally and involves small sizes. A small piece of banana cake now and then or a small cone of honeycomb ice cream will not see your weight balloon or your health diminish. You can avoid by including ‘unhealthy’ food in a healthy way – in small portions and only sometimes.

You probably won’t lose weight after small treats like these but you probably wont gain any either. By restraining from overindulgence, and controlling the size of your food portions you will be able to maintain a healthy weight and eat most things you enjoy.

Eating these foods too frequently and in large servings is what leads to weight gain and health problems but eating them in moderation is acceptable. If you have a craving for a small muffin, then have one!

The secret is the number of muffins you eat. One is fine more than one slowly and insidiously becomes a problem. Don’t eat cookies or donuts from a package until there are none left. Avoid eating packaged foods like cookies or muffins if you are really hungry as you will always eat more than one.

One muffin won’t make you gain weight, but many muffins will do just that and you are certain to feel worse for it! An additional warning about eating packaged cookies and treats is that they generally contain the unhealthy transfats and saturated fats in the oils used to cook them. You need to steer very clear of these.

Sometimes chocolate may be the only food that will satisfy your ‘sweet craving’ but other treats can do the same thing. Consider sometimes fresh fruit or low-fat yogurt as an alternative as these are sweet without a high concentration of complex sugars. But when chocolate is the only food you really desire, then eat it, in small portions only. In this way, portion control eating accommodates an occasional treat as you keep focused on your healthy weight loss and weight management goals over the long term!

Warm regards

Rowena French

For the Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

Reading food labels can overwhelm us, especially when we rely on them to help us make the right decisions about food that will help our weight loss program. We can however learn to interpret food labels as part of our portion control eating plan. If you know what information to look for on pre-packaged food you can chose wisely and avoid being mislead.

Make sure that you understand the information provided about the content and number of each serving in your package. Don’t be fooled by details of fat in one serve if you plan to eat more than one at each sitting. For example, if there are three servings in one pack and each contain 7gm of fat, be sure to realize that 2 servings will contain 14 gm fat and if you eat the whole package, you will consume a staggering 21gm all at once. When you are really clear about how much fat each serving contains you can decide how much you will eat and how you will remove and store any remaining servings. Getting a clear idea of the content of each serving requires a careful look followed by sensible action. This is how portion control eating works best!

Label-reading doesn’t have to become an obsession but doing this the right way will assist you to make good use valuable information pre-packaged foods. The guidelines below will help you to read these food labels. By doing this, you’ll make more informed decisions about the best foods for you and the portion size you should eat.

There are some things like salt and sugar that you will want to diminish in your diet. Others like fiber will need to be increased. The checklist below provides some simple guidelines for label reading.

Always count the servings per container and check the content of each of these

Note the calories

% daily values are 5% or less = low / 20% or more = high

Search for low percentages of saturated and transfats

Limit salt (often referred to as sodium)

Eat plenty of fiber and protein

Reduce your sugar intake

Food labels should indicate the amount of saturated fats and transfats. Look for those foods that contain a low percentage of both of these. Keep a close eye out for foods where the salt (sodium) content or the sugar (sometimes referred to as glucose) content is low. Food labels on foods containing healthy fats will show ’polyunsaturated fats’ or ‘monounsaturated fats’. Whatever the fats, minimize your total fats to between 20%-35% of your daily calories.

Plan your portion control diet with the help of food labels. Details of the fat, sugar, protein, fiber and salt in this food is crucial for your decisions about what to eat and how much. Use this information to allow yourself the pleasure of eating some of every type of food as you lose weight. Don’t eliminate whole sections of the food pyramid in a dramatic and unbalanced eating regime.

This balanced eating program is a breath of fresh air after so many fad diets that can’t provide your body the nutrition it needs as you lose weight. Add this advice on interpreting labels to your portion control checklist.

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

1. Consider whether or not you really are hungry or perhaps something else instead of eating in response to your next set of hunger pangs? You may be anxious or depressed or stressed or even bored. Eating food may not be the best response for you. Taking a walk, reading a good book, calling a special friend, or some other activity satisfies your needs just as well, or better, than food!

If you take long enough to consider your hunger signals, you will find that your common sense will inform you whether or not you’re really hungry. Consider an alternative to the kitchen pantry or the nearest drive-through when stress or loneliness attack for greater satisfaction mainly because you are listening to your common sense and making better choices.

2. If hunger not other feelings are causing your hunger signals, when you do drive up to a fast-food restaurant, think about the size or portion of the food you’ll consume not just what type of food you’ll eat. This is the basis of portion control eating. Consider a child sized meal or order a salad and fruit with your burger instead of high-fat fries. A small hamburger and fries go a long way toward satisfying hunger.

Over eating is generally brought about by eating those extra large, super-size, portions on offer when your body doesn’t need them. Regular eating of portions that are too large causes you to feel tired and unhappy. It also causes blood sugar levels to rise quickly and fall sharply leaving you tired and zapping your energy shortly after you eat. Your common sense tells you to think about the size of your meal! Listen to yourself and you’ll make better choices! Common sense and an understanding of how much you need to eat through portion control is a vital tool for helping you manage your weight and your life.

It’s akin to self-control and the two are partners in how healthy or how poorly you eat. When you pair common sense and self-control, you have the power to overcome unhealthy eating habits and enjoy the foods you eat too. It’s all about thinking about what you should eat, how much you should eat, and realizing and stopping when you are full, or nearly full. And remember that it takes about 20 minutes after you eat to realize exactly how full you are.

On a visit to a McDonald’s restaurant in Thailand, Professor Steven Hawks from Brigham Young University had a revelation about the portion size of our food. ‘The portion size was about a third to what you get in the United States," he said. "My first reaction was 'What a rip off,' but then I started to see, 'Well, that was enough to be satisfied.'

To lose weight and control this weight loss over the long term, you do not need to restrict your food so much that there is little or no enjoyment in eating. Don’t feel guilty about what you eat, just manage how much you eat through portion control eating. This will see you stay within your nutritional plan to lose weight or maintain it. The occasional cake, cookie or cheeseburger is not what made you overweight to begin with. It’s the culmination of years of over-eating and indulging that created the problem. Those years of ignoring your common sense finally caught up with you in a big way.

The good news is that you can control what and how much your eat. Make a point of discovering the nutritional value of foods, understanding the importance of successful portion control, exercising self-control, and stepping into tomorrow with a healthy, positive attitude will make all of the difference!

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.