portion control

When it comes to losing weight or maintaining a current healthy weight, one of the most important things is portion control. Portion control is so simple, and yet companies like Jenny Craig, Medifast, Nutrisystem, and several other companies make a fortune selling meals that are no more than 300-500 calories per serving. Not to mention I’m sure a lot of these foods have a ton of preservatives to keep them “fresh” and end up losing a lot of their nutritional value because of this.

All you have to do is read the ingredients on the box and I’m sure you haven’t heard of 90% of the ingredients. Many experts tell people that if they don’t know what the ingredients are on the box or package, they shouldn’t eat it, and I couldn’t agree more. Look up some of these ingredients in an online search and you might be surprised what they are. It’s pretty amazing what ingredients these companies put into their products and even more amazing that people are willing to consume them on a regular basis.

As someone who has been a health and fitness fanatic for about 15 years, I can’t begin to tell you how many books, articles, blogs, and other publications I’ve read about health and fitness. One thing most publications, personal trainers, and doctors agree on is that eating small meals throughout the day is crucial if you want a healthy, fit body. One of the main reasons eating small meals is so important is because your metabolism speeds up when your body processes food. That is why breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

It breaks the fast of the 7-8 hours of sleep you hopefully just had since you didn’t eat in your sleep and gets your metabolism kicking into high gear to start the day. Experts say that people who skip breakfast tend to have a higher body fat percentage than people who don’t because their bodies store fat in the absence of food. There are so many people who feel that if they skip meals and exercise, their body will use their body fat for energy and burn it right away. This is completely false. Your body will feed on your lean muscle before it begins to feed on your body fat for energy.

That’s why it’s so important to eat healthy foods every 3 to 5 hours depending on your calorie needs for the day. The average American eats about 2,000 calories a day, but keep in mind that everyone’s calorie needs are different based on age, activity level, gender, weight, and height. To give you an example of how many calories you should be consuming, here is the formula I use daily to maintain my current weight of 155 pounds. When I have adjusted it to reach the desired weight, it has never failed me:

The first thing to find out is your Basal Metabolic Rate, also known as BMR. Use this link to find out your BMR:

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

My BMR is 1684.45. I am a 5’8″ 31 year old male weighing 155lbs. This is how BMR is actually calculated in case you were wondering:

* Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 X weight in pounds) + (12.7 X height in inches)-(6.8*age in years)
* Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in pounds) + (1.8 X height in inches) – (4.7 X age in years)

Once you know your BMR, the next step is to determine your activity level to calculate how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. You can also adjust the weight in the formula above to reflect your desired weight, which will allow you to set your daily calorie intake to help you achieve your weight loss goal, or simply use the website link above and enter your desired weight into the place.

Now calculate your activity level to figure out how many calories you need:

– Sedentary (little or no exercise)=BMR*1.2
– Lightly active (exercises 1-3 days a week) = BMR * 1.375
– Moderately active (exercises 3-5 days a week)=BMR*1.55
– Very Active (exercises 6-7 days a week)=BMR*1.9

Using myself as an example, I need to consume around 3,200 calories per day as I am very active. Doing this is very easy but it requires dedication and calorie counting. I measure my food by reading food labels to determine portion sizes and I use a measuring cup religiously to know how many calories I am consuming at each meal. I have been doing this for about 2 years now and it has never failed me.

As for meals, I recommend eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins like chicken and fish. I also recommend cutting out alcohol or allowing yourself a couple of drinks a week. This was the hardest part for me as I am a single guy who likes to go out to bars with friends. It’s still something I do from time to time, but I don’t drink as much as I did in my college days. I feel so much better doing this and have seen my body fat percentage drop significantly when doing this. When you consume alcohol, your liver begins to metabolize the alcohol as soon as you take your first sip and will ignore the processing of body fat when you do. Your liver can take more than 2 hours to process up to 2 drinks during this process.

In conclusion, strive to eat small 300-500 calorie meals throughout the day every 3-5 hours until you reach your recommended caloric intake. Be sure to put healthy foods into your system and cut back on alcohol. Even if you don’t exercise, controlling your caloric intake will keep your body weight in check and make you feel great.