Day 12: Size matters

Ah man, the weekend is over but another week means an opportunity to be better.

This weekend was tough, on Friday night I had a co-teacher's daughter's 1st birthday which is a biggie in Korea! This means endless food galore, so much food, wow. So I ate, I tried my best to keep it healthy but sometimes you can eat as much healthy food as you want and still put on weight. Hence the inspiration for this post, portion size is important. Saturday night we went for oven baked chicken and salad, again a good choice but portion size and sauce comes into play heavily!

So how much is too much?

A lot of the time eating out is your downfall, the portion sizes in restaurants are way too much. One dish can be up to 4 times the amount you need. Steaks for example, the average size in restaurants is over 300 grams when you only need under 100 grams.

Decided to have a packet of oven baked chips? (love the ones from woolies). Good choice, much better than fried crisps. However sometimes packets contain more than you need, you shouldn't have more than 28 grams to yourself in one sitting. This makes the woolies slimmers choice, 20g crisps perfect!

Carbs, most portions sizes are wrong, especially here in Korea, you only need one cup of pasta (not the 3 they served you) and stick to wholewheat if you can. As for white rice, don't even get me started! You only need 1/2 a cup (cooked). Also if you can switch out to brown rice, do so! "According to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, people who ate five or more servings of white rice a week had a 17 percent greater chance of getting the disease than those who ate virtually none" (Fitness Magazine, 2013). Now the question on all the waygooks' minds, how do Koreans do it? I can't help you there.

Going to spoil yourself with ice cream? Share it! You only need 1/2 a cup, not the giant one cup scoop they give you.

What about your home cooked meals?

What percentages should you be eating of each food group? Take a look at the pic I posted, 30% protein, 20% carbs, and 50% veg! I can say for sure that I'm not getting my portions right! And your overall amount can be measured with your hand. I posted another picture to help you with this.

A good suggestion: eat off side plates and smaller bowls, it makes it look like a lot more food and it tricks your brain! I do this and it works!

Stick with the right portions sizes, even when indulging and you will be losing that weight you can't seem to get rid of in no time! 

This is my challenge for the week, get working on my portions.

 Ps. I'm going back to my usual routine today. The knee feels good and ready to go. Wish me luck!  :D
I will start with 5 min warm up, then legs (20 sec on, 10 sec off, x4), might try this workout (link) with some donkey kicks for butt and maybe some machine work. Another good one I suggest is put a big ball between your back and the wall then squat down, hold and return to start. All followed by this HIIT treadmill workout :)

Good luck!