Is portion control the best diet or a more structured way to suffer? There is no question that anyone that portion control is the best diet for anyone that it works for and there are some very heavy hitters who are very successful with portion control. I wondered myself if portion control is a good strategy for me because it has been a bit difficult to get below 198 for the last week or so. The reasons for that are obvious, mainly because since March first I have not been as careful, okay, not careful at all! Shame on me thinking that I could get away with having chocolate chip cookies and them not showing up as a little layer on the belly.
But the truth is, it probably is really never that difficult to get into better shape, leaner, and less fat. We all know the secret, just dont eat so much, and especially dont eat so much of highly processed junk food. There, that is the secret of every diet since the wheel was invented. So, what to do? So I thought that perhaps I can glean myself off of the cookies and gently get back on track by using portion control which has been successful for so many people.
Here is what I thought about yesterday while trying to convince myself that portion control is a good way for me to go, and this is nothing new to anyone including yourself. I know that when I am putting on weight, I know I am a bit or alot out of control with the amount of food that I am having. There are always great excuses to keep going back to the smorgasbord table, an engagement, an anniversary, a first date, a marriage, a birthday, and those are times that we should want to keep continuing and never to end. The more celebrations and happy times the better, right?
But if you have a tinge of discomfort at the thought of attending the next thanksgiving, holiday or july 4th meal, you are not alone. I totally know that feeling and my guess is that anyone who struggles with their weight has been fighting this problem their whole lives. How much does it suck that we would rather avoid happy occasions because it will possibly detour us from our diet of the day, week or month? That is really bad and I frankly have had it with that garbage type of thought. I want to celebrate with my friends and family whenever it is possible and I must know how to navigate parties as well as just being at home in a very controlled environment with ‘safe' foods.
So, my big idea is neither mine and not so big and is just really common sense, the sense that has not been so common for myself and I am sure not for most people who are sporting large waists that they want to trim down but never seem able to do it. My big idea is try to do something that I do not think I have ever been able to do successfully and that is to just eat enough to feel that the hunger is gone and not have too much. That is it. Boom, just everyday boring portion control. But can I do it?
Here is the way that I tried to implement this portion control yesterday, by eating whenever I feel hungry, most likely every few hours…
so, for breakfast after I did an upper body workout or shoulder presses, dumbbell rows and bench presses along with pushups, I had a meal replacement Isagenix shake,
and then a few hours later at 1130 I had a portion, I used a cup for my portion, of brown rice, cooked eggplant and a vegetable omelette as an early lunch
and then for a snack a couple of hours later I had a half banana and some roasted unsalted peanuts.
and last at least for now was a portion of kidney beans, 1 veggie burger and eggplant again.
I am planning to have another three snacks/meals whenever I feel hungry and I will continue to report on how that is working for me.
Well, let me say that after the kidney beans and veggie burger, I had massive heartburn which really was terrible. I do not know if it was the beans or the gluten in the veggie burger, but I do know how it burned. I was not a happy camper!
I think I am done with portion control! Ha, this does not work for me because I tried using it to work in a bit of grains and before I knew it, I was craving alot more carbs than I should have been having and on top of it I am feeling the burn of the acid reflux, no good.
So, I am going to stick with vegetables as my base, that is what works best for me and not worry about whether the portion fits in my hand or not!
So, is portion control the best diet?
For me, No, but for you I don't know, but please let me know if it is!
Have you ever tried portion control?
Do you think that you can get as lean, muscular and ripped with portion control as you can with steroids?
No, dont worry, I have no interest in steroids, I am just curious about portion control as a tool for weight loss and building muscle without steroids and without counting calories.
Update:
Ben Isaac is the author of 