I am going to begin a series of the 6 principles of a healthy lifestyle. I came up with these principles from over a decade of counseling individuals on weight loss or lifestyle changes after a new diagnosis of diabetes or heart disease. Can you find a similarity in all 6 principles?
Principle #1 Portion Size:
Once I received a phone call from a client asking for a list of “foods to eat and foods to avoid.” If a healthy diet was that easy then I would surely be out of a job. I believe all foods can fit into a healthy diet. That’s right…even bacon. Yep, pizza and French fries too. In fact, I think that if you swear off certain foods while you are “dieting” that in the end you will end up overindulging in those foods.
The key is watching how often you eat higher calorie, high fat foods and how big your portion size is. When you become aware of the extra calories you take in from splurge foods and reduce the portions, you may even enjoy the food more. For example, try just a small sliver of cheesecake instead of a huge piece, and you may not have heartburn that night! (But you still got to enjoy a yummy dessert.)
There are healthy foods that are also high in calories. Some of my clients report they are only eating healthy, whole foods but still not losing weight. Here are some examples of healthy foods that are calorie dense:
½ cup almonds 475 calories
1 California avocado 275 calories
20 Greek olives 300 calories
2 Tbsp. peanut butter 188 calories
½ cup hummus 215 calories
These are all healthy, calorie dense foods. Just because almonds are healthy does not mean that eating a cup (over 900 calories) is a good idea.
On the flip side, there are foods that people know are high in calories such as pizza, chocolate, cookies, cheese, or French fries. You do not need to cut these foods out of your diet entirely. Give yourself permission to eat splurge foods but watch the portion. I recommend limiting pizza to1-2 slices and adding steamed veggies or a salad to round out the meal.
If weight loss is your goal, be aware of the portions of high calorie foods and capitalize on the low calorie, nutrient dense foods such as fruits and vegetables. (But that is getting into tomorrow’s principle…)