The Best Portion Control Hack to Avoid Overeating

Figuring out how much you need to eat to reach your goal (weight loss or just maintaining!) is just as important as choosing what to eat. And portion control is usually not for the faint of heart, especially when your stomach is sounding like bad radio static. Have you ever noticed that the apple and peanut butter you usually have as a morning snack is sometimes perfectly satisfying? Sometimes that same apple and peanut butter doesn’t do the trick at all and you’re starvin’ for lunch before 11 a.m. or you eat the apple and peanut butter and dig your spoon back into the PB jar for just a little more. And, then more, and then more, and then more peanut butter. What’s the deal?  How much of this apple and PB goodness should you be eating? The Hunger Quotient Portion Control Hack Today I’m gifting you with one of the best hacks to conquer portion control; the Hunger Quotient (HQ).  Your HQ is one of the more difficult concepts to wrap your head around (yes, it takes mental work!) when it comes to healthy eating. But you can do this, you can learn this, it eventually becomes easy, and it does work. It will be one of your greatest nutrition tools in your knowledge base (regardless of the food you eat) and get you closer to the healthy eater you were meant to be. What is Hunger Quotient? Your HQ is a number on a scale of 1 – 10. It helps you determine how hungry you are and figure out your appetite at any given moment.   When you were born, you had the ability to eat when you were hungry and stop when you were full. As you grow, that ability sadly diminishes. As an adult,  you eat for so many reasons other than true hunger, and sometimes you eat without any hunger. Yes, we’ve all done that!  Many times! Stress, your previous meal experiences, emotions and hundreds of other factors influence your appetite. Quieting all of this “noise” that has a say (a big one) in what and how much you’re eating, connecting with your true hunger and giving an objective number to your readiness to eat is essential to eating the right amount and for the right reasons. Working Toward a HQ Goal This may sound easy, but it takes loads and loads of practice. The pay off? A lifetime of weight management once you conquer this. I promise. I live by it. Your goal is to always be between 4 and 6 on the HQ scale. You do not want to be starving or stuffed. You want to feel empowered knowing that you’ll be eating again in a few hours, so there is no need to overdo it at this meal, or under-do it at the next. At the beginning of each meal, you should be aware of slight hunger as you tuck your napkin onto your lap, take a sip of agua and pick up your (preferably not plastic) fork. You should not be ravenous. Being an 8 or higher on the hunger scale makes it impossible to be in the moment because you’re so hungry all you can do is focus on getting food in your belly.  Translation: Head-first into the leftover Chinese food container. Every opportunity to eat is an opportunity to eat just enough to be comfortable, something I call slightly satisfied. When you are at a 4 on the HQ scale, slightly satisfied, you are just right. This is because you have eaten just enough to feel content without needing to loosen your belt or take a nap. This may sound simple, but it can be the most difficult part of healthful eating. Understanding your HQ forces you to slooooow down. If you need a good example of a healthy meal that is properly portioned, try my Dijon Salmon. Then, before you dig in, take a deep breath and a few sips of water. Turn off your brain, which is telling you, “I always have room for dessert.” Shut down those childhood thoughts telling you, “I must clean my plate.” It’s not easy to get into this mindset of shutting down these thoughts, but you can do it! Take a few minutes to eat your food mindfully and check in with yourself as you go. Is the feeling of hunger going away? Are you enjoying your soup? Could you stop eating now and be satisfied, even though there are a few bites left? There is no true answer to the question, “how much should I eat?” It changes meal by meal and day by day. But conquering this feeling of being slightly satisfied will change everything. Your Secret Weapon to Finding Your Healthy Weight Regardless of whether you’re eating a kale salad or fettuccini Alfredo, if you never eat past this feeling, you’ll never overeat too dramatically. (I’m not encouraging the Alfredo, btw. Just sayin’.) Remember to follow these simple guides and you’ll be well on your way to healthier portion control. Take a minute to shut the voices in your head off, and listen to your HQ. This will help you figure out how much your body needs. Use your HQ and not calorie counting to monitor your food intake. You are not eating numbers, you’re eating food! Mastering your HQ will likely help you eat the proper amount of calories to meet your needs. Today you might need half the meal to satisfy your belly, and tomorrow you might need to finish your plate, plus an extra serving. This is normal. Become confident listening to your body. Don’t give up on this. It’s your secret weapon to finding your healthy weight.    

Why We Overeat So Much on Thanksgiving?

Why is Thanksgiving a binge-fest? Why do we not only allow, but plan to give in to our gluttonous selves on the last Thursday of November? Why is Thanksgiving all about the pumpkin pie? The puffed appetizers? The in-dul-gence?! Wow, we’ve taken this holiday and made it all about stuffing our senses like we stuff that bird. The thing is, why we eat so much on Thanksgiving may not have everything to do with the food. It’s super possible that the food is just a symptom of something bigger. Whaaaa? Yeah. Have you ever thought about eating the Thanksgiving meal on a Tuesday in July? You could probably eat that decadent meal in an empowered and healthy way without eater’s remorse and the three day post turkey day coma. If it isn’t just the food, what is it about Thanksgiving that makes it so challenging for us to navigate this holiday? Stress comes with the holidays and stress is a huge trigger to overeat. Thanksgiving brings on not only stressors of travel, broken routines, extra time in crowds, and the like. It also brings good stressors that you may not think of: spending time with your 2 year-old niece or 85 year-old grandmother, writing your holiday cards, standing out in the cold while you watch your alma mater annual football game. . .these are wonderful things, but they take extra energy and this can be draining. Managing stress is important because with stress comes the hormone cortisol, which can be destructive to both your waistline and your health. NL Live Consciously Tip: PLAN for these stressors, both good and bad, so that you are less likely to feel overwhelmed when they come on. Identifying the stressors of the day will help keep you in check. Have a mantra, something like “be in the moment” to remind you stay present and not get overwhelmed. Your world is disrupted during the holidays. Is it possible you’re overeating at Thanksgiving because you’re out of routine? We celebrate Thanksgiving to honor a time when bread was broken among strangers from different lands and harvests were meaningful because everyone participated. These days, the holiday has evolved and we eat with our families and friends and shop at the market down the street for our feast. Still, Thanksgiving is a day, followed by a day off, followed by a weekend that turns our regular day-to-day on it’s ear. Most schools and businesses are closed. Our world breaks routine. The thing is, your body likes routine. It likes to sleep in it’s own bed, go to the bathroom in your toilet, and sleep and wake at the same time. Routines are healthy and even good disruptions keep our systems from humming at their best. NL Live Consciously Tip: As much as possible, stick to your daily lifestyle routines of sleep, waking, morning habits, coffee of choice and wellness work. The little bit of consistency will make it easier to recover from Thanksgiving and set you up for a healthy December. Your nurtured self is on a shelf. Could the desire to overdo it on the sweet potatoes covered in marshmallows related to your disconnection with your body? Let’s face it, celebrating turkey-day is not always easy on the old self care routine. As a host, there is lots of planning, prepping, organizing and expectation to manage. Taking time to squeeze in a lavender bath, read a few pages of a novel, or use your red light therapy mask is just probably not going to happen. But, we need our nurturing time to restore balance to our bodies. Taking care of ourselves, beyond the basic teeth brushing and hair washing takes us from surviving to thriving. When your wellness isn’t thriving, you’re more likely to get sucked into overeating, skipping the exercise and having the extra glass of holiday cheer that starts a cycle of unhealthy behaviors. NL Conscious Living Tip: Feed your soul like you’re feeding your tummy this Thanksgiving by planning to listen to your favorite tunes, call your bestie in Cali, or use that red light therapy mask. Feeling good makes you want to fuel-good! Enjoy yourself this turkey-day, and do it in a way that you can feel great about. Think beyond the food to the underlying reasons why you may have overdone it in the past. Maybe one of the reasons above speaks to you. Squash your stress, maintain balance in your world and remember to nurture yourself. Happy Thanksgiving!