Portion Control
Ok, so now you understand how the blood sugar works. You must eat a variety of foods every couple of hours from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep. Yet, how do we know how big our portions are supposed to be? Well, don’t worry. I’m covering that too.
There is a little known secret in American culture that is overlooked by so many diets. This secret is on many boxes of food that allow you to easily calculate how big your portions should be. It was designed for diabetics, but why not learn about it before you become diabetic? It is known as Exchanges.
Unlike many diets, I don’t want to narrow your options for foods. Think of this advice as a guideline. If I tell you eating fats will help you lose weight, then you know you have an abundance of options for attaining fat from which to choose. The same applies if I tell you that protein builds muscle.
Furthermore, if I say I want you to eat 20 grams of protein in every meal, then it is up to you to find the protein you feel like eating at the moment and just making sure you get 20g in. Make sense? This is what Exchanges do. Except the Exchange system is a new way of looking at the different food groups. If you are diabetic, then you would know that there are a variety of lists of which to keep track. You have the starches, the fruits, the dairy products, the fats, the free foods and so on. This can get quite overwhelming. I’ve found that by narrowing our options to just three distinct categories, we can eliminate confusion and see the same level of results.
Nothing new here. The three categories as you may have guessed are:
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fats
Remember how to tell these apart. Don’t confuse legumes as proteins or think soy is a protein. This is a very common mistake!
With the simple rules I explained before, it is easy to categorize all foods. There might be a few exceptions, but 99% of everything falls in here, so why learn crazy subcategories from the very beginning?
Ok, so now you have 3 categories. You know you’re supposed to eat from every category in every sitting, but how much?
First, let’s learn a little bit of science behind the Exchange system before I answer that question. The exchange system can be broken down as seen in the next chart.
An exchange is another way of measuring quantities. There are many calorie counting diets or point systems in place. This is yet another point system meal planning method. The difference is that this method was designed for diabetics and is actually used in many food labels. I’m hoping it will someday become mainstream, as this is a great way to calculate the size of your portion.
Let’s look at the chart above. We have 1 Exchange of Carbs which is the same as saying 15 grams of carbs or even saying 60 calories from carbohydrates. All three of these mean the exact same thing. I don’t want you to use this idea and get crazy about counting calories or counting exchanges. But for about two weeks on my meal plan, you should build your fire with the exact amount of fuel that I recommend.
On my website, in my cookbooks and in other literature found for diabetics, you’ll find the following nomenclature used when referring to Exchanges:
1 3 1 – This means you will be eating 1 Exchange of Carbs, 3 Exchanges of Protein and 1 Exchange of Fat. It can also be written as 15g Carbs, 21g Protein and 5g Fat.
As you can see, it is easier to simply write 1 3 1 than to explain every time what each number means. Let’s look at one more example:
3 1 2 – This example would be 45g Carbs, 7g Protein and 10g Fat. It can also be written as 180 calories of Carbs, 28 Calories of Protein and 90 Calories of Fat.
Does this all make sense? There is no way to tell you exactly how much you should eat without a personal session with me or another nutrition coach, but in my experience I have found that the following recommendation works most of the time.
For a girl who is 5’5” and wishes to be about 120lbs, you will want to have the following:
6 AM – 1 3 0
7 AM – Workout
8 AM – 1 3 1
9 AM – 1 1 1
12 PM – 1.5 4 1
2:30 PM – 1 3 1
5 PM – 1 3 1
7:30 PM – 1 3 1
9:30 PM – 0.5 2 2
A man who is 5’11” and wishes to be 170lbs should have the following:
6 AM – 2 5 0.5
7 AM – Workout
8 AM – 2 6 1
9 AM – 1 5 1
12 PM – 2 6 1
2:30 PM – 1 5 1
5 PM – 2 6 1
7:30 PM – 1 5 1
9:30 PM – 1 3 1.5
This is a brief look at Exchanges and how they can help us measure portions. You may research Exchanges in depth and find a multitude of recipes, diets and food lists on my website or elsewhere that use this wonderful system of portion control.
Well, that wraps up how to fuel your body. In conclusion, if all you got out of this chapter is that you need to eat every 3 hours no matter what, then you will see a lot of success.
Take it one step further, and eat every 3 hours a balanced meal of 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat and you’ll be that much better off.
Learn how to use properly balanced meals often throughout your day and you will start to feel the embers growing in as little as two weeks.