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Eating In Moderation

This week we look at the third, and in America at least, most needed of the three basics of healthy eating: Moderation.

There really are no such things as “good” foods to concentrate on eating or “bad” foods to avoid in order to be healthy. Food is value neutral. Some of it has more of this and less of that than some other food, but that doesn’t make it a better or worse food for you than the other. Heck, as a country, Americans eat far less fatty foods than we did forty years ago, but we’re more overweight than ever. So much for fat being the culprit. The whole concept of “bad” foods that “make you fat” is just an easy way to abdicate responisiblity for your health and let yourself off the hook for something that is entirely your own fault.

Moderation in eating means two things, which work hand in hand to keep you healthy and, over time, at an appropriate weight. The first part of moderation is that there is room in every diet for every type of food, in moderation. Anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you a fad diet, end of story. So, if you love chocolate cake, you can eat it, in moderation. You cannot eat chocolate cake for every meal every day and be healthy, but then again, you can’t eat anything in exclusivity and be healthy. Make room for all kinds of food, and you will discover that it is pretty hard to overeat one or two types of food, if you are eating a wide enough variety.

The second form of moderation is that of meal and portion size. Of course, it will be almost impossible to control your meal size if you don’t eat regular meals, so start there. Skipping meals just sets you up to lose control later and makes the task of learning how to eat in moderation that much harder.

We tend to pay little to no attention to our food or our eating. We are involved in reading a book, working, watching TV, talking to dinner guests, daydreaming, whatever. This inability to concentrate on what is going into our mouths is directly responsible for our lack of moderation. We hardly ever stop eating before our bodies start to complain. The feeling of being full is a warning sign of impending gastric distress, letting us know that we have consumed too much food.

So, start with small portions. Put half as much food on your plate as you do now. you can always go back for more, you know. No one is going to sneak up to the all-you-can-eat bar while you are on your first plate and steal all the food.

Chew slowly, and utter a complete sentence after every bite of food. Don’t eat your half-serving so fast that you don’t taste it and rush back for more. Relax, and allow your body to react to the food you have already eaten before pilinng more on top of it.

Stop when you are no longer hungry, not when you are full. If you eat slowly and pay attention, you will discover that these two feelings are not the same, and are actually seperated by quite a bit of food shoveled into your face. For many people, this habit alone is the key to dropping pounds “without even trying”.

Next Week: Picky, Picky, Picky
Read the rest of this series:

• Part 1 - Scheduling
• Part 2 - Variety
• Part 3 - Moderation
• Part 4 - Being Picky
• Part 5 - Can The Canned Goods
• Part 6 - Get Your Kitchen In Order
• Part 7 - Think Like A Chef
• Part 8 - Technique
• Part 9 - Mise en Place