Portion control is essential to successfully manage weight. 
This is true for weight-loss and for maintaining weight-loss.

It is valuable to learn what a portion really looks like. 

Portion control is a basic principle of almost all weight-loss plans,

and yet, it is one of the hardest skills for people to master.

Most restaurant plate servings  contain between 2 to 4 portions,

and finishing the entire plate can go far beyond the limits 

of what the body can use on that day.  

 Visualizing what one normal portion looks like can be helpful. 

Here are some examples:

Meat = the size of  a deck of cards or a cassette audiotape

Fish = the size of a checkbook

Peanut butter=- the size of a walnut

Dressing = the size of a shot glass

Butter = the size of a postage stamp

Cereal = the size of a woman's fist, or a baseball

Rice or pasta = one-half a baseball

Potato = the size of a computer mouse

Bread = the size of 1 CD

Hard Cheese = the size of 2 dominoes or 4 dice

Mixed nuts = fits into the cupped palm of a child's hand, or the size of a golf ball

Generally, a single serving consists of:

1 cup (8 ounces) of milk

1 ounce of cheese

½ cup of vegetables

1 small piece, or `½ cup to 1 cup of fresh fruit

½ cup to 1 cup of cooked rice or pasta

3 ounces of lean meat, fish, chicken.

 We need to retain our brains to think small.

When we measure with our eyes, remember:

1 teaspoon = the size of a fingertip (top to middle joint); fits into the screw cap of a water bottle.

1 tablespoon = the size of a thumb tip (tip to middle joint)

¼ cup = the size of a golf ball

½ cup = a fruit or vegetable that fits into the palm of your hand - about the size of a tennis ball.

1 cup (dry) = the size of a woman's fist or a baseball. 

 Some common Myths and Misconceptions are:

"It's low in fat so I can eat more." 

This is a common mistake, but it isn't true - just because a package says "low fat"

doesn't mean that food is low in calories. Portion control is important for all foods,

even those claiming to be low in fat or calories.  

"Liquids don't count". 

Yes they do - and here it is easy to misjudge the intake of a food portion. 

Some liquids contain a lot of calories.  A simple coffee latte contains about 212 calories,

and the skinny option contains about 167 calories. 

Anything that goes into your body, liquid or solid, will impact your weight.

Sometimes, when I look at the different weight-loss websites
I am amazed at their ability to frequently and continually
churn out interesting articles.

I'm finding that it takes an enormous amount of time and energy
to write about things that I find meaningful.

I have to put ideas and concepts into my mind,
and mull them about a bit,
before I come up with something to say.
That takes time, too.

I would like this website, DietHobby,
to be helpful to others, but
it is primarily intended to help and encourage me
with my own weight-loss maintenance efforts.

 So this is sort of a disclaimer.
If you come here, and find nothing of interest,
it's because at that particular time, that particular day,
either, I had nothing new to say,
or nothing that I felt that I needed to share.

  I really want some patience RIGHT NOW !!!

So far, 2012 has failed to produce new diet books
that have different or interesting concepts for me to study
or to personally experiment with.

The same old information and rehashed solutions
don't make for interesting reading.

So, I've been reading books focused on mental attitudes
and how these affect behavior.

Recently I read
"Willpower, Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength"
by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney (2011)
and
"The Willpower Instinct" by Kelly McGonigal (2012)
I found both of these books interesting and worth reading.

Today I bought "What Makes your Brain Happy
and Why you should do the Opposite" by David DiSalvo (2011),
and I'm looking forward to reading it this week.

I view this type of reading all part of my Dieting Hobby,
because many of these concepts are applicable to weight-loss and maintenance.

So… no more time to write today,
because I need to have breakfast,
then get on my Treadmill for an exercise session,
before I can get started reading.

 It takes courage to start a weight-loss diet.
It takes courage to work to work to maintain a weight-loss.
Each of us is more courageous than we give ourselves credit for.