Food Plan?- Distorted portions

[Runnerchick34]

Hello Everyone-

 

I just wanted to see if there was an actual food plan/portion size (as in weight) that is available.  I have an eating disorder and i am trying to work on it, but sometimes my portions (base on palms and stuff can be very distorted).  As far as how much vegetables per meal- are we talking two cups, three cups?  With fruit- are we talking 6 ounces?  In protein to you think it would be 6-8 ounces?  

 

Any help would be so deeply appreciated!!
 

BTW-I am an active breastfeeding, hashimoto's (hypothyroid) mama, that wants to maintain loss, not lose or gain.

 

Thank you so very much!!
 

Rita

[amberino21]

I have come in to the whole 30 from a very controlled, weigh everything, count everything background....

I eat as many non-starchy vegetables as I want, usually 3+ cups!!i also make sure to have some starchy ones - about a handful with 2 out of 3 meals. I have fruit a couple of times a day, and its usually a banana, apple or about 3/4-1 cup berries.

Eggs - 1 serve is as many as I can fit in my hand, and I literally put my meat in my hand to measure

[MrsStick]

Runnerchick,

 

The point of having everything in palms and "the rest of your plate" is because weighing your food isn't ideal. Everyone will need a different amount of food, and the size of your palm is something that will adjust the size to YOUR size. For example, I'm 5'10.5", and I need a different weight of food than you do, especially if you're breast feeding. So if the Hartwigs would say "eat 6 oz of X" it might not be enough for me but be too much for someone who's 8" shorter than me. Does that make sense?

 

If you start with your protein being about the size of your palm - say, a burger patty, as many eggs as you can hold in your hand while still in the shell (it's at least 3 for me easily, probably 4, but I reduce depending on the other protein I might have along with it), enough shrimp or scallops as to ROUGHLY match your palm 3D-like (length, width, and height) - you'll have a good starting point. If you need to, put it in your hand. If you're still hungry after your meal, hungry enough that you would eat plain steamed veggies/fish, then the next time go up to 1.5 palms. If you're still hungry, 2 palms. 

 

For veggies, I literally load my plate with them after I serve my meat. I use a smaller plate than my husband (he's about 4" taller than me), and every open space on my plate is cooked veg. I don't bother with salads much unless I'm out since they don't fill me up like cooked veg do. I tend towards more starchy veg, partially because they taste a little better and partially since hubby likes them more. We can easily eat a large sweet potato at one meal between the two of us. 

 

I somewhat understand where you're coming from with the eating disorder. I was borderline binge eating in high school - eating as little as possible during the day until I was packing my lunch that night, when I'd eat entire spoonfuls of peanut butter and jelly. I've been a food sneaker for most of my life - my older sister and I would wake up earlier than my parents when we were maybe 5 and 3 or so, take the box of Kix downstairs, and eat it with the TV on. We'd shove any food that was out on the floor under the couch when my parents woke up, and it took us moving for my mom to understand the ant problem downstairs. So I at least kind of get it. However, this program is designed to help you move beyond the need to weigh your food before you eat it. It's here to break you free of that, one day at a time. And it works. Trust me, it does.

 

Especially since you're breast feeding, you need at least 3 full meals by the template and probably a mini-meal by the template or sipping a full-fat can of coconut milk throughout the day. Don't be afraid of fat! Your endocrine system (your hormonal system, including your thyroid) NEED fat. Hormones are made of it in a large degree! Your baby's brain is made up mostly of saturated fat. Babies need a LOT of fat during their first two years, and you can't give it to him/her unless you're eating it. So please, do yourselves a favor, and don't skimp on this even though you've been told all your life that fat is bad. It's not bad, and we can promise you that you will be okay. Promise!

[Autumnangel]

Hi, so good to get the identification and read the posts about the eating 'disorder' thing and portion size. 

 

I followed a very disciplined weighed and measured food plan in a 12-step program for 10 years which involved staying away from flour and sugar.  I of course had great relief from certain issues and weight loss but continued to have some digestive and problems with joint stiffness and sensitivities.  I stopped that program about 2 years ago and have been back eating sugars, grains and pretty much all that I had stayed away from!  Obviously this hasn't worked healthily for me and I now am desperate to get back some sense of health and relief from the addictiveness of the food but am really hesitant to go back to weighing and measuring as the way forward.

 

I've never had a consistent period of time without any grains/sugars and I wasn't encouraged to stay away from the healthier ones like oats and brown rice, despite the health problems I was having.

 

Anyway, a long way of saying that it is good to get the identification and I really understand the worry about portions.  It really does seem that everyone, even those with history of eating issues, don't have to worry about portions if they stick wholly to the guidelines.  I intend to start this week and am definintely going to need the support of others.  It's just impossible to do it alone and comforting to know that there's so many out there further along the path and at the start!