Simple wisdom
Here’s another healthy habit to get int Use a smaller plate at mealtime.
As everything around you becomes super-sized, you’ll really be bucking the trend if you follow the lead of a program that’s being recommended for diabetics. By using plates and bowls specifically designed to indicate proper portion sizes—a policy we could all profit from—diabetics who were obese were able to lose weight. Even better? They were able to lower their use of drugs to control their glucose!
The plates were designed to allow for the appropriate calorie count and nutritional specifics for men and women. The plates had sections for protein, carbohydrates, vegetables, cheese, and sauce and allowed for an 800-calorie meal for a man and a 650-calorie meal for a woman. The bowls allowed a portion equivalent to 200 calories of cereal and milk.
Of the 122 patients, half were given the portion-control plates and the other half were given nutritional counseling, or what was deemed the “usual care” for obese diabetic patients.
The patients using the portion-control plates lost about 1.8 percent of their body weight, with 16.9 percent of those patients losing about 5 percent. Those patients who received just nutritional counseling lost about 0.1 percent of their body weight, with only 4.6 percent of them losing about 5 percent of their body weight.
And a 5 percent decrease in weight in obese diabetic patients is no small potatoes, translating into decreased mortality from disorders like cancer and/or a heart attack.
As to the glucose-control drugs, there was a 26.2 percent decrease in the use of them by the patients using portion control as compared with only 10.8 percent in the other group.
There can be extraordinary wisdom found in simplicity. I recommend you reeducate yourself on proper portions—whether you’re diabetic or not. Also, you might want to consider investing in a few of these special plates and bowls while learning healthier habits. I recommend chewing food thoroughly—20 to 30 times. I also recommend waiting 15 to 20 minutes between courses. This allows the satiety response to kick in, which means you’ll feel like eating less if you slow down. When you bolt your food, your body doesn’t know what hit it.
Finally, I would suggest drawing a picture showing a plate. Half the plate is for vegetables, a quarter of it for a starch, and a quarter for protein. You’d be surprised how effective this little picture can be.
Also, don’t go back for seconds!
