If Words Could Talk

If you answer "yes" to one of the following questions, you may want to consider a diet:

1. Has your fork ever suddenly disappeared while eating?

2. Do people take the next elevator––even when you hold the door?

3. When on a cruise, does the captain order you to stay in the center of the ship?

4. Within the last month, have you burned out two refrigerator bulbs?

I’m not going to bore you about the pounds of money spent each year on diets in pursuit of the perfect swimsuit body.

The problem is most people curb their diet at a fast-food drive thru. We don’t really understand "smaller portions." I have no idea what three ounces of potato salad looks like. I doubt you could even see it on a big dinner plate. You would have to move it around with the big spoon to be sure it’s there.

Since most plates don’t have outlines on them for the food, to help us out, here’s some single serving visual comparisons for portion sizes:

1. Veggies—your fist

2. Pasta—a single scoop of ice cream

3. Meat, fish or poultry—a deck of cards

4. Snacks (chips, etc.)—a cupped handful

5. Apple—a baseball

6. Potato—a computer mouse

7. Bagel—a hockey puck

8. Pancake—a computer disc

9. Steamed rice—a cupcake wrapper

10. Cheese— a pair of dice

Based on these sizes, I could easily get everything on one plate. You can tell right off that bagels and cheese are the "fat bombs" to avoid. These really are good visual aids to limit the amount of stuff we eat.

It gives us a chance to "eyeball" the portion and decide if it’s too much or too little. Of course, that’s a waste of time. Naturally, it’s going to be too little.

"Out of sight, out of mouth" goes the old saying.

The skinny experts recommend that we use smaller dishes (no, seconds aren’t part of the deal), don’t keep food platters on the table and never eat out of the bag or even worse, the infamous "carton."

You know you have "will-power" when you can leave a few chips or a couple of spoons of ice cream without "finishing it off."

A good label "read" in the supermarket is always satisfying while you munch at the sampling tables. Labels list ingredients from the most to the least. The fat and calories are listed "per serving" not the total found in the food.

In other words, if the label says 10 percent per serving and you gobble five of those tiny single servings, you’ve just swallowed 50 percent of the your daily allowance.

Even though you reduce your fat intake, you have to also reduce your calories. Eating low-fat food may still settle under your chin if you don’t keep the calories out of your mouth.

To lose weight, you have to use more calories than you eat.

Here it comes: Exercise burns calories. The rest is up to you.

Kids get their weight from you. They follow, or in many cases, lead the family’s eating habits.

If you set a good example, those eating habits might just stay with your kids the rest of their lives.

A couple of things you can do (along with making sure that the food available is healthful) is to involve your kids in the shopping and preparing of food. How much you want to teach about nutrition between "tasting" the food is up to you. But, a smart kid quickly learns to "ooh and aah" while frequently sampling your cooking.

Kids also learn that "nibbles" are allowed if they’re helping you defrost dinner. But if you’re not careful, your kid will have had their seconds before their first even hits the table.

You should also plan for snacks—both the timing and the goodie itself. Snacking constantly on anything that leaves your fingers greasy or orange is not the best choice.

Try not to use food as a punishment or reward.

Eating all the carrots just to get dessert places carrots on the long list of least desirable veggies.

Most importantly, don’t let the little devils eat while watching TV or doing their video thing. Only let them eat in the dining room or kitchen—not sprawled out on the sofa.

Supposedly it takes 15 minutes for the brain to send the "full" message to your stomach. That’s why after the first bite or so, the food doesn’t taste quite as good because the brain is in the "fill-up" mode. If you teach your kids to eat slowly, you’ll be absolutely amazed with the amount of food that you don’t have to buy.

And, if you’re setting the slow-chew, smaller-bites, keep-your-mouth-shut-to-keep-the-food-in example, your kids will also.

This column has been so tasty that I think I’ll do a second one and try on the "fad" diets for size.

Chow Chow or is it Chew Chew?