Diet Portion Sizes
Losing weight is about PORTION CONTROL! To lose weight, you must learn about portion size, which may not be the same as serving sizes of foods in each food group. Unfortunately, determining the serving size of each food you should eat can be rather confusing. Let’s try to simplify this and make this process uncomplicated by making it easy.
The HCG True Diet Portion Sizes
The True HCG Diet program is very specific in its portion sizes. The portion size of the meat is 100 gm, or around 3.5 ounces. The portion sizes of the vegetables and fruits are variables. Knowing the exact amounts to eat is an easy calculation.
The calculation is simple: first determine the calories in the protein you eat and the fruit, subtract these from 250 calories and you know the number of calories in the portion size of vegetables to eat. Most of the time, this is much more food than what most people imagine.
There are a variety of databases that can be used to know the number of calories in a certain measure of food. There are books on these and the internet has many websites that help you calculate these. Another source is the nutrition label on most packaged foods.
The Nutrition Facts Label
Almost all packaged food come labeled with a rectangular information box called “Nutrition Facts.” This label will help you determine the nutrient value and recommended serving size of the food you are eating. Use these labels frequently for this purpose. Grab a can or box of food and let’s look at the parts of this label so you may understand it better.
The first item listed on the “Nutrition Facts” label is the serving size. Serving sizes are standardized to make it easier to compare similar foods. When you no longer are doing HCG and you start adding other foods to your menu, you can use this measured size as a guide for your serving size. The label is a good source of dietary information to let you know the nutritional contents of the food. Knowing these will help you make better choices of the foods you eat.
Caleries Per Serving
The number of Calories in a serving size of that food is listed at the top of the label. Make sure you pay attention to the number of servings in the container of food. Sometimes, one container may appear to be one serving size, but it will actually be two or more.
Many people make the mistake of thinking a small box is equivalent to a serving size. Be careful and read the label. Pay attention to the number of servings per food package. Then ask yourself, “How many servings am I really consuming?”
Calories from Fat are listed. Try to eat foods that are lower in fat so the total amount of calories eaten is reduced. However, many low fat foods actually add extra carbohydrates to them in order to make them palatable to us.
Therefore, be sure that you check labels on all “Low-fat” foods that you buy. Compare them with the regular food’s labels. If the total number of calories is the same, you really are not getting any benefit from eating that food.
However, there are many foods that are low fat and low calorie. Try to learn which ones these are and write them down in your Favorites Form, which you can download from our website (if a member).
Following the Calories section is the nutrient section showing key nutrients that impact on your health. Once again, the number is per serving, and there may be more than one serving per container so take note.
In the upper part of this section are the fats. These include Cholesterol. Health experts recommend that you limit your intake of saturated fat, Trans fat, and cholesterol to as low as possible. Total Carbohydrates, protein and fiber is usually listed next.
When trying to lose weight or just maintain an appropriate weight, it is a good idea to actually increase your protein and fiber intake. Extra fiber can not only help you feel full, but also helps reduce the risk of some medical diseases and condition.
At the bottom of the label is listed a section sometimes with an asterisk “*”notation. This box can be confusing. You can just ignore this if you prefer since it may only confuse the situation. It tells you the %DV (Daily Value) of the food based on a 2,000 calorie diet. It is helpful when comparing different foods to each other.
Using the Nutrition Food Label
Use the Nutrition Food Label as a guide for knowing the servings of each food you are ingesting. This is especially important once you are in Phase 4 of the True HCG Diet, i.e. the permanent lifestyle changes phase. It will make it easier for you to record your daily amount of calories of food ingested. Doing so will help you to know exactly how much you are really eating.