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You're feeling hungry and you know a cookie isn't the healthiest option, so you grab a handful of nuts with your banana or nosh on a handful while making dinner. A handful is a serving size, right? Not unless your serving size is 400 calories!
Leanne Ward [3], a sports dietitian known as the_fitness_dietitian [4] on Instagram, posted this comparison photo of portion sizes [5] to make a very important point. Although foods like nuts are healthy, they aren't devoid of calories. If you grab and munch without measuring, you could be consuming hundreds of extra calories each day. This could be the reason you're eating healthy food 100 percent of the time and not reaching your weight-loss goals. You actually may even gain weight [6] without wanting to.
Leanne said, "this picture demonstrates that even I as a dietitian, I overestimate my portion sizes. If you're trying to lose weight, I recommend weighing or measuring your portions for a day or two." That way you can keep tabs on much you may be overestimating those eyeballed portions without meaning to.
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Keep in mind that nuts, seeds, avocado, and oil "are very healthy but also quite energy dense ie: high in (good) calories." So if your goal is to lose body fat, keep an eye on portions [8] of those energy-dense foods. Leanne said, "you can still enjoy all your favourite things as part of a healthy lifestyle, but understanding quantities & portion sizes can help you achieve your goals 💗."
Newsletter Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Maria del Rio