Operation Lose Five Pounds: Using Packaging to Your Advantage
Living on my own is awesome. I love it. One of the best parts about it is that all of the food in my condo is what I want to be in there; I don’t have to worry about temptation from a roommate’s treats.
The downside of living on your own, however, is that there’s no one to watch you eat. No one to see you take an extra spoonful or three of peanut butter. It’s a conundrum!
But I (may) have figured out a way around this little problem by stealing an idea from the supermarket: pre-packaging.
Divvying out portion sizes when you first buy your groceries is perfect for saving on time and for saving on calories. And the great thing is that if you’re using Tupperware containers or Ziploc bags, you can reuse them in the future, so you’re still being (somewhat) environmentally-friendly! (I’m sure that Westwood would approve).
These are some of the things that I have been putting into portion-sized containers as soon as I get home from the store (or as soon as I cook them):
– Peanut butter: I have two tiny containers that I use to portion out peanut butter. I put 1 or 2 tbsp of peanut butter in each container, and that way, I don’t reach for the jar when I want a nut butter fix: I reach for a mini container. Then, I do not fill up the container right away. That would be dangerous, because I’d have to open up the jar of peanut butter and it would be all to easy to have an extra taste. Instead, I wait until I’ve brushed my teeth at night, and then I re-fill the container. It’s a good strategy to prevent myself from being put in a position where I might overeat on the nut butter. To some, this might sound like a silly process, but I’m not kidding when I say that I have a wee bit of a nut butter problem! I’ve been able to re-fill my tiny container immediately a few times without problems, but it’s still not something I want to “chance” most of the time.
– Oatmeal: I have oatmeal pretty much every day in the mid-morning, so it’s good to have it all doled out ahead of time. It saves me time if I’m going to be at work, and it prevents me from adding an extra spoonful of this or that if I’m at home. In each container I put the following: 1/3 cup mixture of whole grain rolled oats/spelt flakes/wheat flakes/barley flakes/rye flakes, 2 tbsp soy milk powder (it’s a good way to get in some extra protein and calcium, particularly because of my sensitivity to lactose), 1 tbsp chocolate rice protein powder, a generous shake of cinnamon, and 1/2 sliced banana. I just need to add 1/2 cup water at home or when I get to work and heat it up, and I’m all set!
– Soup: I’ve been making tons of 15-bean and potato soup lately. It’s delicious, but I’m also aware that if I have “a small bowl” for a snack, the calories can add up (especially if I hadn’t already factored that “snack” in for the day). So, after I’ve cooked the soup and it’s cooled off, I divide it into 4 or 5 portions (225-275 calories each), and put them in the freezer. Easy enough to defrost, and the frozen aspect makes it easy to transport without worrying about any spills on the walk or bike ride to work (thank you, boyfriend, for that tip!).
– Cereal: I make my own cereal using 1 cup puffed kamut or puffed wheat (or a mixture of the two), plus 2 tbsp to 1/4 cup granola (either homemade or Fruit Not Fat Galaxy Granola). I like to top it with fresh fruit (bananas are my favourite). So, I put 1 cup puffed kamut/wheat, 3 tbsp granola, 2 tbsp soy milk powder, 1/2 tbsp chocolate or vanilla protein powder, and a sprinkle of cinnamon in each Ziploc bag. Each bag contains roughly 250-300 calories, and you just have to add 1/2 cup cold water (to make the milk), plus whatever sliced fruit you want. This makes a big bowl of tasty, crunchy cereal! It tastes much better to use real milk (dairy, almond, soy, rice; your preference!) than the powdered kind, but the powdered stuff works well enough if you don’t have anything else on hand.
I have raisins in my cupboard, so I’m considering buying some almonds or other nuts and doing the same thing with making portion-sized baggies containing the nuts and fruit. I’m also considering making a small batch of air-popped popcorn and putting that in 100-calorie or 150-calorie baggies, too, but I don’t know if I’m quite there yet. I’m fine eating popcorn as long as I eat it with other people- it’s just when I’m by myself that it can get outta control. Baby steps! I don’t want to overwhelm my emotional eating issues by doing too much, too fast, even if I am doing incredibly well at getting over my emotional eating issues. Allowing nut butter into my house is a big enough step 🙂
What foods do you like to portion out ahead of time?
Makes me wonder what the world would look like if everyone did this. I have been an obsessive food segregationist for years. The one that is probably the most odd, is with meat. I grill all my bison or beef as soon as I get home from the store, and into the zip-locks they go in perfect 4oz. portions. To my fiancé’s dismay, I actually rinse and re-use the zip-locks.
That couldn’t be more true about living on your own – positives and negatives, for sure!
That is actually a great idea about the PB. Nut butter can be my weakness, too, and if it weren’t so expensive, I would just use the Justin’s nut butter packets so I could control my portions better!
One thing I always portion out ahead of time, like you, is cereal and oats. I think because those are two things that are hard for me to “eyeball.” And it only takes a few seconds to do!
I’ve started using a measuring cup for my oatmeal and cereal. It’s right on top of the cannister that holds the oatmeal (I eat it every morning, so it’s in a cannister by the stove).
I find I do need to measure portions more. Portions really are my downfall…I tend to eat more than I should, and even though it’s healthy food, I suspect it’s whay these last 7 lbs I have been trying to remove are still taunting me. I don’t want to go to extremes and weigh all the meats and such, but I’ve made up a list of what a portion size *is* of things I eat a lot of and put it on the stove. I absolutely hate the idea of counting points or adding up things, but I’m trying to keep calories under check. I’m often surprised at how many portions I think I’m eating VS what I really am. 100 calories here and there does add up…
Lately I’ve started making my own turkey burgers and marinated cuts of clean meat and grilling them and steaming little tinfoil poushes of veggies to have with them. YUM…I don’t even miss fries and extra sauces…
When I think of how I ate 10 years ago it’s crazy how much better I am now.
Emergefit- Giggling over you re-use of ziplocks. I re-use ziplocks for so many things too. I like the idea of cooking up the meat ahead of time! That’s a clever idea.
Holly- EXACTLY, it truly does only take a couple seconds. I haven’t tried the Justin’s Nut Butter packets but I like the idea (even if it’s not very environmentally-friendly).
Geosomin- Mmmm that sounds really tasty! I feel the same way about how I used to eat 10 years ago *shudder*. I was all about white bread and pizza pops, hehe.
I certainly do approve! Although more so in non-plastic containers so as to mitigate leaching nasty plastic into your tasty treats.
I need to start repackaging the nuts. A handful here and a handful there really add up.
I like to do this with steel cut oats. I usually make a 4-serving batch, because the stuff takes so darn long to cook. I add flax meal at the end. I usually add peanut butter before reheating, but now I’m thinking I ought to just put it in at the end of the cooking, so all that oaty tastiness is good to go.
When I was first changing my eating habits, my husband (the family chef) was still adjusting to cooking less, and I had a huge leftovers ziplock in the freezer with diced 2-oz servings of meat in plastic wrap. We had quite the little stockpile going, and I was eating a lot of breakfast soup. Now, not so much. He’s good about weighing out portions for lunches the next day, too.
I have the little containers, too, and I’ve used bags for almonds and other dry goods. (The bags are easily re-used.)
My PB tracking method is easy. After my daily 1-dip, the spoon goes in the sink. Spoon-in-sink = no mo’ PB that day. And after the dishes for the day are washed, there’s no more snacking anyway. Which is why they’re the last thing I do at night. 🙂
I know exactly what you mean! On nights that Nick works late, and I am home alone, I tend to mindlessly eat a lot more. If I lived alone I’m sure I would do it a lot! I’ve actually never lived alone. Your tips are great, and I know I would do more pre-portioning if I did indeed live by myself, but I currently don’t really pre-portion anything. I eat the PB out of the jar…..haha, but I have Nick there to tell me to STOP. If I ever live alone, pre-portioning IS the way to go!
i always portion my homemade soups and casseroles too. sometimes i portion out nuts or nut butter in the beginning of the day so i have it planned out.
Love your nut butter trick! Nut butters are my weakness too. I don’t pre-portion things, but I get a little weird about making sure my serving sizes are equal. Like, if I have a 4-serving container of yogurt, I want to be sure I get 4 servings that are the same size. I am OCD over the weirdest things, haha.
I am weird in the way that I always try to conserve my ziplock bags and try not to use them. I will usually pre-portion out meats or fish that I buy in bulk, but don’t go out of my way to pre-portion anything else. I should do that for peanut M&M’s which I down by the lbs during finals week, though.
great idea with the peanut butter (I’m going to do that with hummus; grabbing 1 1/2 lbd tub has been bad). I put cereal in a zip-close bag with a small scoop in it so I’ll only scoop out a bit at a time
Westwood- Oh. Right. I suppose I should get on the non-plastic-ness, too 🙂
Pubsgal- I like the idea of eating “breakfast soup”… we seem to have strict ideas of what is and is not “breakfast food”, so it’s nice to switch it up! I like making big batches of steel cut oats, BUT I find that if I use milk instead of water to make it, I don’t get the same creaminess as I do when I add milk at the end (as far as BIG batches go where I’m reheating it later). The same thing might happen with adding nut butter in earlier on.
Cammy- LOVE the spoon-in-sink concept. Hmmm… now I’m thinking I should have a special spoon specifically for my nut butter… 😀
Gina & Clare- Am ALL ABOUT the pre-portioning!
Mimi- I feel the same way 😉
Sophia- We all have our weaknesses during those times, heh. Mine is baked goods.
Katherine- Smart idea to do it for hummus too! That’s another one where it’s easy to have more than a serving size.