As we age, we have to eat smarter if we want to maintain our weight. Post-menopause, it’s not uncommon for women to gain an average of 5 pounds per year or more, and that adds up very quickly.

Two of the top reason women put on more weight as they age:

1. We move less as we age (in general, though this definitely does NOT have to be the case).

2. Our metabolism slows down, which means we burn fewer calories even though we’re eating the same amount of food (again, this is a generalization and does NOT have to be the case).

If we want to increase our metabolism post-menopause, we do have to move more, including both strength training and cardiovascular training, but that’s for another post. Today we’re focusing on Eating Smarter, which brings us back to why size matters.

Think about the size of the various plates and bowls in your home right now. Not the serving dishes, simply the ones you eat out of every day.

Now remember what actual serving sizes are for various food groups:

• lean protein = 4 ounces (that’s 1/4 of a pound, approximately the size of your palm)

• whole grains (e.g. quinoa, rice) or pasta = 1/2 cup (measure a serving occasionally to remind yourself how big, or small this is)

• vegetables = 1 cup (again measure occasionally to remind yourself visually of this size, which is approximately the size of your closed fist).

When we use large plates or bowls, we inevitably put more food into them and obviously, more food equals more calories.

Conversely, you don’t want to look at small portions of food on your large plate. Psychologically, it doesn’t “feel” right.

When you use a small plate, you more naturally take the proper size servings and it actually looks like you have more food rather than less.

Of course this does take a little bit of getting used to. When I was trying to eat spaghetti less often, I would occasionally make it and pile the spaghetti really high up on my small plate! This is not what we’er trying to do.

When we eat out in many restaurants, they often provide us with multiple servings especially at dinner time. This is most harmful to us since we’re eating this very large meal at the end of the day, which leaves us with the lease amount of time to possibly burn off these calories by moving more.

Change happens by:

1. thinking about what you’re doing now (e.g. noticing the size of plates and bowls you’re currently using)

2. remembering what you want (e.g. to eat more reasonable servings so you can maintain your weight & stay healthy)

3. making small, maintainable shifts in your habits (e.g. putting your food on smaller plates this week so you’re eating less but psychologically it feels like you’re eating the same amount since your plate is still full!)

Final Notes:

This is a very revealing process if you embrace it. We actually have 4 different size plates and 6 different size bowls in our home. When you really start eating 1/2 cup to 1 cup of certain foods, it really is much more satisfying to have a smaller plate or bowl.

Once you start paying more attention to serving sizes, let yourself notice the portions while eating out.

It’s often helpful to ask for a “to go” container at the same time your meal is served so you can save half for another time (versus trying to stop eating something delicious that’s on your plate just asking you to finish it)!