Unless you are incredibly lucky with genes and a super high metabolism, staying at your goal weight requires a lifetime commitment to sensible eating and exercise. It can actually be harder to maintain than to lose weight – with weight loss there are often hard and fast rules; no sweets, no bread, etc. With maintenance, you are faced with a myriad of choices daily and must decide which foods/drinks are worth it, which you can live without. Then there is the issue of portion control – such a huge factor in how we stay in shape. A positive way to look at this is you can pretty much eat whatever you want if you pay attention to portion size. Pay attention and be disciplined. The photo below is not the prettiest picture, but it illustrates this point quite well. At a restaurant in Long Island, while traveling for business, this was my breakfast plate AFTER I FINISHED eating.

I ordered ‘two eggs, scrambled, with Canadian bacon and whole wheat toast’. You don’t need to be a genius to know that this was WAY more than two eggs. I ate about half of the eggs and one slice of the bacon. Keeping my carb intake low, I had one half slice of toast with butter.  Passed completely on the home fries.  It was satisfying, and it was plenty of food for someone my size – to stay my size!  

Whether it is in nice restaurants, fast food establishments, or food purchased in grocery stores, most portions in the good ol’ USA are grossly oversized. Do not feel the need to finish your plate. Do not feel you are being wasteful (you can usually take a doggy bag). Be smart, be in control. Read the labels.  Do not be fooled by  grain bowls and/or salads that are deemed ‘healthy’ – too much of anything is going to be too many calories.

I realize this may not be a fun or pretty post, but when I saw my plate after eating breakfast it was remarkable to me.   Hope this is helpful, interesting, and/or inspiring!

Candy 🙂