Monday: MEASURE UP!!

Hope everyone had a productive Monday, ate well, and got in a solid workout.  One thing I've been meaning to write about is the importance of MEASURING--both yourself AND what you eat!! If you're trying to lose inches, pounds, increase muscle mass, decrease body fat, bulk up, etc--eyeballing your progress isnt always enough, for it provides little accuracy. The same goes for deciding "how much" of something to eat. How many times has a "handful of blueberries" turned into an empty container meant to last you 4 servings? Measuring food portions with cute little measuring bowls and spoons is one of the EASIEST ways to keep track of your calories and what you're consuming.

How do I measure my own progress? Well, I'm not a huge fan of the SCALE. I tend to be a really obsessive person, and the numbers on the scale tend to be a little daunting for me. Since I've put on a lot of muscle (since losing 25+ pounds since graduating high school,) I don't weigh as low as I would like to. Instead, I use a measuring tape. I have two measuring tapes: I cut one at 25 inches, so that I make sure my waist never exceeds that. The other tape I have is full length, and I use that to measure my hips (The only measurement I take that is larger than 25.) I measure my waist and hips most frequently, and occasionally take bicep, forearm, quad, and calf measurements to see if I've put on some real muscle. While stepping on the scale is a good and helpful habit for people trying to lose or gain weight, I find myself getting too hung up on the fact that I dont weigh 120 pounds yet. With that said, If I look as ripped and defined as I hope to look, and weigh 125, I'll be way more satisfied! Find a form of measurement that works for you, and STICK TO IT to ensure progress!! 


Now for the food. Call me a psycho, but i LOVE to measure things out. I even measured how much unsweetened soy milk I put in my coffee! 4 tablespoons this morning, in case you were wondering. Little things like that can really add up at the end of the day. When it comes to veggies, I really don't measure. For instance, a bag of spinach contains 2 servings: 1 serving = 20 calories. I know that since I use 1 bag per day, that I consume 40 calories worth of spinach. I use the same judgement for liquid eggwhites. One serving of eggwhites contains 25 calories and 5 grams of protein, and there is 10 servings per carton. Therefore, If I use 1 carton a day, I know that was 250 calories and 50 grams of protein. 


Always measure grains and FATS. Just "drizzling" olive oil on a salad could cost you hundreds of calories and too much fat. 1 tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 cals and 14g fat. Healthy fat? Yup. They say its good for your heart. However, when's the last time you broke out the tablespoon as you poured FAT all over a beautiful guilt free salad? Same goes for eating almonds, walnuts, peanuts, nut butters, etc. 1/4cup almonds is WAY TINIER than most people would like to realize. If you buy any type of nuts in a big container, Measure out the serving size right away, and put them in little ziploc baggies so they're pre-measured and prepared when you want the RIGHT amount of healthy fats. Want that natural almond butter? Great, eat it...but get out the tablespoon again! A serving size of most nut butters contains near 200 calories and 16 grams of fat. A garnish for oatmeal or some fresh celery stalks could become an overindulgence if you don't measure up.  


I advise you to measure your cooked grains as well: quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice, wild rice, etc. You have to measure the uncooked grain to get the right grain:water ratio, so measure after its cooked too, and scoop individual servings into tupperware dishes and refrigerate what you're not eating right away. When I make quinoa, I cook 1 cup of it at a time. 1 cup of uncooked quinoa is supposed to yield 4 servings: 170 cals, 30g carbs, 5 g protein, 3g fiber. Once cooked, I use my measuring cups to get 6-7 smaller servings out of it, preventing myself from consuming too many calories and carbs in the future...because I really use quinoa as a side to my proteins and vegetables, and do NOT need so many carbs during a random meal.



By knowing exactly how much food and macronutrients (fats carbs proteins) you're consuming, you'll be able to calculate your daily intake way better, and understand how to further tweak your diet to consume better ratios of proteins/carbs/fats in order to attain the physique you want!!