Stash Control/Portion Sizing

It's been a popular trend over the last couple years for knitters/crocheters to pledge to knit from stash. Variations of the pledge contain promises to limit the amount spent per month, to not spend any money at all and so on. And it has had varying degrees of success. The one thing it's done is to make knitters and crocheters conscious of their yarn expenses. Some still flaunt how much they spend and others relish in reporting yet another project made from shopping their own stash. Some report how deprived they feel not being able to buy the newest yarns that "everyone" is using. Some feel "life is too short" and flip out the trusty credit card.

Those of us trying to loose weight are faced with the same kind of thing. We feel deprived when everyone else is chowing down pizza, eating bacon and eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast, going back for seconds and thirds of birthday cake, eating two portions of deep fried mozarella sticks with three or four beers before dinner. We miss those foods. For several reasons, but we won't get into the reasons here.

What we fail sometimes to remember, is we can eat anything we want if we watch portion size. (We can buy any yarn we want if only buy some occassionally.) There is an idea, The Small Plate Movement, to help us change our persepective, not so much on what we eat, as how much we eat at a time. Just check out this video, Ice Cream Social, and see what kind of information Dr. Brian Wansink of Cornell Univeristy, author of Mindless Eating shares with us. Wanna join me? Switch to a ten inch plate. You think that's how big your dinner plates are? Go measure...I'll wait. Surprised? Switch to a smaller plate, bowl, wine glass. For 30 days. Weigh or measure yourself today. Write it on the calendar a month from now. See if just watching portion size makes a difference. You don't have to share it with anybody. Just do it. Go on...you know you want to--just to prove Dr. Wansink and me wrong. ;)

One of Dr. Wansink's studies also discovered if the serving bowls are smaller, one will take less food. I think it's one of those share equally things in a family. We don't want to eat most the fried potatoes cuz someone else might want some. So we take some instead of alot. That's the point. Take some, not alot....


My BFF, F, when he goes out to eat, immediately askes for a doggy bag. He takes half of everything on his plate and "puts it away" for tomorrow's lunch or dinner. Same thing. Cut portions down. Ask for a smaller plate, and serve yourself from the big plate. Just because it's there or you "can" finish all the food doesn't mean you "have" to. Take a few minutes to pause and stop eating about ten minutes into your meal. Give your brain time to understand food is there so it can quit sending "eat" messages. You'll start to feel full and less deprived. Eat foods that require some "work" to help you slow down.


Knitting? Yes! I finished up the first pair of baby pants. They do look like they'll fit a newborn, even a big one. Second pair will be cast on today.