The Secrets of Success: Know How Much You're Eating

By , SparkPeople Blogger
Today we're launching a special 15-day series called "The Secrets of Success." When we were researching and writing our best-selling book, The Spark, we discovered 27 secrets of success that thousands of successful SparkPeople members have used to reach their goals, lose weight and keep it off. Some secrets--including these--are too good to keep to yourself.

We're sharing our 15 favorite secrets of success on the dailySpark and in our daily Best of SparkPeople emails from March 1-15.

Secret #1 Know how much you’re eating.

Members were often surprised by how much they had been eating once they began to use the nutrition tracker. And they were often confused by portion sizes at first. To solve this problem, 65 percent of all successful members measured their portions before they ate.

Ever measure a portion of pasta? I did, and I was surprised by how small one serving was. Turns out, I was eating three portions. Sure, it was whole-wheat pasta with homemade marinara, but calories are calories. It's fine to eat three portions if I budget the calories for them as part of a balanced meal. Now I choose a smaller pasta like penne or fusilli, which makes me feel like I'm eating more, and I measure portions before cooking. My waistline is happy, and I'm still enjoying the food I like. Measuring food is an easy way to stay on track and reach your weight-loss goals.

Are you eating more or less than you think? Find out!

Portion Distortion Quiz

The Portion Distortion Guide

What Does 300 Calories Really Look Like?

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For all 27 secrets and to learn how to fit them into your life, read "The Spark."

Is this one of your Secrets of Success?