Start with the calorie count, but then look
beyond that. Many food packages contain
more than you might think. What seems
like a single serving might actually be
two. And if it contains two servings, the
number of calories in the container must
be doubled as well. Food labels can also
be useful pieces of information for sugar
and carbohydrate counts, both of which
are important to monitor when you have
diabetes.
Keep a food log. Besides helping monitor
portion control, keeping a food log has
another benefit for someone with diabetes.
By recording your intake and your blood
glucose, you will learn how foods affect
your blood glucose.
Mindful Eating and Portion
Control
Mindful eating involves eating with
the intention of caring for yourself and
paying attention to your own physical
and mental processes while eating. Many
people who struggle with food portions
react mindlessly to their unrecognized
or unexamined triggers, thoughts, and
feelings. In other words, they react
repeating past actions again and again -
feeling powerless to change.
Mindfulness increases your awareness
of these patterns without judgment and
creates space between your triggers and
your actions.
Always ensure you don’t dine when
distracted. People who eat while multi-
tasking tend to eat more and find their
food to be less flavor-ful. Skip the laptop,
tablet, and smartphone screens and focus
on food. When we eat free of distractions
we can pay more attention to our portion
sizes and the point in which we’re satisfied
rather than simply feeling like we have to
finish all the food in front of us.
Kepha Nyanumba is a seasoned Marketing
Africa Columnist working as a Consultant
Nutritionist at AAR Healthcare Limited. You
can engage him on this or related matters via
email at: [email protected], or
follow him on twitter: KNyanumba. Blog:
kephanyanumba.blogspot.com.