Diabetic Living Summer 2019

Smart Servings

Rethink how you serve your meals and snacks

and you’ll become a portion pro in no time.

BY JULIE KENDRICK

SEE THE SERVING “At home, I mea-

sure out a perfect portion of food or

drink to see how it looks in my dishes,”

says Jill Weisenberger, M.S., RDN,

CDE, author of Diabetes Weight Loss:

Week by Week. “This way I’ll know in

advance that, say, my portion of wine is

up to a specific design etched into the

glass. You can do the same for ice cream,

cereal—really for any food and dish that

has markings of some sort.” To become

a pro eyeballer, measure out your ideal

serving size—best determined with

the help of your health care team—for

several foods, such as berries, rice, soup,

and fish, a few times each month.

REPURPOSE PETITE PLATES

Giant bowls and jumbo serving

utensils may make it easier to serve a

summertime crowd, but these can also

lead you to feel like you’re portioning

out a small amount when you’re really

taking more than your ideal serving.

Break out those dessert plates you’re

saving for special occasions. Treat

yourself like an honored guest and

arrange your portions on one of those

lovely, smaller plates. You’ll feel in-

dulged, not deprived.

BUY BIG, PACKAGE SMALL

Weisenberger suggests preportioning

foods into single-serving baggies or

containers. “For example, if your ideal

portion of crackers is six, put six crack-

ers each into several baggies and pop

those bags back into their original box.”

Voilà—perfect grab-and-go snacks. To

save money, Carrie Boe, a certified health

coach focusing on diabetes management

who has been living with type 2 diabetes

for 25 years, buys healthy ingredients

like nuts in bulk, then repackages them

into single-serving containers. She

snagged a glass food-storage container

set on sale, so now it’s easy to fill up

the containers all at once. Some of

her serving-size go-tos: a handful of

almonds fits in a baby-food-size jar, ¼

cup of hummus or guacamole fills a

1.5-ounce container, and a serving of

defrosted edamame in the pod fits in a

1½-cup bowl.

PILE ON THE VEGGIES Every time

you serve yourself a meal, think “veggies

first,” advises Boe. Load your plate with

big portions of colorful fresh veggies,

then add in moderate helpings of lean

protein and healthy fats. This way, you’ll

naturally crowd out space that might be

taken up by less-nutritious options.

Remake

16 DI ABETIC LI VING / S UMMER 2 019

BLAINE MOATS; STYLING: SUE MITCHELL

+ Get more serving-size tips at EatingWell.com/CarbServings