Measuring portions is an essential element of my eating plan, and the one I've taught the Biggest Loser contestants for the past 12 seasons.
| Teaspoon | Tablespoon | Cups | Pints/quarts gallons |
Fluid ounce | Milliliter |
| 1/4 teaspoon | 1 ml | ||||
| 1/2 teaspoon | 2 ml | ||||
| 1 teaspoon | 1/3 tablespoon | 5 ml | |||
| 3 teaspoons | 1 tablespoon | 1/16 cup | 1/2 oz | 15 ml | |
| 6 teaspoons | 2 tablespoons | 1/8 cup | 1 oz | 30 ml | |
| 12 teaspoons | 4 tablespoons | 1/4 cup | 2 oz | 60 ml | |
| 16 teaspoons | 5 1/3 tablespoons | 1/3 cup | 2 1/2 oz | 75 ml | |
| 24 teaspoons | 8 tablespoons | 1/2 cup | 4 oz | 125 ml | |
| 32 teaspoons | 10 2/3 tablespoons | 2/3 cup | 5 oz | 150 ml | |
| 36 teaspoons | 12 tablespoons | 3/4 cup | 6 oz | 175 ml | |
| 48 teaspoons | 16 tablespoons | 1 cup | ½ pint | 8 oz | 237 ml |
| 2 cups | 1 pint | 16 oz | 473 ml | ||
| 3 cups | 24 oz | 710 ml | |||
| 4 cups | 1 quart | 32 oz | 946 ml | ||
The heat waves streaking across the country and summer heat in general bring up questions in people’s minds about whether they should change their eating habits in such conditions.
Some questions come up a lot in the summer:
-Does our metabolism go up when it's hot?
-Do our calorie needs change?
-Does our appetite go down?
Last week I reviewed some ways to calculate your calorie budget and BMR. So, do our calorie needs change or does our metabolism increase during the hot summer temps? Well, maybe yes, but probably no. Our bodies are well-tuned to keep things at status quo. If anything, our metabolism may go up when we’re cold, as our bodies need to work harder to maintain our temperature (by shivering). In the heat, our bodies actually slow down a bit to try to conserve energy so as not to over heat. But none of this really makes any significant change in our BMR or how many calories our body needs.
The first step in determining how many calories you need to consume each day isn’t just how many minutes you spent on the stairclimber at the gym (though that does come into play), but rather what your metabolism is.
First of all, that word “metabolism” gets thrown around a lot, and many folks don’t really know what it means or how to understand it as it relates to their lives. What is metabolism exactly?
Well, the scientific explanation goes something like this: Metabolism is a set of chemical reactions that take place in living things to maintain life. It consists of catabolism (the breaking down of matter to create energy), and anabolism (using energy to build or construct the components of cells). Blah, blah, blah ... make sense?
Simply put though, metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories.
Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the number of calories you need to fuel your body’s basic energy needs at rest. Depending on how active you are you will need 20-90% more calories than your calculated BMR. Here’s how to calculate your energy needs:
One of the cornerstones of any successful diet plan (and something I've always stressed to The Biggest Loser contestants) is that the quality of your calories is just as important as the quantity. It’s an important distinction to remember, especially when you are decreasing the number of calories you are eating in order to drop weight -- so choose wisely.
Freshness equals flavor.
Regardless of the recipe, the quality of the outcome is a function of the quality of the ingredients you use. Buy the freshest, highest-quality foods you can afford. Depending on your budget, it’s not always possible to buy organic produce and prime-grade fish, poultry and meats. But on the other hand, once you’re comfortable experimenting with a variety of flavors and styles, you may discover you’re dining out less without missing out on flavor -- which can result in substantial savings.
Similarly, focusing your diet on “clean” foods made from fresh, whole ingredients is likely to be more filling and satisfying than consuming an abundance of processed foods; you may find you need less of the good stuff and achieve savings through quality over quantity.
A few more tips to help maximize your fresh-foods dollar:
