Familiarizing yourself with correct portion sizes at home will help you recognize the portion size you’re aiming for when eating out, whether you’re having a take-out lunch at work or dinner in a friend’s home.

Keep in mind that dining out is a challenge that requires a special mindset as well as knowledge of portion size. Sometimes just being in a restaurant or at someone else’s home can promote a “special occasion” feeling that makes it tough to stick to healthy portions. When you’re with a group, it might feel as though everyone else is eating whatever they want; exercising self-control might make you feel left out. But the opposite can be true: You may learn to enjoy your meal more if you know you’re making healthy decisions that will pay off in the long run.

Strategies for portion control
Over time restaurant portion sizes have expanded immensely – often to two or three times what they should be. Friends and family may fill a plate out of generosity. But combined with a “clean-your-plate” mentality, this can spell trouble. These strategies will help you keep control.

Divide your meal in half. As soon as the plate is set in front of you, ask your server to wrap up the other half to take home. Doing this right away helps you avoid the temptation of eating too much just because it’s there.

Consider ordering from the appetizer or kids menu. Portions are almost always smaller. Also, restaurants will often make half portions or lunch-sized portions at dinner time, if asked.

Use your hand to measure the actual amount of food on your plate. Here’s how:

EATING FRUIT

This is informative!

We all think eating fruit means just buying fruit, cutting it up and popping it into our mouths. It’s not that easy. It’s important to know how and when to eat fruit.

What’s the correct way to eat fruit?

IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUIT AFTER A MEAL! FRUIT SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.

Eating fruit like that plays a major role in detoxifying your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.

FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD.

Let’s say you eat two slices of bread, then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it’s prevented from doing so.

In the meantime, the whole meal rots and ferments, and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach, and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil.

Eat your fruit on an empty stomach, or before your meal! You’ve heard people complain: Every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat durian my stomach bloats, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet, etc. This will not happen if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. Fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas. Hence, you bloat!

There’s no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruit becomes alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruit, you have the Secret of Beauty, Longevity, Health, Energy, Happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT the concentrated juice from the cans. Don’t drink juice that has been heated. Don’t eat cooked fruit; you don’t get the nutrients at all. You get only the taste. Cooking destroys all of the vitamins.

Eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit-fast to cleanse your body. Eat fruit and drink fruit juice for just 3 days, and you will be surprised when your friends say how radiant you look!

KIWI: Tiny but mighty, and a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E and fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange!

AN APPLE a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants and flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C, thereby helping to lower the risk of colon cancer, heart attack and stroke.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits and protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

EATING 2 – 4 ORANGES a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent and dissolve kidney stones, and reduce the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. Also a key source of lycopene, the cancer-fighting oxidant. Also found in watermelon: Vitamin C and Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene, good for your eyes.

Winter 2011 Aquatics The Winter Aquatics classes are about to begin with a splash at the end of the month. We have something for the beginner swimmer as well as the master swimmer, ages 18+! Challenge yourself with Triathalon Training or take it easy with our Arthritis Water Exercise. The JCC Health Club has a swim class for everyBODY! Click here to register!

Circuit Smart Workout Let a JCC nationally certified personal trainer show you the ins and outs of working out. Learn the most efficient and effective exercises the gym has to offer. Groups are limited to four to ensure individualized attention. All levels and ages are welcome. Section 1: 6 Tuesdays & Thursdays, Feb 1-17, noon-1 pm, $228/$276 Section 2: 6 Mondays & Wednesdays, Feb 2-28 (except Feb 21 & 23), 11am-noon, $228/$276 Click here to register!

The Proper Kegel Randi Stone, certified Pilates expert, presents a workshop designed to help seniors activate their pelvic floor from the inside out and the bottom up to prevent incontinence and uterine prolapse. Sun, Jan 30, 11:45 am-12:30 pm, $15/$20/$25 Click here to register!

Get Your Body Back with M.E.L.T.®

Click here to register!

I want a new, relaxing workout, but I’m sick of om-ing and wearing ill-fitting yoga pants. Help me. Skip the mat but keep the bare feet at a Dhoonya Dance BollyBasics class. You’ll learn the fundamentals of pop bhangra and Bollywood dance, and simultaneously get in some heart-pumping cardio.

But just watching Dancing with the Stars makes me feel awkward. Each class breaks down the choreography of a popular Bollywood routine into simple-to-follow steps, so you don’t need killer dance moves; an appreciation or interest in Indian pop culture is all that’s required. During our session, instructor Sunita Chaphalkar taught us Slumdog Millionaire’s “Jai Ho.”

How am I gonna pull that off? Like any class, BollyBasics starts with a warm-up. But unlike most, this class will have you learning while stretching: The warm-up mimics the traditional Bollywood moves from the routine you’re about to get schooled on. The majority of the class is spent practicing the dance until you’ve got it down, while Chaphalkar explains the meaning behind the steps. “Jai Ho” is considered a celebration, and just like in a musical, the footwork corresponds to the song lyrics. “Bollywood is very escapist,” Chaphalkar says. “There are bright colors and music in every scene in the movies, and the fusion of dances represents the different parts of India.”

Break it down: How many calories will I dance off per class? The proof is in the sweat. You’ll burn an average of 350 calories in an hour-long BollyBasics class, which hits all major muscle groups, including quads, arms and shoulders. Plus, when you do hip and knee movements, you’re isolating your abs—think of it as standing crunches.

I’m ready for my Bollywood premiere. R.S.V.P. at dhoonyadance.com for a BollyBasics class at one of two locations (Dance Theater Workshop, 219 W 19th St between Seventh and Eighth Aves, 347-644-0052 • Chelsea Studios, 151 W 26th St between Sixth and Seventh Aves). Classes meet Tuesdays 8–9pm, Saturdays noon–1pm and Wednesdays 6–7pm. A four-class package is $60; a drop-in class is $20. Hareepa!—Celia Shatzman

Read more: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/spas-sport/83059/bollybasics-bollywood-dance-class?cmpid=TD030210#ixzz0h3fXYkza