The Rule of Halves

I live and love by the adage: I am defined by what I REGULARLY do, not by what I occasionally do.  To that end, it was a huge discovery when I realized I REGULARLY defaulted to too much breakfast cereal. Every morning I would finish my cereal with a bloated feeling and swollen tummy.  Have you ever experienced this with any of your meals?  I began asking myself what the right amount of cereal might be.  I realized my default was based on a childhood memory of watching my two teenage brothers empty an entire box of Cap’n Crunch into a large mixing bowl, pour on a full jug of milk and eat it with a serving spoon.  Compared to that I was eating a modest portion—but it was STILL too much.  The truth was revealed to me when I undertook a little experiment I like to call: The Rule of Halves.  
 

Pretty simply, the Rule of Halves involves two days of taking half of what you normally take and adding more as needed.  The purpose is NOT to cut calories, but rather to reveal where you anticipate needing more than you actually do.  Don’t hesitate to add more food if half a portion is insufficient.  During my experience I immediately learned I needed HALF of the portion of cereal I was usually eating.  In fact, I felt completely full with half my regular portion.  It allowed me to default to an amount that better suits my body and allows me to feel balanced (instead of bloated).  

Were there other areas where I regularly defaulted to too much?  You bet.  I learned the pasta portion at the Olive Garden is too much but the pasta portion in a frozen entrée is too little.  I realized two pieces of toast with breakfast is twice as much as I needed.  Just because there are two bread slots in my toaster should it dictate how much toast I require?  That my toaster was dictating my food choice was looney—but there you have it.  In fact, is there anything on earth besides my body that can tell me how much food I need?  No calorie chart, FDA recommendation, nutritional panel, book, restaurant portion, diet, or other EXTERNAL cue can tell me what I need today.  Only my body can do that.  I trust it.  I lost 110-pounds, and I live free of weight issues because my body will always tell me what I need to be in perfect balance.  Sure, we can learn to leave on our plates any amount we don’t need, but I tended to clean my plate because, like Mount Everest, it was there.  Are you pickin' up what I'm layin' down?

Try the rule of halves for two days.  Keep a journal of your discoveries and note your predictions of portions, both correct, and incorrect.  Please shoot me your responses with your discoveries.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Tres Hatch is the author of Miracle Pill 10 Truths to Healthy, Thin, & Sexy