Parties, Plates and Portions

It has been a rare weekend for me to say the least. I stayed in my home town of Madrid and had the pleasure of being entertained, wined and dined at two different events by two very close friends.  A Friday night dinner party at one friend's house followed by a very long, 6 course gastronomic affair the very next day.  Not to mention the ongoing Halloween celebrations and the mountains of chocolates, sweets and treats I have accumulated in my house over the last two weeks. A looming nutritional nightmare...... however....

Friday night: my "English-friend-in-Madrid", famous for 'not cooking' created a Thai green curry with boiled rice. Delicious of course but with a hidden diet danger ... A huge 32cm plate and a potential meal of almost 1000 calories!!

Compared to 30 or so years ago the size of the plates we buy and eat from in restaurants have increased dramatically.  Serving larger portions have upped our calorie intake by almost 22% per meal! I avoid this pitfall by visioning a smaller plate in the middle of the 'flying saucer'. A useful general rule may help: your stomach is more or less the same size as your fist. Serving yourself healthy balanced meals around 5 times a day with portions of that "fist" size is ideal.  Nowadays, it is common in our hectic lives for people to go long periods of time without eating and putting their body into starvation mode, thus overcompensating with extra large meals.  My motto 'small healthy meals, little and often'.

Saturday and that 6 course lunch:  a close friend's 40th birthday in a familiar Basque restaurant... I knew what was coming. Resisting temptation to indulge in every course can be difficult, especially when you are hungry.  Following the footsteps of others and exciting conversations at the table can lead you to forget exactly how much you really eat and drink. I choose to pass on one or two of the courses.  This may seem rude but I think perfectly acceptable when your health is more important.  And let's face it our bodies would hardly miss those large griddled prawns, bowl of soup or 3 different cakes! 

Halloween: I had to prepare my house for little devils and witches knocking on my door expecting sweet treats. My answer was chocolate 'toffee' apples. I felt very good about giving the children something of nutritional value but still fun.

LIVERPOOL CALLING NEXT WEEK..........

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