<p>So many good tips here. Another thought on portion control: the right way to serve a family food is to let each person take their own helping from a central plate. When people were very poor on a farm, the mom used to decide and divide up portions, to make sure there was some for old granma, and (if she was smart) kept enough for herself when pregnant and away from all the hardworking men. It was a really positive way to control health in a crowd, when there wasn’t enough food. THere never used to be enough for “seconds” so that was a non-issue. There was tons of “exercise” in the form of physical work, so when people ate they were truly hungry. </p>
<p>When food became more plentiful after WW-II in many homes, a modern way (for those times) was to tell everyone in a family to take according to their own judgment, then but come back for seconds. This taught people not to waste and leave food on their plates, by taking several small dollops throughout the meal, not just one big serving from the beginning. </p>
<p>Now we live in a land of plenty (for many, not all). Still, moms still like that feeling of generosity and control, so pile on food and proudly hand the plates on to others. It’s a real pleasure for a parent to know that nobody will be hungry. </p>
<p>If the OP’s been handed an overloaded plate AND are encouraged to take seconds, that’s a double whammy. </p>
<p>Here’s an excape route, that might not hurt feelings (yours or others): Once you get your food-filled plate, pretend you are you your own mom. Look at what’s on the plate and just divide it upon your plate. Put around l/3 of each food item off to the side. If there’s something frried or high-calorie (like with gravy), put half of it off to the side! Nobody will notice, most likely, if you say nothing. Eat what is there slowly, take more than 20 minutes. Don’t pull over anything from the set-aside part of your plate unless you absolutely feel hungry. Don’t eat out of habit, actually ask yourself, “am I still hungry?” before you move some from the set-aside part back to what you’ll eat.</p>
<p>You mentioned that you always go back for seconds. Seconds of what? It sounds to me like your family is a lot of fun, and you want to keep enjoying the conversation. Perhaps you could go back for seconds of the salad, or get another glass of water from the tap, but not the potatoes or meat, so you’re still having a good time together. Each time you make a good choice, give yourself an inner cheer. Don’t bereate yourself hard if you make one weak choice. The day has hundreds more choices to go. Keep positive and correct the next choice, rather than get depressed over your prior bad choice.</p>
<p>These are things to think about. As you see, it’s a combination of making better food choices and finding some possible ways to exercise safely.</p>
<p>Your family sounds jolly and happy, but right now you have a different goal within that environment. It will take discipiline, thought, and impulse control. OTOH, you got into college, so you know you have those character traits already. You can do this! It’s definitely within your grasp.</p>
<p>Sometimes a day in the bookstore, while on vacation, to scan all the new books on health, nutrition, exercise and motivation can be helpful. I never buys those books but I do spend half-days sometimes to read in the store. If one really speaks to you (after you’ve scanned it), buy it to keep. Each person has a unique approach to figure out how to get control and change habits. </p>
<p>Remember, you only are slightly over what you want to be; this is very do-able if you get on it now. Good luck.</p>
). It also provides a “support group”. The only downside to Weight Watchers is that the point system it self does not actively monitor nutrient content of the food so you have to pay attention to how you are eating your “points” to make sure you are getting a well balanced meal.</p></li>