Controlling Portion Size: Jeanne Moeri Discovers the Secret

“It’s all about portion size. I really think it’s one of the biggest changes that you can make that has a huge impact on your weight.”

-- Jeanne Moeri, New Ulm 

Having lost 39 pounds and kept them off for more than two years, Jeanne’s used lots of different strategies to control portions. When eating out, she and her husband often split a meal. Or she’ll immediately get a box and put half of her meal away. At home, they dish up at the stove instead of serving at the table, and leftovers make their way into the fridge right away. Plus, when she eats five fruits and vegetables a day, she finds she’s not even hungry for snacking on things like chips and cookies that she used to crave.

 

Jeanne explained what motivated her to start making better food choices and lose weight.

 

“I was diagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes. I remember one time when I got weighed, I had gone from being considered overweight to obese. That was a pretty scary word for me. A huge part of our population is overweight, so when you’re overweight, you’re like ‘yeah, so is everybody else.’ But when you hear the word ‘obese’, it’s pretty scary.”

 

When asked what else besides portion control makes it easier for her to make healthy food choices, Jeanne explained, “I like all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I like lean meats — we eat almost exclusively chicken and turkey. Very seldom do we ever have any beef. I just enjoy lean meats and fish. And I love fruits and vegetables, so you know, how easy is that?”

 

With the holidays coming up, Jeanne knows she’ll face some eating challenges. “I have 11 grandchildren and I love the candy at Christmas. I do find the holidays to be a little bit of a challenge.”

 

She stays focused on what keeps her motivated to keep making healthy choices.

 

“I like the way I look now,” she said. “Even though I’m 53, I think I look younger now than I did when I was heavier.”

 

Jeanne’s also discovered the power of social support. At the 3M plant where she works, they were so successful with the Weight Watchers program she coordinated that they no longer had enough paying participants to continue it (those who achieve “Lifetime” status are able to continue in the program for free). So she started a “High on Health” team to keep the momentum going. They’ve had HONU dietitian Rebecca Fliszar come out and give talks on the Mediterranean eating plan, as well as incorporating more fruits and vegetables. They also recently did a Shape Up Challenge where people kept track of their exercise minutes.

 

“By keeping the group motivated, it helps me keep myself motivated,” Jeanne said. Way to SWAP IT to DROP IT, Jeanne!