It doesn’t matter how good the food is in terms of nutrition if you eat too much of it. That’s precisely what I’ve been doing: eating too much.

This morning, I’ve managed to over-eat again in terms of calories. Sure, the food I ate was perfectly Paleo, but the amount? Not so much.

I’m going to do my best to manage that for the rest of the day, but now that I’m not expending as many calories due to not being able to do the ruck marches and PT coupled with me sitting most of the day, if anything, I should be eating fewer calories. Yet, here I am.

My weight is up right now: 180 lbs. That’s a full 3 lbs up this week from the lowest, and 15 lbs higher than my goal. I have a lot of work to do to get my weight back down, and it all relies on me eating properly (which I haven’t). Like most people, I too struggle with portion sizes and portion control.

My plan is to make sure my portion sizes are reasonable, and when they are too big, to split the dish before I eat so that I am not tempted to just finish clearing my plate. This is probably the biggest reason I overeat: learned behavior.

As a kid, like most others, I was told to clean my plate regardless. There were many days, in my childhood, where I just wasn’t hungry, yet I was told to clear my plate. And clear it, I did. That translates into a life-long obsession with clearing my plate, no matter how full I am. When I did my first Whole30 and went Paleo, I was able to overcome this because my wife was very strict with portions. Now, since I control my own portions, I tend to put a little too much on my plate, and due to that learned behavior, I will clear my plate no matter what.

So, it’s back to eating boot camp for me. I need to re-learn the right-sized portions and I need to stick to them.