Weight Loss Tips #4: Portion Size

Portion Size

The Holiday Season is here and with it comes heaping portions of turkey, dressing, casseroles-of-any-type, and luscious desserts on our plates.  I do let myself eat all of these things at the holidays.  I do it in moderation, and I try to at least exercise some of it off.  And speaking of overeating, let's talk a little bit about portion size.

Here in the United States most Americans eat double and triple what they should at each meal.  Adjusting portion size may seem like a huge obstacle when you've been eating such big portions, but it's a must in order to lose weight. 

Here are some tips on how I adjusted my portion sizes:

• Salad Plates: As I've mentioned before, we eat on salad plates at home.  People like to see full dinner plates at the table, so adjusting down to a salad plate allows you to fill your plate and still have your portions under control.  You can even go back for seconds if you really want to, and you've eaten the equivalent of one dinner plate of food. 

• Restaurant Eating: Restaurants typically serve two to three times the amount of food necessary for a good portion size.  When ordering at a restaurant, ask the waiter/waitress to wrap up half of the meal at the beginning.  This way, you can eat out without completely blowing your new lifestyle, and you have a perfect portion for later!

• Meat Portions: I generally try to eat only about three (3) ounces of meat a day.  This is easy to calculate.  3 ounces of meat is roughly the equivalent of the palm of your hand!  Stick to lean meats too.

• Measure: Measuring may seem like a big pain in the neck, but it may help you in the beginning to get your portion sizes under control.  Most people when trying to eyeball a half cup always eyeball more.  Our sense of portions are so out of control.  You can buy a cheap scale and measure weight, and use measuring cups for dry foods.  If you don't want to measure, here's a great site on how to eyeball appropriate portions for different types of food.

• Seconds Please: My rule on seconds is if I have eaten all of my food and I'm still hungry then I can have seconds.  I generally try to avoid the carbs for seconds, and stick to the fruits or veggies or salad.  A good rule of thumb, if you're not hungry enough to eat an apple then you're not really hungry.

• Drink Water: Drink your water.  It will help fill you up so you don't want a HUGE portion on your plate!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

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