Controlling Portion Sizes Will Help You Lose Weight

Many people are not aware of how the portion sizes of their food have grown tremendously over the years. People do not normally read packages to see exactly what a serving suggestion is. Therefore, when they sit down to a meal they can be having as much as two or three servings and not even realize it. This is especially true for restaurants.

Being aware of portion control is a good weight loss method. It gives you a way to overcome the huge increase in food portions in restaurants and packaged foods.

Many restaurants offer pasta dishes, like spaghetti and meatballs. When you get the plate, there is a huge mound of spaghetti loaded with sauce and meatballs. If you read the back of the package of a box of spaghetti, a single surveying would probably be a quarter of the dish received in the restaurant. The same goes for steak. The recommended size for a serving of steak would be approximately 3 ounces but when you go to a restaurant, the sizes that are listed on the menu are generally 9, 12 and 16-ounce steaks.

While this information may be news to you, there are easy ways to combat this problem. If you don’t want all the extra calories, then we suggest sharing your food with someone else you are dining with that night. If no one is interested in sharing, you might just want to tell the waiter/waitress to box half of it up before it even comes out. This way you’re less likely to overeat.

However, eating at home is just as difficult. It’s very easy to head to the stove for seconds, thirds, and maybe even fourths. In order to control your portion sizes at home you should eat on smaller plates, or specially designed portion plates. Plus, we would also recommend serving the meals as individual plates instead of “buffet style” in the center of the table. Even though you would think smaller plates would make you go back for more, often times you trick your body into believing it’s full when the plate is empty.

Another area that can hurt your calorie intake is watching TV and eating at the same time. Often people take this route and don’t even realize it. The best thing to do here is turn off the TV while you eat and sit at the kitchen table. While it’s not as fun, it will help cut back on the food.

Many people believe that if they have a snack before meal time that they’re spoiling their meal but that old wives tale doesn’t hold true anymore. If you feel hungry between meals, allow yourself to have a healthy snack such as a small salad or some fresh vegetables or a piece of fruit. This will help you to not over-eat when you sit down for your meal.

You will also find when you purchase food in bulk, it’s an easy path to overeating. Most likely you don’t even realize it, but even though your initial idea is to save money, it’s adding on those pounds. If you have to purchase your food this way, make sure you separate the package into small individual portions. This will definitely help you stay on track.

People will tend to snack on things that are commonly left out, such as candy, bags of chips, etc. You can avoid this by putting away the candy dishes, keep the junk food out of sight and put out healthy snacking options instead. You can put a fresh bowl of fruit out on the table and keep fresh cut veggies to snack on in the fridge.

All of these tips may be a lot to remember. But starting with just a few small steps, you can make a big difference in your health and your weight.

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