Easy Tips For Food Portion Control
Being aware of the serving sizes and portion control during your meals is a matter of great importance when it comes to losing weight in a safe and effective way. Well controlled food portions become an essential element in maintaining your weight loss. Keeping a measure of the food you put on your plate and in your mouth is easier than you might think. It is harder to accept the fact that a small portion is actually a “normal” portion and it can offer you the same satisfaction after eating it. But you would be surprised to find out that portion control alone can bring significant results in the process of weight loss.
One of the biggest mistakes that people who want to lose weight often do is that they consider one portion of food as the equivalent of an entire serving. The basic difference between the two is that servings are measured in ounces and cups, while a portion is the amount of food that you choose to eat. Understanding and accepting such differences could represent your chance to actually obtain results in your weight loss process, not by starving yourself, but by eating the right amount of food.
Visualize Your Portions!
Understanding portion control means understanding serving sizes first. It is possible that you might be used to placing half a chicken on your plate even if you can be satiated with a smaller piece. You are looking towards the smaller portion and you might think “that cannot possibly be enough”. Try to ignore this kind of thoughts. You will be satiated!
People become reticent when it comes to dieting, as they feel overwhelmed by the thought of measuring all the food they eat everyday. The very idea of losing weight through portion control just seems like a very difficult goal to achieve. Visualizing the portions can help you make the task become easier. Comparing the portions with the things around you will help you make a correct estimation of the amount of food you are about to eat. Here are some examples of visual portion controls.
A cup of fruit is equivalent to the size of a baseball. A medium orange or apple is equivalent to the size of a tennis ball. A teaspoon of peanut butter is equivalent to the tip of your thumb. A bagel is equivalent to the size of a computer mouse.
By relating portion control with visual items you are already used to will help you use portion control in a proper way. Even more, there is no need for you to carry a scale or another set of measuring instruments with you at all times. The solution to your measuring problem is to visualize food portions.
Food-Label Servings
When it comes to food labels, most of them tend to list serving sizes on the container. One important thing about these written facts is that they must not be considered recommendations of how much food to eat, as they are only the description of the quantity of food on which the nutritional analysis of a specific product is based. You can use the nutritional information on the containers to compare nutritional values between different products. Sometimes, the smallest difference actually does the difference!
A great advantage for the food-label servings is that they are listed using standard household measures. It is very convenient because they also tell you the “normal” amount of a particular food that people usually eat, so you can check the label to see if the normal quantity you eat is similar to the one listed on a specific container.
Portion control is important for weight management as the weight itself is defined by the total calorie intake. From this point of view, it is crucial that servings be included on the container, because in this way you can calculate the calories you find in each package of food.
Right-Size Portion Tips
Second plates always sound delicious, but try to avoid them.
If you choose to dine out, you should always take half of your meal home with you.
Your friend or spouse may help you as well. Split your meal with her/him.
You don’t have to finish your entire plate.
Don’t forget to read food labels! Be the one who decides what to eat and the proper serving sizes of your food!
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