Nutrition Notes: 6 Tips for Controlling Portions

When it comes to losing weight and then keeping it off long-term, portion sizes are key. An issue that we tend to ignore is the alarming ways in which we eat extra calories numerous times throughout the day - a slightly larger slice of toast, an extra teaspoon or two of dressing or simply eating from larger utensils are just a few of the ways in which our portions tend to gradually increase over time, along with our weight.

However, the good news is that once you have a much clearer idea of what a portion of food should be, it becomes easy to cut back and ultimately improve your health!

Tips to Control Portions

1. Don't skip meals. When you are overly hungry, you tend to eat larger portions. Try to avoid going longer than 5 hours without eating, and if possible try to incorporate a healthy and light snack throughout your day in order to satisfy your hunger until your next meal.

2. Know how to estimate food sizes. 1 cup of cereal should be the size of your fist, 1/2 cup of cooked rice, pasta, or potatoes should look like 1/2 of a baseball, 3 ounces of meat, fish, or poultry should be the size of a deck of cards, 1 teaspoon of margarine should look like 1 dice, and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter should look like a ping pong ball.

3. Pay attention to serving sizes on packaged food. If you typically consume an 8 ounce tub of ice cream, but the serving size on the label is for a 4 ounce serving, then you have just consumed double the calories, fat, and sugar that is on the nutrition facts panel. It is crucial that you be aware of serving sizes on packaged foods when learning how to correctly portion your meals. Ignoring the serving sizes on packages can lead to weight gain, so beware!

4. Avoid mindless eating. Try to avoid hanging out in the kitchen or in areas where there are unhealthy foods readily available. By avoiding these types of atmospheres you will be less likely to over eat. Try making the healthy choice, the easiest choice. For example, keep healthy snacks visible rather than unhealthy foods.

5. Mini-size plates. Reduce plate sizes from a 12" standard plate to a 9-10" plate. This will cause a decrease in calories consumed by over 20%. Additionally, leave the pot of food on the stove rather than at the center of the table, this will reduce the chance of going for a second helping. Remember, "out of sight, out of mind!"

For more information on portion control, please visit the portion distortion webpage on the department of Health and Human Services Website by clicking here.