Watch the Portions

Do you have portion distortion? Unfortunately, many of us do. Our idea of a “proper” serving size is way out of line.

Recent research has demonstrated that most of us significantly underestimate the number of calories in a plate of food, when asked to guess.

Restaurants notoriously heap our plates with servings that are often enough for three or four. And we usually do our best to polish it all off and become groaningly full. Then we wonder why we ate so much!

Part of the problem is habit, and the feeling that we must finish whatever portion is in front of us.

But our biology is to blame as well. Although we have hormonal mechanisms to signal to our brain “I’m full”, they often don’t kick in until it’s too late. By that time, we have finished off enough food for a whole basketball team!

The problem – the satiety signals that come from our gut and our brain take about 30 minutes to kick in. By that time, you may have eaten a lot more than you really needed to make you feel comfortably satisfied.

Here are some tips:

  • Practice measuring correct portions to train your eye. For instance, let’s suppose that you eat cereal every morning for breakfast, and your favorite cereal states on the label that it provides 120 calories in a ¾ cup serving. Measure out ¾ cup and see how much this really is (or isn’t) – you are probably eating more of this, right? Now, pour this into your customary cereal bowl and take a memory snapshot. Practice this periodically to refresh your visual memory.
  • Use smaller dishes. You are likely to eat less when you use smaller plates and bowls. The Sonoma Diet highlights this technique as a way to control portion size.
  • Eat slowly, giving your body time to recognize satisfaction.
  • Savor every bite. This goes along with eating slowly. You may find that you are eating less but enjoying it more. Ditch the shovel!
  • Avoid second helpings. Leave the serving pot back on the stove, out of sight. You will be less tempted to go back for another round.
  • Learn to feel comfortably satisfied rather than trying to reach that “full” point where you can’t eat anymore. Forget the need to feel stuffed after you eat dinner. If it helps, tell yourself that if you are really hungry in a couple of hours, you can have a snack.
  • When you dine out, don’t eat everything on your plate (unless it’s a salad). Cut it in half, or even smaller portions, share it with a dinner partner, or pack it up in a “to go” bag.
  • Develop a habit of NOT cleaning your plate.
  • If you do decide to eat a starchy food like a potato or even indulge in a treat, cut it in half. Cover or store the other half in the fridge (or even trash it) to keep you from succumbing to temptation.
  • Some folks overeat when they visit a restaurant because of an unspoken sense that they need to “get their money’s worth” of food. If this is your attitude, work on changing it. You’re actually short-changing yourself more by eating so much.
  • Measure out snack foods ahead of time and store in individual baggies or containers. This works especially well for nuts, popcorn, or “junk food” snacks to keep you from eating more calories than you really intended.
  • If you feel the need to keep eating or have trouble accepting limits on your eating behaviors, then go ahead and munch away – on fresh veggies. You can snack to your heart’s content on celery, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cucumbers, even carrots. These will help you feel full and give your mouth that crunch feeling which helps you feel satisfied.