Easy Portion Control Tricks

It seems so simple on paper: eat too much and you’ll gain weight. However, knowing how much is too much isn’t always so simple. But with the right strategy, you can master portion control and reach your healthy weight-loss goals.

Use Smaller Plates

Downsizing your dinnerware is a great trick that can help you eat less while feeling like you’re eating more. Fill up a 9-inch plate, for example, and you’ll eat much less than if you fill up a 12-inch plate – and you’ll still feel like you’re eating plenty. You can apply this trick to bowls, too, as well as any food containers you use, such as those packed in the lunch you bring to work each day.

Veggies and Fruits First

Fill half of your plate with produce before you add pasta, meat, or other foods. This action makes it harder to overdo it on calories because fruits and vegetables tend to be low in calories but high in filling fibre. Non-starchy foods such as broccoli and green beans are particularly filling and low in calories. These foods take up space in your stomach and make it much easier to stick to healthy portion sizes of other, higher-calorie foods. You don’t have to keep vegetables separate from the other foods on your plate; try adding extra veggies the next time you make pasta, omelettes, sandwiches, or most anything.

Use Your Hands

You can use your hands as a guide to measure proper portions. For example, a serving of meat, fish, eggs, or beans is about the size of your palm. A serving of grains, fruits, or veggies is about the size of your fist. And a serving of fat is only about the size of your thumb!

Buy Single-Serving Foods

Choosing individual pouches of oatmeal and almonds, even “snack packs” of cookies and chips, can be a natural portion control strategy that provides a cue for how much you “should” eat. Or, buy larger packages and spread them out into single serving bags as soon as you get home. Whatever you do, avoid sitting down with an entire tub, bag, of any food – doing so is a surefire way to overeat.