Today it is difficult to practice portion control when you are out and about in the world. Most restaurants serve large portions and the food isn’t always that good.
There are some tricks that can help you understand your portion size a bit easier. One of the first things to do is keep a food journal. You can keep this only for a couple of weeks, but the purpose is to see what you are eating now. Be honest with yourself and write down all the things you eat to see where you are getting your food from.
Once you have written everything down you can go back over the list and see whether you have enough fruits and vegetables in your diet. If not, you can add more. While you are working on finding your portion control ideas keep track of foods like cereals and pastas. Measure them out so that you know how much you are eating of them too. It may surprise you that you are eating more than you need to in some situations.
Some experts say that you should try and visualize your plate. On one side of it you should put vegetables with no starch, on a quarter you should have your carbohydrates and on the other quarter you should have lean meat or other lean protein. This can be difficult to understand.
Another idea is to use a Meal Measure because it already has the portions calculated for you so all you have to do is put it on your plate an fill it. This can be an easier way to “visualize your plate.”
When you are learning portion control it is a good idea to serve everyone a plate of food instead of serving it family style. When you serve large bowls of food on the table it makes it more difficult to stay within your specified portions, especially when everyone else is eating freely. Those who want more can always go back to the kitchen and fill their plates again.
A fun way to eat when you go out to a restaurant is to eat a lot of soup or salad since it has free refills and then share an entre with your friend. Many restaurants will split it before they bring it out if you tell them that is what you want to do. When you share it cuts down on the restaurant bill too!
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