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easy serving size portion control

Portion Control for Healthy Weight Loss

Portion control has become a major factor in both losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. Many people are not aware of how the portion sizes of their food have grown tremendously over the years. People usually do not read food packages to see exactly what a suggested serving size is, therefore when they sit down to a meal they can be eating as much as two or three servings and not even realize it.


Restaurant Portion Control

This is especially true for restaurants. Many restaurants offer very large portion sizes of food, making portion control very difficult. For example, when ordering spaghetti, you will get a huge plate with a giant mound of spaghetti loaded with sauce and meatballs. If you read the label on box of spaghetti, a single serving size might only be a quarter of the portion received in the restaurant. And the same for restaurant portion sizes of steak. The recommended serving size would be approximately 3 ounces, but at a restaurant the menu may list sizes that are 9, 12 and even 16 ounce steaks.


There are ways to control serving size when eating meals out. One of the best portion control tips is to share the meal with a friends You not only save on unwanted calories but it also cuts down on the bill. If you are not sharing a meal with someone, then ask the server to put half of your meal in a take-out box or "doggie bag" before he or she even brings it to the table. Or at least box it yourself before you begin to eat. Remember - out of sight, out of mind. Once that huge portion of food is sitting in front of you, it's very difficult control yourself and stop eating before the entire serving is gone.


Portion Control at Home

Portion control when eating at home is also important. It can be way too easy to grab a second serving without thinking about it. Two key things that you can do to help control portion sizes at home are to eat on a smaller plates, and to serve the meals on individual plates rather than have the serving dishes on the table. When you use a smaller plate for your meals, you're forced to give yourself smaller portion sizes of food. You can also trick your mind into feeling full with smaller serving sizes when you see the smaller plate empty.


Watching TV can play a huge factor for packing the weight on. People tend to mindlessly munch on junk food while watching TV, with no thought at all of portion control or serving size. Make it a rule to never eat while watching TV. Whenever you find yourself hungry or craving a snack, make it a rule to turn the TV off and go sit at the kitchen or dining room table to eat.


Many people believe that if they have a snack before a meal time that they're spoiling their meal but that old wives tale doesn't hold true anymore. If you feel hungry in between meals, allow yourself to have a healthy snack such as a small salad, some fresh vegetables or a piece of fruit. This will help you to curb your hunger so that you don't over-eat when you sit down for your meal.


People will tend to snack on things that are left out such as candy dishes, bags of chips etc. You can avoid this by putting away the candy dishes, keep the junk food out of sight and put out healthy snacking options instead. You can put a fresh bowl of fruit out on the table and keep fresh cut veggies to snack on in the fridge.


People often buy food in bulk to save money, but they don't realize how difficult it becomes to judge appropriate serving sizes. They tend to overeat without realizing it. So sometimes buying bigger is not always better. If you do buy in bulk, portion control is easier if you repackage the food into small individual serving sizes. This makes it much easier to stay on track and not worry about measuring the correct portion size at snack time.


Portion control is an important part of any weight loss program, and also helps people trying to maintain a healthy weight. And portion control does not have to be difficult, nor do you have to deprive yourself. Simply pay attention to serving sizes and stop to think before you eat.


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