| Portion Control: Put it On Autopilot and It's Easier Than | | | | portion and calorie control. After you have eaten that |
| You Think | | | | one sugar-free, high-protein bar, the snacking is over. |
| "They Eat What They See:" Double the Portion, | | | | Getting up for a second protein bar takes a lot more |
| Double What's Eaten" | | | | effort than reaching into a bag of nuts, dried fruits or |
| Between 1977 and 2000, portion sizes increased for | | | | seeds for a second handful. Portion control with a |
| salty snacks, desserts, soft drinks, fruit drinks, French | | | | small container of yogurt or cottage cheese or, better |
| fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and Mexican food | | | | yet, with low-calorie ice cream bars, is much easier |
| by 100 calories or more a portion. A few of the | | | | than trying to eat only a scoop of ice cream out of a |
| "acceptable' portions more than doubled. Adding only | | | | pint, quart or half-gallon container. Portion control is all |
| 100 calories a day for a year for a results in gain an | | | | about making the effort to eat consciously and make |
| extra 10 lb pound of weight. | | | | smart choices that won't set you up for failure. |
| The 8 oz. bottle of soda was the original size for | | | | Watching What Your Buy: Supermarket Tricks to Help |
| decades until it was displaced by the 12-ounce can. | | | | With Portion Control: |
| Many stores now carry only the 20-ounce plastic soda | | | | The secret in portion control starts in the supermarket. |
| or juice bottles, which contains 2.5 servings of soda. | | | | Buying foods with easy portion control makes limiting |
| The bottle can top out at 250 calories and contain 65 | | | | food intake much easier when you come home. I call |
| grams of sugar. | | | | the foods purchased at a supermarket in bags, boxes |
| Most of us have a hard time regulating our intake or | | | | or other containers that come with nutritional labels |
| figuring out what a serving size is supposed to be and | | | | "packaged foods." When confronted with packaged |
| end up drinking or eating whatever is in the container | | | | foods, the simple trick is to choose the foods where |
| or on the plate. A 2004 study, published in Appetite, | | | | the package itself IS the full portion. Remember that |
| gave people potato chips packaged in bags that | | | | portion control starts at the supermarket, not at the |
| looked the same, except they were presented in | | | | dining table. Make things easy for yourself, so you only |
| increasing size. As package size increased, so did | | | | need to be concerned with portion sizes for one or |
| consumption; subjects ate up to 37 percent more with | | | | two items a day, ideally for the amount of protein and |
| the large bags than with small bags. Those eating the | | | | carbs you have at dinner. Just because a food is in a |
| smaller amount of chips stated they were just as full | | | | single package or container, that doesn't mean that it is |
| as those eating the large amount. | | | | a single serving. Just don't be fooled into thinking that |
| Almost everyone has some portion distortion: | | | | there is only a single serving in a package that may |
| Overeating due to portion distortion does not just apply | | | | have two, three, or even five servings. |
| just to overweight or obese people. Just about | | | | The Small Plate Movement: Tricking the Mind to Make |
| everyone, irrespective of income, age or education has | | | | Less Look More: |
| some degree of portion distortion-- what they see in | | | | American Public Health Association organized the |
| front of them on a plate becomes their "normal" | | | | Small Plate Movement in 2008 with Dr Brain |
| portion. Buying groceries in supersized boxes or bags | | | | Wansink.The goal is to encourage consumers to |
| or using oversized plates or glasses only makes the | | | | decrease the size of their dinner plates from 12-inch to |
| portions greater. Complicating this is the fact that | | | | 10 inches. A two inch drop results in 22% fewer |
| people seriously underestimate the calories in large | | | | calories being served, yet it is not drastic enough for |
| portions by as much as 30- 50%. Since the amount | | | | most people to only realize. If a typical dinner has |
| consumed is proportional to the portion, making these | | | | 600-700 calories, a smaller plate would lead to a |
| mistakes can cause serious problems. The more | | | | weight loss of around 12-13 pounds per year for an |
| people have on their plates -- or in their bags of chips | | | | average size child or teen |
| or boxes of popcorn -- the more they are likely to eat. | | | | Limit the variety of foods: |
| Even worse is that it does not matter if a person is | | | | The greater the variety of food, the more you will eat. |
| hungry or not, they will eat the same. Asking people to | | | | We all know that after a large meal, there is "still room |
| weigh their food simply does not work for more than a | | | | for dessert." Limiting your dinner to no more than two |
| day or two at best. | | | | or at most three different selections results in less |
| Calories trump carbs, fats and protein: | | | | overall eating because of the natural boredom that |
| Its excess calories that cause everyone to gain | | | | most people encounter when eating a single food. For |
| weight. There are no such things as good calories or | | | | example, most people find eating a large bowl of |
| bad calories- they are all same. Too many overweight | | | | tomato soup boring. |
| people are fooled by labels with "low fat," "low carb," | | | | Limiting Portions with Portion Control Plates: |
| "light," No sugar added," "heart health" and numerous | | | | In 2007, Canadian investigator Sue Pedersen followed |
| other tricks. Madison Avenue uses these tricks to | | | | 130 diabetic subjects who used a "diet plate) to control |
| make it easier to buy foods that we might really not | | | | portion size for 6 months. She found significantly more |
| need and have the potential to make us fat. In the end | | | | weight loss and improvement in glycemic control with |
| read the label? Calories count | | | | portion plate users. So-called portion-control plates with |
| Increases in portion Are NOT met with a | | | | names such as the Diet Plate, EZ Weight Plate and |
| compensatory decrease in food: | | | | Portion Doctor are marked into sections, or divided into |
| One might expect that if people eat more during one | | | | compartments, designated to be filled with different |
| meal or if they have a snack, even a substantial one | | | | types of food. There are large areas for vegetables |
| they would eat less at the next meal. This is call | | | | and much smaller areas for everything else. The |
| compensation and it does not happen except in 3 or 4 | | | | theory is that people will eat appropriate amounts |
| year old children. Increase portion size does not cause | | | | when using the plates (some of them originally |
| more fullness. | | | | designed for people with diabetes) and learn to |
| More than 50% of overweight people are habitual | | | | recognize, and reject, inappropriate amounts whenever |
| plate cleaners and the 'acceptable' portion is whatever | | | | they're tempted by them. |
| they see in front of them. What ever is on the plate is | | | | When All Else Fails Use Your Hand to Measure |
| the amount they eat and the amount of food that they | | | | Portion Size: |
| expect to feel "full." When the food or drinks happens | | | | The hand method is used to ensure that you are |
| to be pleasing, calorie rich salty, fatty or sweet food, | | | | eating portions relative to your body size. Since you |
| the intake increases even more. Most people, children | | | | base your meal size comparatively to the size of your |
| and teen included eat with their eyes not their | | | | hand, men will more likely be eating a larger portion |
| stomach. | | | | than that of women (lucky devils!). Children with very |
| Few studies involve portion control: | | | | small hands, need even smaller portions. While this |
| With the obvious link between increased portion size | | | | method is only an approximation (nothing can be as |
| and the out of control obesity crisis one might have | | | | accurate as a scale), it helps us to keep our portions |
| thought that numerous studies would have evaluated | | | | of reasonable size, and serves as a good gauge for |
| the long term difference in weight loss between | | | | how much to eat when we're away from home. |
| studies emphasizing portion control, limiting food groups, | | | | Some "Hand Method" Tips:o A serving of protein |
| counting calories or exercise-- yet few have been | | | | should be about the size of the palm of the hando Eat |
| completed. The emphasis has been on the trendier" | | | | a salad that is the size of both hands put togethero |
| low carb' or "high protein" diet plans not on more | | | | Green vegetables should be the size of about two |
| mundane things as portion size. | | | | fistso Starchy items like potatoes or pasta should be |
| Portion Can Be Controlled Easier Than Trying to Limit | | | | served in a portion about the size of one tightly |
| Palatable Foods or Exercising: | | | | clenched fist. |
| Here are some of the strategies used by individual to | | | | Putting Portion Control on Autopilot: |
| control their portion size. Some are simple, while others | | | | Automatic portion control is the goal to helping |
| are more complex. Incorporate as many as you can | | | | everyone in the family to lose weight and keep it off. |
| into you families eating patterns: | | | | The last thing you want to do is to argue about what |
| Limiting Portion By First Eliminating a Few Very Bad | | | | is the appropriate size of food portions. Here are |
| Foods with Impossible Portion Control: | | | | some helpful hints. It's easier to spend a few minutes |
| Controlling the portion sizes of pleasurable foods using | | | | on portion control than going to a gym for 2 hours: |
| willpower alone is impossible, especially in times of | | | | In the Supermarket:Look at the label, buy only portion |
| stress. Intending to eat just a handful of nuts or one | | | | controlled snacks, avoid some really bad ones, buy 100 |
| scoop of ice cream can result in disaster. Cookies, | | | | calorie snack bags. Even if the food is healthy, look for |
| candies, nut, chips, seeds, cake, donuts and pastries | | | | foods with easy to control |
| have NO easy portion control, except when bought in | | | | In the Kitchen: |
| 100 calorie packs. Remove the boxes and bags of | | | | Divide the food into 3 sections on 10 inch plate, limit |
| these foods from the house and replace with small, | | | | variety of foods to |
| portion controlled, 100 calorie packs. | | | | 2 or 3 choices, put all of the food on one smaller plate, |
| Limiting Portion by Choosing Foods with Easy Portion | | | | place the carbs and protein on the plates in the kitchen. |
| Control: | | | | Just reducing plate size can result in a 10-12 lb.weight |
| Some foods simply have easier portion control than | | | | loss over a year! |
| others. When everything is equal, chose the ones with | | | | On the dinner table: |
| easier portion control. | | | | No serving portions of carbs or protein, only salads or |
| A sugar-free, high-protein bar is a much better choice | | | | vegetables water for everyone to drink |
| than a handful of dried fruits, nuts or seeds because | | | | Use your hand for your portions and your children and |
| the portion is the entire bar. Dried fruits, nuts and seeds | | | | teen's hands for their portions. Don't expect your kids |
| may be super healthy snack food choices, but these | | | | to clean their plates. |
| foods do pose a serious problem with regards to | | | | |