Controlling Your Food Portions And Avoiding Temptation On A Diet


by Janine Michaels - Date: 2010-09-26 - Word Count: 485 Share This!

One of the most important things you can learn while on a diet is how to control your food portions. In today's world, the typical American diet contains huge amounts of fat and calories, often because of large portions. This over abundance of food items at each serving can be a real problem for dieters.

Pay Attention to Plate Size

An easy way to practice portion control for losing weight, is to eat off of a small plate. Plates, in general, tend to be much bigger these days, but you can still find a 7-inch plate if you look hard enough. Some retailers have those square plates, which tend to be smaller in size.

This is called the plate method for portion control, and it's a good way to start controlling your portions when you eat meals at home. I don't think you need to go as far as measuring out food on a scale - that's annoying. So, having a smaller plate will mean you automatically eat less. Of course, you'll have to discipline yourself not to go back for seconds.

When you go out to a restaurant to eat, you won't be able to count on getting a smaller plate, unless you ask for one on the side. Restaurants have pretty much decided that they want to heap large amounts of food on each plate, no matter what is being served. Even when you order a salad, you usually get an abundance of greens and toppings.

Resist the Urge to Clean Your Plate

If you were someone who was taught as a child to eat everything on your plate before leaving the table, this is a habit that you'll have to break while dieting. At home, you know you can give yourself smaller portions, but when eating out at a restaurant, or someone's home, you're going to be served more food than you need.

Relatives can especially be hard to ignore when they're urging you to eat more of everything. Some relatives may even feel insulted if you refuse to sample each item. But, you need to stick to your desired method of healthy eating, even when it's hard.

Portion control during the holidays is especially difficult. So, before you even attend that holiday dinner or party, you need to be mentally prepared to eat only a small amount of food. The best way to handle this is to eat only your most favorite items. Decide that you are going to have sample portions of the food you love most. This way, you won't feel like you're depriving yourself while everyone else is free to enjoy.

Do not go back for second servings. After you've eaten, do some kind of activity to get your mind off of food. You can go for a walk, get on the floor and play around with some kids, play a video game, listen to music, join in on a lively discussion, or numerous other things.

Related Tags: food, tips, holidays, weight, eat, control, lose, losing, method, plate, less, portion

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