3 Tips For Healthier Portion Sizes

Smaller Portions For Better Health

Eating more healthily is of course about both quantity and quality. In this article, we explore the quantity side of that equation, ie. the very good practice of eating less. This might sound difficult, but with some well thought out prep, it can become eminently doable. Here are some helpful tips to get you started.

How To Eat Smaller Portions

There are many things you can do to get your portion size under control. You can drink a glass of water about half an hour before your main evening meal, in order to stave off dehydration that can make you eat more. You can add extra helpings of vegetables on your plate, due to their lower calorie and higher fiber and water content; try increasing the amount of protein in your meals, such as eggs, white meat, seafood, fish, tofu, bean dips, and beans. Having an extra course – vegetable soup or salad using your favourite salad spinner – can lead to you feeling fuller than you are.

Talking of psychological perception, if you try to eat ‘mindfully’ it can lead you to discern when your stomach is actually getting full. If you’re stressed, distracted, or emotional, you will likely miss these signs and eat more in order to cope with whatever’s ‘eating’ you. Spicier foods tend to lead to you eating less, due to the appetite-reducing properties of, say, capsaicin found in hot peppers, or various properties found in ginger. Ginger tea can in fact be a great way of staving off hunger pangs, so consider consuming it for breakfast. Fiber-rich foods are also great at reducing feelings of hunger, due to the soluble fiber which creates a certain gel in your digestive tracts, making you feel a little less hungry. Chia seeds, ground flaxseeds, whole-grain oatmeal, millet, buckwheat are easy to add to cereals and smoothies, so why not give them a try.

Now for three heavy-hitters:

1. Using Kitchen Scales To Measure Food

Rather than just adding ingredients and portion sizes according to the rule of thumb, why not treat it more seriously than that and invest in some digital kitchen scales. This can be really useful, especially when dealing with fatty and rich foods like steak or cheese. Even your average bagel can have as many as 245 calories, so being able to cut up a bagel and weigh it could help you if you’re serious about getting healthier. Some digital scales, these days, will actually be able to calculate things like sodium content, fat, fiber, carbs, and calories, so this might be an investment worth making. When in a restaurant, you have less control over what goes into your meal, but at home, you can have maximum control. Talking of restaurants, requesting a take-home bag will often be a better way of not overeating in order to get your money’s worth.

2. Eating From Smaller Bowls/Plates

This one sounds incredibly obvious but if people followed it many of the 300,000 obesity-related deaths in the US alone could be avoided. According to psychologists, we have a natural tendency to want to ‘clean our plate’, and so will tend to accommodate ourselves to the size of the bowl rather than the bowl accommodating itself to one’s necessary, bodily needs. If you’re given a 17 oz. bowl for your dessert, for example, you’ll be highly unlikely to have two, three, or four bowls of dessert, whereas a 34 oz. bowl has already doubled what you eat, never mind a second helping. Part of this is in the mind; your appetite will gradually subside if you think you’ve eaten more than you have. The same might be said of walking through a factory-floor and seeing thousands of any particular food products. It instantly makes you feel less hungry; however, seeing just one delectable product in a bakery display will have you drooling. By accommodating plates and bowls to meet your health needs, you’re actually doing yourself a massive favor in terms of long-term health.

3. Using The Hand Portion Guide

The human hand is a great tool, obviously, and can also serve as a perfect measuring tool for measuring out what your stomach needs in order to be satisfied. You should aim for two portions of protein per week; not too much red meat, but a palm-sized piece of fish, 2 eggs, or a fistful of beans. By contrast, you can enjoy a lot more veg and fruit; two handfuls of leafy salad per day are to be encouraged, a whole handful of berries, a fistful of potatoes and carrots, two pieces of small fruit. Dairy is a little different; you shouldn’t be consuming more than an index-finger of cheese daily – the same goes for chocolate. In terms of breakfast, you can consume a fistful of cereal or one slice of bread, while not more than a thumb of butter, olive oil, or peanut butter.

Hopefully, these tips have given you some food for thought!

Sources:

1. Keeping Portions in Proportion – Harvard Health Publishing
2. Portion Sizes. How Much Should You Eat? – Heart Foundation
3. Five Tips to Help You Manage Portion Control – MSU Extension