21 Tips On Eating Proper Portion Sizes (LOSE WEIGHT)

What is proper portion sizes anyway?

Is a proper portion size a hamburger, some fries, and a diet coke?

Many of us will often eat whatever is served to us at restaurants or fast food locations because we’re trained to assume that everything on there is the right amount for one meal.

Not to mention, many of us are taught to eat everything on our plate.

So then, how did we start having more and more people getting bigger and bigger every year?

Some people will say it’s due to high fructose corn syrup, soda, processed foods, or just being addicted to fast food & sugar… While all of that can play a role in weight gain, there’s something else to consider as well… Portion Sizes!

Over the years portion sizes have increased like crazy but people in general have not become more active or grown taller to need the extra calories. If anything, people have become less active because many jobs are now done in front of a computer on a comfortable chair.

Proper Portion Sizes: They Want to Make You Fat!

I’m not sure what you would want to call it… Maybe restaurants and fast food restaurants want to give huge portions at the best price possible to benefit you…

But at the same time, some people believe that food companies are working with pharmaceutical companies in order to make people overweight…

Once you’re overweight, pharmaceutical companies can step in to help with obese related issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insomnia, depression, and many others by selling you some monthly pills to keep you going and continuing to eat fast food…

While it may not be fully true or may be it’s not true at all… it makes perfect sense that fast food and other restaurants help feed you addicting foods and then pharmaceutical companies are there to lessen the damage but not cure obesity related diseases with their pills.

Whatever the case may be…. we can say that many restaurants and fast food locations sell large, tasty, and often unhealthy meals that keeps us coming back for more…

There are 2 Things That Contribute To Weight Gain When Eating Out.

1. Many Of The Meals Lack Nutrition.

The nutritional value of food is a key factor of determining when you’re full!

There’s a reason why you can be satisfied with 2 or 3 bananas but you can keep eating burger after burger until your belly is huge…

You can be satisfied with two or three bananas because of the nutrition content. Your body will tell you that you had enough Potassium and other nutrients and therefore you don’t need another banana.

But… a burger and many other foods have very little nutritional value so your body keeps asking for more and more in hopes of getting the nutrients it’s craving.

The end result, you keep eating more and more because your body is looking for nutrition to satisfy it.

2. The Portion Sizes Have Gone Insane!

Without even thinking about it, you can easily eat half your needed calories for the day in one sitting.

And don’t think that eating a salad will save you… Many salads can easily be packed to be over 1,000 calories!

Just check out how portion sizes have changed over time:

I can’t say for sure that any restaurant or fast food place wants to make you fat… But they are feeding you more than enough to get you there.

Studies have even shown that fast food is as addictive as heroine!

A Scripps Research Institute study allowed a group of rats to eat high-fat, high-calorie foods until they became obese… And the found the following:

“the rats lost complete control over the ability to regulate whether they were hungry, often eating despite electric shocks. When the obese rats were put on a healthy diet, they refused to eat, starving themselves for two weeks.”

Anyways… you want to lose weight and still eat what you normally eat… you’re going to want to learn portion control…

Keep reading to learn more about proper portion sizes…

21 Tips on Eating a Proper Portion Sizes

Rather you want to start a portion control diet plan or just want to make sure you’re not overeating, the following tips will help you be more conscious of how much you eat.

1. Eat a Salad Before a Meal

As mentioned earlier, don’t go crazy with the size of the salad. Keep it simple and have it be low in calories.

By eating a salad first, you curb your appetite and give yourself a sense of satiety sooner.

You can load up your salad with several veges and lean meats like turkey cubes.

By doing this, you’ll get fiber from the veggies to make you feel fuller and the lean meat (protein) will give you an instant energy boost.

2. Single Out Snack Foods

Try buying snack foods like chips, crackers, cookies, popcorn, and other snacks in single servings.

If that’s not possible, divide up the full size package into smaller, individual bags.

You’re more likely to keep eating from a huge container than from several single serving bags.

3. Be Careful When Snacking & Watching TV

Rather you’re watching a movie, a tv show, or another form of entertainment…. you could be in danger of overeating if you go straight into eating from a large package.

Separate whatever you plan on eating into a bowl so that you don’t lose track of how much you ate.

If you singled out your snack foods like in #2, you will be ready to snack in front of the tv 🙂

Make portion sized mini meals.

4. Master Mini Meals

One of the best ways to not overeat is by not being super hungry.

By eating 5 or so proper portion sized meals, on a regular schedule, you will keep your blood sugar leveled through out the day and will be less likely to go after unhealthy snacks or meals.

5. Snack Before a Meal

If you’re doing mini-meals then you don’t need to worry about this…

Many of us were told to not snack before a meal because it will ruin our appetites, but now you should snack on something like a fruit or a small salad because you don’t want to overeat when it’s finally time to eat.

6. Don’t Skip a Meal

Many people assume that they’ll lose weight by skipping a meal but they forget how hungry they will be when the next meal comes, making them overeat.

Keep yourself going and satisfied by making sure you don’t miss a meal.

7. Use Smaller Plates

When we use a huge plate, we often think we need to fill it up!

Beat the desire to serve yourself a huge portion by using smaller plates. Aim for 8 to 10 inch plates.

Also, use smaller bowls and cups if you’re drinking a juice or soda.

Check out the image below to see how to serve your plate:

8. Limit Your Options

Don’t fall into a buffet style life style.

The more food options you have, the more likely you’ll want to try everything. Don’t make this mistake.

And if you do find yourself in a buffet, full up half your plate with a salad first so that you limit how much you get of the other stuff.

9. Keep Seconds Out of Sight

Often, we’ll serve ourselves a huge plate at home and then think we need to go for seconds because there’s more food… STOP IT!

Your first serving will often be more than enough to satisfy you.

10. Don’t Eat Fast

It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your mind that it’s full.

If you eat fast, you’ll keep eating and eating until your belly gets stuffed and it didn’t need to get stuffed to feel full.

11. Make Meat a Side Dish

Your body needs nutrition above all else… Get your body feeling full faster by giving it fiber from the vegetables and by eating healthy, whole grains.

Don’t get tricked into thinking you need a huge amount of protein to feel full.

Check out #7 to see how to set up your plate.

12. Break Down Leftovers

If you have a lot of leftovers, then break it down it down to individually- sized containers. This way, when you want to eat eat your leftovers, you have something ready in a single serving package.

13. Split Up Meals

When you make your own lunch, cut it into two servings. By doing this, you now have dinner ready.

At work, try splitting take out with a friend.

At a restaurant, ask for a to-go box when they bring out your food and place half of you meal in there BEFORE you start eating.

14. Be a Kid Again!

To get a proper portion sized meal, order a kids meal or something from the kids menu.

There’s no shame in saving calories and money… And if they have a “12 years or younger sign” get the food to go. 🙂

15. Learn Serving Sizes

As we know, portion sizes are huge when we eat out… So, we need a way to determine a correct portion size.

Check out the images below and learn the easiest one for you to remember:

16. Don’t Drink Your Calories

Kick the soda a day habit!

Even juices are nothing more than sugar!

Read the nutrition label on anything you drink… more than likely it will include several servings in one bottle and way too much sugar.

To avoid all the unhealthy sugar and calories, don’t drink your calories.

There are a few exceptions like health shakes… but be careful with the sugar content and make sure the nutritional content outweighs the calorie count.

For example, Shakeology is a great way to drink your calories because it’s only 170 calories or less and 9 grams of sugar or less. In return, you get Antioxidants and Super-Fruits, Phytonutrients and Super-Greens, Adaptogen Herbs, Prebiotics and Probiotics, Digestive Enzymes, and Proteins and Amino Acids.

17. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Advertisers know this very well… If you can see it easily and consistent enough, you’ll want it.

Make your house portion friendly and don’t make it easy to access unhealthy foods.

Here are some tips to keep things out of sight, out of mind:

Replace the candy dish with a fruit bowl.
Store especially tempting foods, like cookies, chips, or ice cream, out of immediate eyesight, like on a high shelf or at the back of the freezer.
Move the healthier food to the front at eye level.
When buying in bulk, store the excess in a place that’s not convenient to get to, such as a high cabinet or at the back of the pantry.

18. Make a List Before You Go Shopping

If you want to eat healthier portion sizes, you want to make sure you get the right foods.

Don’t impulse buy unhealthy foods.

The healthier the foods you buy, the fuller you’ll feel when you eat a proper sized portion of food.

19. Plan Your Meals

Don’t get stuck looking for junk food to eat.

Plan your meals ahead of time so that you know what you’ll be eating soon and you know it’s healthy.

20. Get Full With Healthy Meals

Healthier foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and lean meats will get you more satisfied with less because of all the nutrition content in it.

If you’re on a portion control diet plan and don’t want to feel like you’re starving, making your own meals with healthy ingredients!

21. Treat Yourself

Never feel like you’re on a diet! Every now and then indulge in your favorite treat.

It’s important to indulge every now and then because you don’t want to feel like you’re depriving yourself, which can then lead to overeating on the wrong foods.

Stop a binge before it starts by indulging every now and then.

Portion Control Diet Plan: Lose Weight in 21 Days!

A portion control diet plan sounds like the best way to lose weight in world filled with unnecessary super-sized portions.

Recently, Beachbody released a new fitness program called the 21 Day Fix.

The 21 Day Fix is designed to help you eat proper portion sizes with the use of portion control containers.

The idea is simple, the 21 Day Fix Nutrition Guide will tell you how much of each color coded containers you can have every day.

And don’t worry, the Nutrition Guide includes several food options for each container and recipes you can follow.

Additionally, the 21 Day Fix comes with 7 workouts that are 30 minutes each.

The 21 Day Fix makes for a perfect portion control diet plan because you won’t be counting calories but learning to eat the right amount of food everyday….

Plus, the workouts will help tone up your body as you start losing weight… no saggy skin here 😉

Check out the Complete 21 Day Fix Review & Guide or order below:

I hope this article was effective in teaching you how to eat proper portion sizes.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks for sharing this article with your friends.

Have a great day!

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P.S. If you are looking for a way to increase your fitness, nutrition, social, and even occupational wellness, be sure to start with a FREE Team Beachbody Account and you will get support, motivation, and gain access to free tools to keep you on track with your wellness goals.

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