This is a HOT topic 🔥 especially in conversations around achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. But we've seen firsthand how struggles with portion control can hold people back from achieving their health and wellness goals.
And honestly, it's completely understandable if you struggle with managing portions. The food industry in the United States wants you to overconsume. They want you to eat as much as you can as fast as you can so that you'll buy more.
So, they work hard to advertise to you. They work hard to make it tasty (seriously, they put a lot of effort into making food addictive). They work hard to convince you to buy a larger size (it's only 50 cents more to get a large, so why not?). And they work hard to keep you coming back for more. That's how they make money.
If you're not aware, you'll fall into the trap. So, let's make you aware. ✨ We're going to give you our top 5 tips for managing portions so you can take control of your health and stick it to the food industry. 👊🏻
1. Use a Smaller Plate
Or bowl! With a big dinner plate, it's easy to eat more. When you make your plate, your brain will want to fill in all of the empty space. A smaller plate or bowl has less space to fill, which will likely change how much you put on your plate.
2. Measure Things Out
Eyeballing or eating straight from the container will probably lead to overconsumption. It's just the truth.
The best hack to combat this is to look at the label, determine how much one serving is (or determine how much you feel comfortable eating), and measure that out into a bowl or onto a plate.
You can then go eat your meal or snack mindfully and enjoy every bit of it! This will help reduce guilt, increase satisfaction, and support your goals. 🙂↕️
3. Notice the Taste
One of the best hacks if you catch yourself snacking right from the container or eating those fries just because they're in front of you, try to pause and ask yourself if you can still taste it. 🤔
Oftentimes, there's a point at which your body is "done," but you're not paying attention... 😅 Once you bring your attention to it you may realize the food/snack has lost its flavor. That's your sign to wrap. it. up. and put it away. Girl, bye. 👋🏻
4. Serve the Tupperware, too
We mostly use this hack at dinnertime. Typically, we know how many servings we should get out of a meal we've made. For example, if we cook one pound of meat, we should get at least 4 servings. So, we'll plate our dinner and the two Tupperware containers at the same time.
Bonus! This is also a great concept for eating out. You can ask for a to-go container early on and serve your container (aka future you) a portion. This will help prevent overeating in one sitting (which is easy to do with those big ol' restaurant portions).
5. Build a Balanced Plate
That's right! When you have a well-balanced meal or snack, you're going to feel more satisfied afterward, which will likely help with frenzied snacking and is going to help your whole day. This could look like several things:
👉🏻 Harvard Healthy Eating Plate
A Healthy Eating Plate would consist of half fruit & veg, a quarter whole-grain, and a quarter protein. It also encourages you to use healthy oils (such as olive), drink water, and move your body.
👉🏻 MyPlate
MyPlate replaced the food pyramid in 2011. It encourages you to make half of your plate fruits & veggies, at least half of your grains whole grains, explore a variety of protein sources, and include dairy if you tolerate it.
👉🏻 The Zimbabwe Hand Jive
With this method, you can use your own hand to guide your portions!
Palm = 1 portion of protein (meat/fish/poultry)
Closed fist = 1 portion of carbohydrates (grains & starches)
Thumb = 1 portion (tablespoon) of fat-heavy foods (peanut butter)
Cupped hands = 1 portion of fruit or vegetables
👉🏻 Produce & Protein
This is Fit Fierce & Female's slogan for encouraging a balanced plate. We know most people can get a carbohydrate source on their plate; it's often a person's first thought. So, we don't worry too much about that. Instead, we want you to remember that if you have that pasta or eat those chips or have a waffle, you build out said meal or snack to include produce and protein!
Sneak in some chopped veggies (produce) and have some chicken (protein) with that pasta.
Grab some jerky (protein) and an apple (produce); then enjoy some chips on the side.
Make that waffle, cook some eggs (protein), and slice up some fruit (produce) to go with it.
Again, the goal here is to help you naturally manage portions. When you fill-up on whole, healthy foods, treats are treats that can be enjoyed in moderation instead of being an uncontrolled frenzy.
Those are our 5 Tips for Managing Portions! What else would you recommend?!
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