by Andi S Green.

Created on: April 04, 2009

Ways to control food portion

Food portion size is one of the main reasons why our weight can be stuck at the same plateau week by week or to our horror our weight might even be increasing despite all our attempts to diet and exercise regularly. Portion size is strongly linked to increasing rates of obesity and the associated health problems that are connected to it. Portion size can be so hard to estimate especially as we are often faced daily with mammoth, over-sized, all-you-can eat, restaurant meals which affect our ability to perceive food portions normally So how do we really know what a correct portion size should be and how can we control portion-size?

Certain portions are more important to get right than others

When it comes to green vegetables, dressing-free salads and other low-calorie foods, then portion size isn't that important. In fact it may help to fill your plate with as much as you want to eat of these foods, so that you will eat less highly calorific foods. It is important to fill up on fibre so that you feel less hungry and your willpower doesn't fade when faced with your potential diet-breaking high-fat or high-sugar foods.

Be careful to minimize all oil portions

Oils are quite difficult to measure. When using them in baking, it is probably best to weigh or measure the fat you are using and make sure it coincides with the dieters recipe you are using. When frying , you can obtain oil sprays which give a light drizzle of oil which supplies just enough to fry your favourite foods in . Obviously you should grill or even dry fry when you can. Be careful to have high-fat dressing removed from salads. There are low-fat dressing options available in the shops. Also you can make your own dressings using balsamic vinegar or even lemon juice. If you are eating meat or fish then make sure you eat a leaner portion and cut or grill off any unnecessary fat while cooking.

Watch your plate

Now you can actually buy the diet plate' which has the recommended portions of food drawn onto it. I might purchase one of these myself. I haven't seen one but I would guess that about half the plate will consist of vegetables, a quarter will be a carbohydrate such as rice or potato or pasta and another quarter will be the protein element of the dish. Plate size is an issue too. Many people eat less if they eat off a smaller plate. Some people find they eat less if they eat out of a Chinese bowl with chop-sticks! But not every meal can be eaten with ease like this!

Allow yourself

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