by Mary Rose-Sellers

Created on: October 30, 2010   Last Updated: November 01, 2010

Everywhere we turn, everywhere we look, the food portions have gotten bigger and bigger.   In these economic times, restaurants are trying to feed you more for less money.  But what does that do to your waistline if not to your health. 

As we go out to eat, to either celebrate a happy occasion or just plain eating out with friends, we have to remember of how much food we are going to consume.  When dining with friends and family, while we have fun, we have to stop and think of how much we have eaten or drank.  That’s when portion control comes into mind.  You don’t have to sacrifice good taste though.  You can eat anything you want but all with portion control. 

Here are some tips on how to control the portion size when dining out:

Ask for a small plate so that you can serve yourself the amount you need to eat.  And here is the operative word, “need” instead of “want”.  We always have to look at food as a “need” not a “want”.  We “need” food to survive.  We “want” food because we feel down.  And when we feel down, we tend to eat more than we actually “need”.  Emotional eating is the worst of all.  We had a bad day at work, or the children were not listening.  So we decide to go out to eat, and indulge on everything on sight to make us feel better.  That’s the wrong approach.  We have to calm ourselves down and think before we devour the rich, creamy, saucy laden pasta.

Ask for a take home container.  Separate the food you need to eat now and take the rest home for the next day.

Split a dish with your partner or with someone you are dining with.  Food portions in restaurants are so large, nowadays, that it can feed two people if not three. 

If you order an appetizer, skip the main course.  In most cases the appetizer is a smaller portion than the actual meal.  You can fill up in just an appetizer. 

Learn what size portions are normal.  According to the Food and Drug Administration, a piece of meat should be the size of your palm.  Rice, pasta or potato should be a handful.  Vegetables is an unlimited size as long as they are steamed and not fried. 

Skip the soft drinks.  Soft drinks are full of sugar that will make you hungrier.  Even if it’s a diet drink the carbonation in the soft drinks will help you digest faster, thus you will get hungry within a couple of hours or less of eating.  Have a glass of ice water with lemon, or a hot tea. 

Either skip the desert or split it with another person.  Or better yet, take it home, and split it with the rest of the family later on.  Thus, you are satisfying your sweet tooth by having one or two bites out of it, without eating the whole thing. 

In general, we have to learn how to control our portions.  It’s a long process and it will take time.  But in the end we’ll be happy that we mastered it.  

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