Portion control - amazed at what a 'real' portion looks like!

Hi all.

I think one of my major hurdles in this weight loss journey is beginning to know what a real portion looks like!

When I first measured out 100g of pasta I was amazed to see that (to me) it looked like a third (or even a quarter) of what I would usually put on my plate. That sounds horrific now, but I think over the years I have just forgotten what a portion is.

I think it's a widespread thing now......super size everything! We are so used to huge portions. Part of this is going to be educating myself about sizes - I am definately going to invest in a pair of good digital scales for myself instead of my 10 year old plastic scales!

Has anyone else been surprised by downsizing their portions? At first my stomach was complaining but now I think I'm getting more used to it.

Do you weight your food every day or do you get to a point where you get more relaxed and just 'guess' the portion size?

Louise

x

 

you have inspired me to look at portion size again - I gave myself what is supposed to be a single portion size yesterday of rice noodles and it looked ridiculous on the plate - we are used to having a FULL plate for our dinner, and then sometimes having more - and this little portion of rice noodles looked ridiculous. I filled up the rest of the plate with stir fry veg though and so I didn't feel too hard done by - but there is re-education to be done.

Some people swear by using smaller plates...

I think you do get used to doing smaller portions, but until it is ingrained it is important to weigh them out. When my dad was dieting years ago, he weighed out his breakfast muesli into little bags at the beginning of the week and then just used one each day, then he didn't have to think about it, just had what was there, and no sneaking in a bit of extra!

I was surprised in a different way - see I'd seen all these programs where they put the portions on the plate and it was nothing, now I know they must have been tiny meals, as portions aren't as small as I thought. I actually wasn't as far off healthy eating as I thought.

 

That said I'm still on larger portions as smaller and my calorie defecit would be too low, so mine will shrink over time. But in a week I'm already getting used to how much various things weigh, so for now only new things need weighing.

 

But when I cut down again, I guess I'll have to relearn it all!

I had the same kind of 'Road to Damascus' moment with portion-sizes.  When the diet plan I was following had a recipe which included 1oz of pasta (dry weight) I honestly thought I was going curl up and die!  But, of course, the rest of the recipe was full of lovely vegetables and so the finished dish was pretty normal and satisfying.

I use my scales every day, partly out of habit and partly to make sure the portion-sizes don't creep up.

I seldom measure, but I'm pretty lazy about a lot of my counting : )

I always use the same dishes, and I typically eat similar things, so I've learned how a portion looks on my plate. Or what a serving of cheerios looks like in my bowl, etc.

And I'm a 'fill the dinner plate' girl myself. Instead of cutting back, I just go a little nuts with vegetables. I'll have over half my plate covered with green beans, spaghetti squash, sliced tomatoes, etc. And then my itty bitty (compared to the plate size) portion of meat and/or pasta : )

I too have just discovered portion sizes! I live with my boyfriend and my brother, (both very big eaters!) so when we sit down for our evening meal I would always just eat the same amount as they did. Now I make sure I give myself smaller portions of carbs (about half of what they eat) and try to fill up on veg instead.   I have also found these things called 'Portion Pots' (available from Rosemary Conley in the UK) which I have just bought, there are 4 different sized pots (all different colours) for measuring out all sorts of different things without having to bother with scales. I am using these to train myself into understanding what a proper portion size is so that hopefully I will be able to just see it without measuring etc.   Fingers crossed this will be the key to my success!!!

How are portion pots different from measuring cups?

Original Post by minda_spk:

How are portion pots different from measuring cups?

 

Was also interested so I went searching:

http://rosemaryconley.blogspot.com/2009/07/wh y-portion-size-is-so-important.html

http://rosemaryconley.blogspot.com/2009/07/wh y-portion-size-is-so-important.html

I use a digital scale to get an idea of what the portion size should be. Once I'm happy with that I don't weigh that particular food item too often. I need to know things like, what does a cup of cooked rice look like?

I am amazed by how much my portions have reduced since I've started to change my lifestyle. I'm an overeater and keeping control of the portions is vital. One good thing about weightloss taking time is that you get used to smaller portions over time and wonder how you ever managed those huge portions.

I try to get my eyes used to the portion sizes so that when I am out and about I can estimate roughly how much I'm consuming. So I will weigh items a few times and then only occasionally to make sure I'm staying at the right portion size and it hasn't crept up.

Here are some tips I found on about.com regarding controlling portions.

10 Ways to Control Portions

When I started, back in March on CC, I used my digital scales to make sure I got everything that I was "owed"-- the portions seemed so small, I had to weight them to keep myself honest.  Now, after 8 months (3 on my own, 5 on CC), I use my scales to "get credit" for the fact that I often serve myself less than a full serving of higher calorie foods like rice, pasta, and meat.  If I don't weigh things, I tend to fall short on my calorie total for the day without knowing it.  So, it is possible to get into the mindset that servings don't have to be huge to be satisfying.

I do find, though, that in restaurants if I eat half the higher calorie food they serve (I always eat all the vegies), the portions are usually higher than "standard" servings.  So many restaurant plates have as much as 3 standard servings of meat and starch (not to mention fat!).

One trick I have learned that helps me when I eat in restaurants is to cut all the portions in half and box them up.  Once I get home, I weigh the leftovers, and this lets me know how much I actually consumed at the restaurant (since I ate half there).  I find that my eyeballs just aren't that good at estimating servings, and this helps me stay honest on my food log.  Maybe after another year of counting I will be able to eyeball things better than I do now.

I use a small plate. It is the only one in the house and is technically a salad plate. Every night my fiance loads that plate for me so that I get about a 1/3 of what he eats. I love that plate because it looks full so I don't feel deprived.

We use salad plates, too.

I was stunned to see to see what a serving of muesli looks like!

I also weigh my food regularly and then once I am pretty confident that I have it down, weigh it only on occasion to make sure it isn't creeping up. Anyway, here is a suggestion--I make 4 servings of pasta. Husband and I eat 1/2 of it for dinner and then I divide the rest into 2 containers for lunches. So essentially, I take whatever I make and divide it up immediately as I am "plating" our dinners. I can always give him an extra spoon of something and go with one spoon less for myself. I find this helps us not have seconds as we are too full for an entire additional meal!

I thought I was doing an amazing job of controling my portion sizes by using measuring cups, WRONG. I thought it was really odd when I could only get like 3 servings out of a 5-6 serving bag of frozen veggies or like 6 days out of a box of cereal.  For a while I thought it was some sort of conspiracy by Walmart to cheat me. Not really. ...so I bought a digital food scale. Lo and behold, there really IS 6 servings in my bag of veggies, if you go by grams! ..and my 1 cup of cereal has now turned into 3/4 of a cup. Though I was pleasantly surprised that I was eating less than the serving size of my Autumn Wheat cereal. ...because the cereal was too big to fit in my measuring cups properly. I don't think I will ever be able to just eyeball my food. It's too confusing. And keeping my portions smaller hasn't really hurt me too much as long as I keep my food spread throughout the day.