10 Tricks to Reduce Meal Portion Sizes

There is a tendency to eat more than you realize.  With just a little bit of ingenuity you can decrease your daily food/calorie consumption by reducing your meal portion sizes by a modest amount.  Simply by reducing your caloric intake by 100 calories (approximately 33 calories for each of the 3 main meal) a day, after 12 months you will have lost (or not gained) 10 pounds.  The majority of people will not notice the cutback; meanwhile you have been contributing to a healthier lifestyle.

Choose one or more of the following to help assist in reducing your meal portion sizes:

1. Prepare your meal plate and put the leftovers away before eating – out of sight out of mind, plus you will then not be tempted to eat more after the meal, as you are cleaning up and storing the leftovers.
2. Repackage foods into serving sizes before storing/serving – do not eat from the packages food/snacks come in.
3. Use a small plate/bowl and small fork – the brain still thinks it has eaten a plate full; it is just a smaller plate.
4. Cook several meals together and freeze in meal size containers – By pre-portioning meals you create a stopping point your in eating.  Therefore you tend to eat less as you do not go for the next serving/container/package, as you have had time to think about whether you really want or need to eat more.
5. Serve meals buffet style – if you have to put extra effort into getting a second helping, chances are you will decide not to get it or that you really do not need it.
6. Have someone else, who knows how much you should be consuming; prepare your meal plate for you.
7. Serve up your plate – then remove a small portion of the food, your eyes are usually larger than your stomach or need and most people have been trained to eat all the food on their plate, even if they are full.
8. Learn to say no-thank-you to yourself or others, when offered or looking at food.
9. Use a portion divided plate – this can give you a good sense of how the different food groups should be portioned.
10. Measure and/or weigh portions – until you are acquainted with portion sizes, guesses can be inaccurate and deceptive.

Author: Jean Hamilton, 3rd year post-op Roux-en-Y Gastric By-pass patient who has maintained a 300+ pound loss and author of A Fat Girl’s Butterflies: A True Story of Extreme Weight Loss. – www.wlspublishing.com

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