Know Your Portions for Better Health
By Sara Butler
Portion control is important to your health and wellness, but they’re not always easy to judge. That’s because portions are ballooning out of control almost everywhere you look. That can make understanding how much of each food you should be eating tough, simply because you don’t know what a serving looks like. Fight back against out of control portions by using a few of these easy methods to help you control your portions.
Get Out the Measuring Cups
When you are at home preparing a meal, take out your measuring cups and measuring spoons to portion out food you serve. After a while, you’ll begin to understand what one cup of oatmeal looks like or a half a cup of rice. Try this for a couple of weeks and you may be surprised by what you can learn about portion control in such a small amount of time.
Downsize Your Dishes
Have your eyes ever been bigger than your stomach? That’s a frequent thing that leads to overeating. You can try to counterbalance this distortion of proportions by using smaller dinnerware. Use smaller bowls, smaller plates, and smaller silverware to help you control your portions. Try it out at home – it really does make a difference.
Dish It Out
Don’t eat directly from a bag or box of anything. Instead, measure out a serving and put it in a bowl, then only eat that. Eating directly from a box or bag contributes to overeating. Resist the urge to take more than you want or need by portioning it out beforehand.
Don’t Clean Your Plate
Many people were taught to clean their plate when eating, but that’s a dangerous behavior. When you’re full, then stop. If you’re out and you need help stopping, then ask for a box as soon as your meal is served, box up half, and then forget about those leftovers. Studies show that people tend to overeat more when food is easily accessible, so keep those second helpings out of sight so they will be out of mind!
Use Visualization Techniques
In your mind, understand what common objects compare to food portions so you can easily recall how much of something counts as a portion. A few examples include:
- One cup equals a baseball
- One tablespoon equals a poker chip
- Two tablespoons equal a golf ball
- Three ounces of meat equals a deck of cards
- Three ounces of fish equals a checkbook
If you can learn how to judge portions, then you’ve won half the battle of healthy eating.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Rowlett, Tex.