How to Conquer Portion Control for Weight Loss
By Lana Bandoim
When on a diet, portion control can help you reach your weight loss goals. However, it is not always easy to figure out serving sizes and package labels. If you are tired of trying to guess how much you should eat, then the following tips will help you conquer portion control.
Learn Easy Visual Cues for Portion Sizes
How much is one serving of fruit? How many cubes of cheese are in an ounce? When you are struggling with portion sizes, it may be easier to learn visual cues instead of carrying a scale or calculator with you. For example, one fruit serving is equal to a tennis ball. If your cubes of cheese are the size of regular dice, then you only need two of them to have an ounce. You can figure out other visual cues to help you determine the right portions.
Choose Your Plates Carefully
Another way to conquer portion control is to pay attention to your plates. Larger plates that are deeper make it easier to eat extra calories and overindulge. In addition, the color of your plates matters. Bright colors such as red or orange can encourage you to eat more. This is why many fast food chains use red or orange in their logos. Instead, you want to buy plates that are cooler colors such as blue or purple.
Avoid Eating Directly From the Package
Mindless eating can sabotage your diet and make it harder to control your portions. You want to avoid eating directly from a package such as a bag of pretzels or a box of crackers. It is easy to munch on snacks without thinking about the calories. However, putting all the food on a plate forces you to see exactly how much you are consuming. It also makes it harder to blame the empty packages on your roommate or dog because you are more likely to remember putting the snacks on a plate.
Avoid Distractions During Meals
Whether you are sidetracked by your phone’s notifications or the latest drama on social media, these distractions can hurt your weight loss goals. If you are distracted, then it is harder to pay attention to portion sizes and easier to eat too much.
Portion control can be one of the hardest parts of dieting. However, you can learn to conquer it by following easy steps that force you to concentrate on your food. Weight loss is simpler after you learn how much you need to eat.
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic.
