Portion Control- 5 ways to do it

92nd and Broadway

We have got to get a handle on portion sizes if we want to make any difference. If we want to lose weight- we have to get this right. After all, you can eat any low-cal food and still over do it. It is possible to eat too much broccoli (don’t know why you would).

Follow these hints to “take it easy”——-

1. Break down left overs. This is one that my wife could do a better job of…. of course it is her responsibility to keep me thin…. to to mention cook, clean and just be in charge of all things domestic in general.—- (easy everybody- I’m kidding)- what I mean here is to take a casserole for example and cut it up and put it in individual bowls or plates to stick in the fridge. This way you will just pull out one helping. This just kind of makes it a “no brainer” when eating left overs.

2. Say yes to salads. I experienced this just a few minutes ago. My wife made a salad for me and served it right before my chicken lasagna…. it had low fat dressing and put some food in me before I got to the main dish. I am surprised by how full I feel without having a second helping of lasagna…. the salad did it!

3. Single out trigger foods. Take whatever it is for you and put it in individual zip-locks. If I don’t do this, then the chances are pretty damn good that I will Hoover that entire bag of Cool Ranch Doritos

4. Master small meals- When I lived in NYC, I had this friend Kevin that was a big runner/exercise guy (way before I was—- 10 years before I was)- anyway, this guy would never over eat, because he ate all day long. He would eat like a bird all day. We would stop at a convenience store and this guy would get a sandwich out of the freezer. What he was doing was keeping himself from getting hungry by eating just a little at at time.

5. Keep seconds out of sight- Also when I lived in NYC, we used to eat at Carmine’s all the time. Its a great Family Style Italian Restaurant and if you are in NY you just have to check it out. Best Marsala I have ever had and the Cesar Salad is just the best…. o.k.- getting off track. The point is- the dishes are right there on the table “family style”. Don’t do this if you are at your table. Make it a trip to get your next plateful. After all, it takes about 20 minutes to really feel satiated and if you will just wait a minute…. slow down and take a second, then you may not need a second helping.

Do you have any tips to cut down your portions???

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Diet, Photo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Portion Control- 5 ways to do it”

Allan Says:
August 5th, 2010 at 1:34 pm

Great picture…Yummy…Carmine’s is never off track by the way….2 locations, food is still thrown at you, but OMG…..

Eric Says:
August 5th, 2010 at 2:30 pm

There are the old standbys – drink a glass of water before a meal, making servings the size of a card deck, etc. But my best technique is to put the food down between every bite. Take a bite, put down the fork. Repeat.

This adds just enough ‘friction’ to my meal that I consider each bite. This in turn eliminates all those bites that I don’t really want but would otherwise consume out of habit.

Christine Says:
August 5th, 2010 at 2:43 pm

Carmines! Serious yum.

My biggest tip? Eat off REALLY small plates. Like, pretend you are an 8 year old girl having a tea party. THAT’s the right portion size.

Cammy@TippyToeDiet Says:
August 5th, 2010 at 7:39 pm

That first item is what does it for me. I make a batch of this or that and immediately portion it out into freezer containers. Except the serving I’m eating, of course. :) It’s easier that way, plus on those nights when I don’t have anything planned, I can just reach in the freezer for one of my containers.

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