How to Amp Up Your Portion Control

You may have seen my guest post on this topic over at the FitKit blog, but if not, I hope you enjoy!

Portion control is something I always consider myself to be terrible at.  Ever since I’ve started making my lunches/meal bags for the entire next day, I’ve gotten much better.  However, dinner is still somewhere that I continue to have trouble.  Now don’t get me wrong, I know I do not have a problem with my weight or with overeating, but I still want to be able to visualize what quantities I can and should eat and which are too large for me.  Are you with me? Without me?  With me? Without me? With me? Without me?…name that movie…I sure can’t! (but I know its from something funny)

So, I’ve amassed some tips for portion control tricks that I think work fairly well.  Now if I could only employ them myself…

#1 Use Smaller Dishes!  Large dishes make small portions use infinitesimal compared to the dish itself.  Smaller dishes allow you to feel like you’re indulging!

#2 Buy Cute and Fun Dishes!  They make eating more fun and you’ll want to put less food on the plate so you can see the fun designs below.

#3 Stay Away from the Color Red!  Red (and colors in its family) have been proven to increase appetite.  My dishes are red and I’ve been wanting to swap them out for a new set of clean, crisp white dishes.  Think about the colors of most restaurants too.  Lots of red and warm accents to get your appetite revving!

#4 Serve Yourself a Portion that Looks Smaller than it Should.  Or basically, give yourself less food!  Everytime I dish up my plate, I think “I’m not going to be full after this.”  But most times I actually am!  And…you can always go back for more.

#5 Practice Mindfulness.  Sit down when you eat.  Turn off the TV and all distractions.  Put your fork down between bites.  Savor your food   You’ll find yourself filling up more quickly and feeling a bit more sustained.

#6 Never Allow Yourself to get to Starvation Mode.  To keep my appetite in full swing, I am sure to snack regularly.  I rarely go 3-4 hours without food, and when I do, I overeat.  I usually have a small snack before dinner, about 2 hours prior, and this keeps me from going at our food like a wild banshee.  If you don’t want to eat a snack, drink 8 oz of water, wait 5 minutes and then dish your food up.  You’ll be amazed at how much less hungry you’ll feel.  I also feel better eating less more often.

And if you can’t scale down your portions, bulk up your veggies!  You can eat a crap ton of veggies, get your fill of eating a mound of food, and still be hungry in 2 hours

Do you have portion control problems?  How do you combat them?  Tips and tricks are welcome! 

xoxo

Alyssa @ www.glutenfreemuse.com