Size Matters, And so Does Portion Control !!!

Often, I see and hear people complaining about their strict compliance to eating right, and yet, not losing weight. Is eating right food only enough? Eating nutritious food is of paramount importance to a healthy well being. Food is a source of energy. It is essential for one's body to carry out the activities. But what's also equally crucial is the amount of food eaten. Eaten in excess, even the right and healthy foods can cause health issues. Effective portion control is an excellent strategy if you are trying to lose weight, and also to remain hale and hearty. Portion control is understanding and limiting the amount you eat. Being aware of how much food you are eating actually and what calories are in that serving size.

It's easy to let the size of your meals get out of order unless you follow portion control. So, how must you follow that?

Measure your food - It's practically not possible to memorize a food list with its serving size or to carry the measuring gadgets everywhere, but it's a wise idea to understand your body and it's mechanisms. The easiest way to understand the portions is to use estimates, the best to relate it to your body size. You liver is the size of your clubbed fist. Hence, an easier way to eat in controlled portion at a time would be to eat a fistful. This serving will be the exact one can digest in one digestive cycle. So cereals, grains, pulses, Dals can be eaten according to your own fist size. A medium fruit is the size of a tennis ball. One portion of meat should be the size of your palm. Depending on how many portions you need will be dependent on your goal, weight loss, weight gain, build more lean mass, maintain your current weight etc.

Eat for your stomach, not for your taste palates alone. Many a times, we pile on the food because it looks very appetizing and before we realize we are obnoxiously stuffed. If you eat slowly, savor each and every bite, eat without any distractions like working on your laptop, talking to someone, messaging, watching TV, your internal signals will work more efficiently and guide you with the right portion you actually need.

Portion sizes have drastically increased over the years. Be weary of packaged foods. Learn to see the difference between serving size and portion size. A serving size is the measured amount of food or drink such as one roti or one cup of milk. Portion could be the amount needed to be eaten. So, a packet of chips can be a jumbo packet, suggesting a particular serving size but the right portion required to be eaten would not necessarily mean the same.

Recently, coffee meetings have created a big impact on one's portions going out of hand. The “tall” or the “small” size is in fact 240 ml, the actual portion for a cup of coffee being 150 ml as an idealistic size. A hamburger is four times one serving size of fat indicating four portions of fat at one time, 3 times the serving of cereal. A filter coffee is less than 1 serving of milk, a paratha is one serving of cereal, ¼ serving of fat. This only suggests how eating out more frequently has created a havoc and can be pernicious.

Controlling portion sizes at home can be the simplest. Choose a medium size plate for your meals course. Imagine a mid section line dividing the plate in two halves. Fill one section with vegetables. The remaining section can be divided further in two divisions, one section for the carbs and the rest for your pulses or meat. Make sure you take care of the portion of oil used for cooking. Imagine our thali system and draw seven sections, four small sections and two medium sections. Fill the two medium sections with cereal and pulse each. The remaining four for dairy group, non starchy vegetables, starch vegetables, green leafy vegetables each. And you will never miss out on any healthy nutrient, both macro and micro. 

Another productive way of controlling portion size at home would be to serve foods from the kitchen itself onto the plates and not from the dining table, as this encourages a second serving unknowingly.

At restaurants, deliberately ask for half portions, as sometimes their portions can suffice for more than two people. If in doubt still, take your portion size by the judgement of your palm size and fist size, set aside the rest and pack it off as a takeaway. Giving this extra food to a poor needy will prove more fruitful than giving your stomach which is not in need.

Avoid eating from buffets. Buffets are huge spreads of foods. The more we are served, the more we eat and the effect can be tough on your body. A' la carte would be easier on the wallet as well as your digestive tract. 

While buying groceries, avoid snacking by sampling the products. Unintentionally, it's throwing you out of your portion control for the day. Also, avoid buying mini sized snacks. These can prove to be devils in disguise. Most of us end up eating more than we realize since our psyches believe it's just small bites and we tend to overeat.

Whether you are on a diet to lose weight, or working out and thus eat well to gain more lean muscle or just yearning to stay healthy, portion control is an imperative part that cannot be ignored.