How do you maintain proper portion control?

Nancy_hc

Howdy all!

How are you able to stay within your calorie goal / not overeat / continue making healthy food choices?

I work out 5-6 times per week. I run 2-3 times per week (only 2-3 miles each time), and I do Stronglifts 3 times per week (typically with a .5-1 mile run after each session). I also walk my dogs every day for about 30 minutes but I dont really count that since its pretty much just a stroll...I do make healthy food choices AND I weigh my food; I am also very aware of how different types of foods affect my body.

ALL that being said - I have yet to learn the skill of portion control. It doesn't matter that I know I should only have 4-6oz of chicken... I want to eat 10. I am never satisfied unless I am "full". I'm sure this is whats holding me back. Small meals throughout the day only means I snack in-between my large belly-filling meals, so that hasn't seemed to work in the past for me. I try to ensure my fiber intake it at 40g or more each day, usually I hit around 45-50.

I just wanted to know if anyone else had previously been in the same boat, and what tricks / tips you used to help re-train your brain/body to be satisfied with less.

Thanks for your advice! =D

jrline

Drink Plenty of water and eat more occasionally just make sure you log it. Make sure you have some fat in your diet it will help you feel full longer. I try to eat the 50% carb, 25% fat and 25% protein runner's diet and it works well for me. I have maintained my weight for 6 months while weight training for toning up. Good Luck

EMTFreakGirl

I bought a kitchen scale and weigh EVERYTHING! I also stop into Pier 1 every once in a while and shop the "sale shelf" and buy myself a pretty new SALAD-sized plate. I have a cupboard full of mis-matched dishes now, but I live alone and who cares? I feel good eating off my 'pretties' and the smaller portions on the smaller plate makes it look full. Sounds silly, but it works for me.

Nancy_hc

I haven't tried upping my fat intake - I will adjust my macros and see how that works for me =D.
- Any other advice from people who have been there before?

Nancy_hc

EMTFreakGirl wrote: »

I bought a kitchen scale and weigh EVERYTHING! I also stop into Pier 1 every once in a while and shop the "sale shelf" and buy myself a pretty new SALAD-sized plate. I have a cupboard full of mis-matched dishes now, but I live alone and who cares? I feel good eating off my 'pretties' and the smaller portions on the smaller plate makes it look full. Sounds silly, but it works for me.

Good point - smaller BOWLS is what i probably need... I'm a weido and eat pretty much everything out of bowls....

yoovie

i look at the side of the box and eat what they say a serving is. It sucks with cookies, but meh, whatcha gonna do

karenkasbi

I eat the size of the palm of my hand, whatever it is.

Nancy_hc

yoovie wrote: »

i look at the side of the box and eat what they say a serving is. It sucks with cookies, but meh, whatcha gonna do

Are you still hungry afterwards? I do that, but then end up eating 5-6 different things becuase I still feel hungry ... although I'm sure its more so that I still dont feel satisfied.

Nancy_hc

karenkasbi wrote: »

I eat the size of the palm of my hand, whatever it is.

Is this per item, per meal, or per day (yikes!). But thats actually not a bad rule of thumb. Only eat what you can carry :P That way I dont gobble down a ton of almonds, only what will fit in my hand. I'll try it, thanks!

tulips_and_tea

EMTFreakGirl wrote: »

I bought a kitchen scale and weigh EVERYTHING! I also stop into Pier 1 every once in a while and shop the "sale shelf" and buy myself a pretty new SALAD-sized plate. I have a cupboard full of mis-matched dishes now, but I live alone and who cares? I feel good eating off my 'pretties' and the smaller portions on the smaller plate makes it look full. Sounds silly, but it works for me.

Not silly at all! That is a great idea. I do the same thing.

sodakat

If you "need" 10 oz of chicken, eat it now and then. That's only 500 calories and if it helps you stay within your calorie goal then its worth it, IMO. To get the stuffed feeling, try a large salad with the chicken breast meat.

My go-to, always keeps me satiated meal is salad greens with sun dried tomatoes, 1 oz of crumbled blue cheese, 1 oz of croutons and 2 tablespoons of 60 calorie Helman's balsamic vinegar dressing. Add a couple ounces of chicken or turkey if I need it and still under 350 calories.

How many calories are you eating, considering the amount of exercise you do daily? Are you eating back some of the exercise calories? Also, how much are you trying to lose a week? No point chosing "lose 2 pounds" if doing so means your calorie amount is so low that you will end up grabbing stuff and eating more anyway. Just sayin.

Nancy_hc

sodakat - all good points, thanks for the insight! Maybe eating less dense foods will allow me to eat alot more of it and get that satisfied feeling!
My calorie goal is 1580/day. I have it set to take my stronglift workouts into consideration and on the days I run I typically add another 200 calories. I'm wanting to lose about 1lb per week but am not really seeing an progress.... Although I KNOW its becuase I'm basically eating at maintenance every day. I have the exercise part down - I'm luck that that part comes easy to me. Its the eating part I'm having trouble with :P

Need2Exerc1se

Have you thought of only eating 2 larger meals a day with no/little snacking? If you like to feel full after a meal, then this might be the way.

Or you could try calorie cycling, where you get to eat more on some days and less on others. Maybe looking forward to the higher calorie days would help you get through the low calorie days.

tulips_and_tea

I personally dislike that full feeling. I'm ok with just being satisfied. Is that something you can maybe change? Being active as you are I'd think that full feeling could be a hindrance depending on when you eat your meals/snacks and when you workout. What I found by trial and error was that if I was full or ate something heavy my workouts were much harder and less strenuous. If I ate just an ok amount of the right things I could do so much more.

Nancy_hc

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

Have you thought of only eating 2 larger meals a day with no/little snacking? If you like to feel full after a meal, then this might be the way.

Or you could try calorie cycling, where you get to eat more on some days and less on others. Maybe looking forward to the higher calorie days would help you get through the low calorie days.

I have NOT tried either of these! I was looking at the 5/2 IF posts and think that might be an option for me. I would just have to be sure I plan my workouts accordingly so that I have the energy to get through them. but definately something to try out for a bit! Thanks!

yoovie

Nancy_hc wrote: »

yoovie wrote: »

i look at the side of the box and eat what they say a serving is. It sucks with cookies, but meh, whatcha gonna do

Are you still hungry afterwards? I do that, but then end up eating 5-6 different things becuase I still feel hungry ... although I'm sure its more so that I still dont feel satisfied.

i dont just eat that one thing. I have a serving of several different things that all add up to my calorie allotment

Nancy_hc

BZAH10 wrote: »

I personally dislike that full feeling. I'm ok with just being satisfied. Is that something you can maybe change? Being active as you are I'd think that full feeling could be a hindrance depending on when you eat your meals/snacks and when you workout. What I found by trial and error was that if I was full or ate something heavy my workouts were much harder and less strenuous. If I ate just an ok amount of the right things I could do so much more.

I typically eat a big breakfast (oatmeal, eggs/protein drink, and some type of fruit), a light/medium lunch, then I workout before dinner (I run before breakfast on my run days). Dinner is probably my biggest meal of the day becuase I'm hungry from the workout and the smaller lunch.

I love the full feeling! helps make me sleepy but maybe thats my issue.

dawnna76

vegetables, lots of vegetables has been my way to success. lots of green leafy salads (lunch and dinner) roasted veggies as a main course (broccoli, brussell sprouts, bell peppers, mushrooms and tomoates) small amount of protien. by eating volumns of vegetables i get full and it leaves me without cravings for higher calorie things. I also eat a ounce of mixed unsalted nuts daily. really curbs the midday snacking and lots of healthy fats.

coueswhitetail

eating more low calorie, high nutrient foods plus more fat can help a lot. They add bulk to make you feel full and the fat helps with feeling satisfied. Fat can be in avocados, or nuts on the salad or a somewhat fatty but not too caloric dressing....I really like cashew milk with carrot juice in it for a salad dressing. Or make a large salad and add chicken to it that has some fat on it. Will help you feel satisfied but it won't be a large portion of chicken. Beans in a salad help you feel fuller too!

farmers_daughter

I am afraid this is my problem as well. I try to add veggies to everything. I mix and match protiens with veggies. And the occasional applesauce or banana. It does not matter if I have a large portion or multiple small ones. I will eat it all. I do not, or have not ever felt the "full" button. It doesn't "ding" for me. So I eat until I'm ok with what I just ate. Which at dinner time is typically way too much. I've been having the butcher cut my 8 oz steaks in half at the store and wrapping them seperate. Also when I do freezer meals I'm going to intentionally package them in seperate containers, so that when I thaw out something it's a portion plus lunch. If I eat too much at night, It's gonna suck for lunch the next day. I have to slap my own hand.

shaynepoole

EMTFreakGirl wrote: »

I bought a kitchen scale and weigh EVERYTHING! I also stop into Pier 1 every once in a while and shop the "sale shelf" and buy myself a pretty new SALAD-sized plate. I have a cupboard full of mis-matched dishes now, but I live alone and who cares? I feel good eating off my 'pretties' and the smaller portions on the smaller plate makes it look full. Sounds silly, but it works for me.

I'm in the smaller plate/bowl club - I only pull out actual dishes for company

I fill up on vegetables, I put vegetables everywhere from breakfast to desserts

and sometimes I just eat the 10 oz of meat...

I snack through out the day, but I generally limit those snacks to no more than 100-150 calories per snack

good luck in finding a solution that works for you

cwolfman13

When I first started out a couple of years ago I basically didn't cook anything more than a serving for myself or my wife. Zero opportunity to go back for more or double up serving sizes.

I don't do that anymore because I often prepare a bunch of food in advance now and extra dinner and whatnot to take for lunches and stuff later in the week...but early on it was important for me to just limit what I was preparing to the serving I intended.

ttcbelieve

Hello
I know some have recommended eating often. In my opinion it is not for everyone, if you are like me…the more often I eat, unfortunately, the more I want to eat. Having full meals seem to work best for me. Someone has already mentioned a variation of Intermittent Fasting(IF)…the 5/2 approach, there are other types of IF…the one that has worked for me in the past is Lean gains http://www.leangains.com/2008/06/sure-fire-fat-loss.html . Fast 16 hr eat within an 8hr window. It works for me because I normally don’t eat breakfast. So I would not eat between 9pm and 1pm the next day and only eat everyday between 1pm and 9pm. I use lean gains to eat only within 8hrs than for the meal or exercise plan. in a sense what i do is e.g if my daily calorie is 1700, i plan my 1700 food within that 8hr window, because i only eat within that window, i have a shorter time to eat and can eat 2 large meals and 1 small meal. Some more information on IF at http://dailyburn.com/life/health/intermittent-fasting-methods/

someone already mentioned...drink lots of water...it really does help and i hate drinking water
Goodluck

LeonCX

Nancy_hc wrote: »

It doesn't matter that I know I should only have 4-6oz of chicken... I want to eat 10.

At Weight Watchers, they stopped counting foods such as non-starchy veggies, and most fruits. Since no one has ever gotten fat from eating those types of foods, really. And skinless chicken breast only has 35-40 calories per ounce. Why not eat 10 ounces of chicken? I don't even weigh or measure steamed veggies anymore.

farberry

Agreeing with the above, lots of high volume/low calorie food to fill you up. Find a low calorie dressing you like, and when you're hungry get a massive bowl of lettuce, add a tomato, a soft-boiled egg if you have the calorie space and a couple of tablespoons of low-cal dressing. It will make you feel stuffed! Depending on what you put in it can be only 50 or so calories, 150 or so if you add egg/tomato/other sweet veg
Also low fat/fat free yoghurt is only 80ish cals per 100g. You can get lots of great flavours. I often add 10g of cereal/granola to make it feel more substantial.

DragonShoe_GCole

Drink one to two gallons of water + up healthy fat intake + up protein in take = see 'dem gainz/cuttz, cuhz

phillipbigred

Easy, eat the appropriate amount and then stop. Wait 15 minutes and if you are still ravenous, then eat 25% more. Wait 15 more minutes and repeat. Next time, do the same but add time (say 17 min). Continue until you mold your mind around what you want.

ltssharon

I make a huge bowl of ice cream in my cuisinart food processor. It only has frozen nonfat ice cubes, ice cubes of coffee, cocoa power and one banana and sweetener. For 300 calories I get more than two quarts of ice cream. Then I can sit down and splurge. Since I am a binger, this is perfect for me.

LeonCX

^this. good idea, but 2 quarts, 300 calories - really?

sheldonklein

At the risk of being a wet blanket, some of us have to choose between losing weight and being satiated. I can lose without being hungry, but that's different than being satiated. So I think the answer to the OP's question may be that she has to decide how much she values losing weight.

middlehaitch

I know I am going to get flamed for this but I have to say it anyway.
If the cause of ones weight gain is the need to feel full; isn't it counter productive to encourage one to eat just a lower calorie food to get the same feeling?
Surely the goal should be to stop depending on the full feeling.
I am not saying one should spend the day feeling hungry, but there is that stage between the both that should be what one aims for.
I am sorry if I sound harsh, but I would much rather encourage someone to adjust what their stomach expects ( the full feeling), while eating healthy, than to encourage eating lessor calories foods that still gives the full feeling.
Surely this is a better way to sustain weight loss.
Flame away, h.