Tips for cutting portion size?

seltzermint555

marinabreeze wrote: »

For me, what worked was a combination of tracking and modifying my food choices.

When I started tracking what I was actually eating, it gave me a better understanding of what I was eating, and that led me to looking into what might be better choices. I am not on a low carb diet, but I now tend to lean more towards meat and veggies than sugars and breads because it's a better bang for my buck hunger-wise - I tend to feel fuller on meat and veggies than on carbs.

Drinking water also helps. And I have to second the person who mentioned habits. I can sympathize with the feeling of having to order a lot of food and feeling hungry for it. But as I started eating differently, I realized that it was more of a habit than necessity, and cutting what I order (and eating at home more often) has helped curb this tendency.

A lot of this describes my own experience too. Tracking every bite is what helped me learn how to eat the right amount of calories.

I can also relate to the person who replied first, saying a lot of it may be habit. That's an easier thing to "fix" but takes a bit longer.

In the past I had a lot of recipes/meals I'd been making a certain way for YEARS. For example, when I made quesadillas I always used the entire package of 10...for two people. I typically ate 4 and my ex husband had 6. That was just normal for me. I used a whole slice of Sargento pepper jack per every 2 tortillas, plus a bunch of shredded cheddar. They were good, no doubt, and I still eat those...but now I skip the pepper jack slice, and just have 2 tortillas, and stuff them with way more black beans, sautéed bell pepper, and onion. It fills me up, and is awesome. But at first, when tracking and realizing "holy cow that is a ton of cals from tortillas alone" it was a bit sad to me to have just 4 wedges of quesadilla when I was used to 8. So I get that, OP.

hamoncan

I'm somewhat of a reforming "big eater" myself. You might need to taper down a bit if you're going to be drastically reducing your portion sizes. It wasn't long before I I felt full on lesser and lesser amounts. Eating slower helps too. Eat your pizza with a knife and fork and wait longer between slices. Order / make less and have an apple for dessert instead of another slice. It really isn't that hard if you really want to do it. Like many have said, you've got to change your mentality about being full / stuffed / hungry / satisfied.

brain328

grandlinegirl wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I'm giving this weight loss thing another try. I lost 40lbs last time and then got injured and went back to my old ways. The injury still bothers me, but I've joined a gym with a pool and I'm super excited!

My biggest problem is portion sizes. I eat A LOT. For example, if we get pizza, I'll eat 7-8 slices easily. If we have pasta (my biggest weakness) I'll have 2 heaping bowls. Even with a chicken meal, I'll have 2 chicken breasts...

How do I start cutting back? I've tried before, using proper portion sizes, but that left me super hungry and I ended up snacking to fill myself up. I've tried eating 3 regular meals with a small snack in between but it doesn't work. I'm always hungry

If you guys could give me tips, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

I always drink TONS of water! I drink about a gallon a day. Sometimes when your body is signalling you that you're hungry, you're actually thirsty and just can't tell the difference.

As for what to eat - well try to eat a lot of protein, which helps fill you up

I eat 5 small meals a day!

Herbalife breakfast shake
Snack - high protein
Herbalife lunch shake
Snack - high protein
Colorful dinner (1/2 veggies, 1/4 protein, 1/4 carb)

middlehaitch

Gobuggy99 your advice is excellent.

I would like to add to it by saying that having a light appetiser ( salad, veg fruit) 15-20 min before dinner signals to the brain and stomach that you are eatingand stimulates your appitite . This in turn will make you feel fuller sooner.

Also, a small bowl of sherbet after dinner helps cleanse the palate, and helps reduce the urge to eat more.
Cheers, h.

Liftng4Lis

Pre-log your diary. Weigh and measure your portions and stick to it.

csuhar

BFDeal wrote: »

Food scale. It's an eye opener.

This is a big help. It can be quite the eye-opener that, combined with logging your calories, really helps you understand what your actual intake is. But, on the plus side, having that detailed knowledge also gives you the ability to say "I **CAN** have X amount of the food I like, today" instead of the often used tactic of avoiding all the food you find pleasurable to eat, like "no more deserts for me" or "I can't have chocolate anymore".



Another tactic that could help is altering the accessibility. If you can make it more challenging for you to even obtain more than one portion, it becomes more challenging to eat it. I have lots of ingredients in my house, but very little that I can simply grab and eat. Having to put in more effort and thought into putting the things together (even if it's just adding the hot water to the Kraft Mac n Cheese) gives me more pause to consider if I really want to or should eat it.

With pasta, if you're making your own, it would be a matter of controlling the amount you make. If you only make as many portions as there are people dining, it's harder for you to access more than one portion because you now have to ask someone at the table for some of theirs. If you're eating by yourself, use that food scale to measure out exactly one portion of dry pasta and cook it. Then, if you want more, you're going to have to go through the production process all over again. Even putting any additional prepared portions (to include slices of pizza) away in a container in the fridge can help by enhancing the "out of sight, out of mind" factor.

The bottom line would be: the more time it takes to access the additional food, the more time you have to stop yourself.

Lounmoun

Log everything. Try logging things before you eat so you can see how much you can fit in your day. Make or order less high calorie food and more low calorie foods. Have a big salad with your pizza and just eat 1-2 pieces instead of 7-8.
Use a smaller plate.
Eat slower.
Drink water or unsweetened drinks most of the time. Save your calories for food.
Wait 20 minutes or so to see if you are really hungry before getting another portion. Drink some water while you are waiting.
Exercise more if you eat more.

DjinnMarie

Try filling up on high protein and high fiber foods. They are slower to digest, which keeps you feeling fuller longer. Limit refined carbs (breads and pastas) because they lack fiber, digesting quicker, causing a sugar and insulin spike, and the eventual sugar crash (causing cravings).

crunnerwv

Are you getting a lot of veggies? LOAD UP on non-starchy veggies. Measure out a portion of pasta, fill in with veggies, and choose red sauce over cream sauces. Quantity vs quality works well when you're trying to fill up. With pizza - make it at home, thin crust, you control the ingredients and have a salad with it. Good luck!

Slasher09

I struggled with overly large portion sizes/appetite for years. It led to me developing bulimia (I felt it was the only way I could lose weight with how much I ate). I had to change and adapt to better portions. I use pint glasses for my water intake. I have 1 before I drink my coffee in the morning (I ALWAYS have coffee so this gurantees more water), I drink 1-2 before every meal and when I start getting hungry. I made a rule in the beginning to eat when I was hungry. So I ate a lot, I just made myself eat a lot of veggies. Like I would eat a whole 16oz frozen broccoli for instance. Or I would eat apples. Or something nourishing (almonds) For the first week or two I was eating a ton of produce and protein, but I noticed that after 7-10 days I wasn't reaching for snacks as often. Then I noticed I was leaving some bites uneaten on my plate, so I would prepare a little bit less. The thought of eating 1300-1500 calories a day 6 months ago seemed impossible, I was convinced I NEEDED at least 1900 to function. Nope. I can easily eat 1300 a day now, or about 1800 a day if I was very active.

RodaRose

Instead of snacking all day, try eating only one or two largish meals a day -- that way you can have decent sized meals.