Why Portion Control Doesn't Work

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ahadj
ahadj Posts: 257 Member
in Motivation and Support
I read the following article, "Why Portion Control Doesn't Work and What to Do Instead," and it left me with mixed feelings. Was wondering what the MFP world would have to say about it...

http://www.bodylovewellness.com/2012/08/13/why-portion-control-doesnt-work-and-what-to-do-instead/
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Replies

  • NoelleS85
    NoelleS85 Posts: 89
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    I think there is a difference between portion control and restriction.

    You can cut your calories in half, that would be restriction for me - surely that is not going to last for a very long time. But portion control to me means eating what you NEED to stay healthy, lose weight and maintain in the long run. The word "control" says it all!
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Right or wrong, the first thing I noticed is the author is overweight?? Then I noticed she wants you to buy something at the end. IMO it's a scare tactic to get people to buy into her program. Portion control absolutely works for me. I'm not saying I don't have bad moments but for the most part with out portion control, I wouldn't have lost 107 lbs.
  • Southernb3lle
    Southernb3lle Posts: 862 Member
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    Right or wrong, the first thing I noticed is the author is overweight?? Then I noticed she wants you to buy something at the end. IMO it's a scare tactic to get people to buy into her program. Portion control absolutely works for me. I'm not saying I don't have bad moments but for the most part with out portion control, I wouldn't have lost 107 lbs.

    ^totally this
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I read the following article, "Why Portion Control Doesn't Work and What to Do Instead," and it left me with mixed feelings. Was wondering what the MFP world would have to say about it...

    http://www.bodylovewellness.com/2012/08/13/why-portion-control-doesnt-work-and-what-to-do-instead/

    Well her methods obviously looked like they worked for her. And she seems to be lost on the causes of binging
  • Avandel
    Avandel Posts: 283 Member
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    :huh: My Ticker says portion control does work! :bigsmile:
  • timbrom
    timbrom Posts: 303 Member
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    It also seems to start with the assumption that everyone is an emotional eater (false) and that bingeing is inevitable.

    Then it tries to sell you something.

    Moving on.
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
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    I'm not sure how binge eating means that portion control doesn't work. You aren't using portion control if you binge eat, by definition.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    Blogger has no clue what portion control is.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    She normally charges $147 for her product/program, ( whatever it is, I didn't care enough to continue) but right now, only $ 47. Wonder if she'll double the offer or throw in some ginsu knives if we call in the next ten minutes??

    NO. Besides, she is heavier now than I was before I started MFP. Not real inspiring there.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    The author of that article is only addressing the binging cycle, not portion control. She is looking at severe restriction vs. uncontrollable binging, which is not what MFP advocates. The idea here is that you eat at a moderate calorie deficit, enjoy whatever foods you want (so there is no "falling off the wagon" so to speak) and lose weight slowly.

    Also, she's trying to sell you her program, so of course she's going to tell you that nothing else works. She wants your $47.
  • fitfreakymom
    fitfreakymom Posts: 1,400 Member
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    An overweight author trying to tell people how to lose weight.... hhmm
  • NoelleS85
    NoelleS85 Posts: 89
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    lol I did not even notice the author haha. "I'm an intuitive eating coach" Okay. And then she wants us to buy HER program? I am sorry, I don't know if I would want to buy something the creator failed to succeed at.
  • IronPlayground
    IronPlayground Posts: 1,594 Member
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    I stopped reading when she said "something forbidden".

    There's where the problem lies. She labeled food as "good" and "bad". When she ate something she felt was "bad", she looked at it as failure and gave up.

    Too many folks, when starting a new way of eating to lose weight, restrict certain foods. The better approach is to understand that food is just food. How you incorporate certain foods into your day determines whether or not it was good choice or bad choice to eat that particular food amount.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,691 Member
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    30 years of portion control made my body. Yeah, I think I'll stick with that.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
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    I THINK what she's trying to get at is that in order to end up with a consistent, healthful, adequate-but-not-too-much eating style, instead of planning out "ok, I can have 1 ounce of almonds and 3 ounces of spinach and 4 ounces of chicken and so on and so on and so on" and logging every bite, she wants you to eat the almonds and the spinach and the chicken until you feel satisfied and then stop and move on to the next thing in your day, and that by eating what your body tells you you need you can maintain a satisfactory weight.

    I would tend to agree that, in theory, this would obviously be ideal. HOWEVER, most (certainly not all) overweight people didn't get that way by knowing when to stop eating. Most overweight people have either totally overridden their ability to read their body's cues regarding how much to eat or lacked them to begin with. Someone in that situation needs to learn what a proper portion size is through portion control and logging before they can re-learn how to gauge their body's reaction to that portion size, and even then that's not possible for some.

    So, I think her methods might work for a small percentage of overweight people and/or many people who are at/near goal and have been controlling their portions for a long time, know what/how much to eat to maintain their weight and health, and are ready to move forward with that knowledge and give up tracking every bite, or for people who haven't historically had a problem with overeating and are just looking to drop a couple of pounds and improve their body composition. But, it's not going to work for a large number of people who need to lose a significant amount of weight.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
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    The 90 lbs I lost and kept off using portion control would beg to differ. But maybe I'm just a freak.
  • kit_katty
    kit_katty Posts: 994 Member
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    Other than the fact that she's looking to sell you soemthing, she's not wrong on addressing the underlying phychological and emotional issues associated with emotional eating and binge eating. That should of course be addressed by a person anyways!

    That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong iwth the average person using portion controls. When I look at the serving sizes I had as a child or even those in restaurants today, it's ridiculous! Cutting back to a more appropriate size is just healthy.

    On top of this, it doesn't address the difference between people and how certain people are moderators (portion control) or abstainers (can't have ANY of a certain food or they will binge). Personally I can have one serving of ice cream, but if I have brownies in the house I'll eat the whole package before I realize it.
  • suzerain79
    suzerain79 Posts: 2
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    I saw a talk by this lady before. It was one of the worst things I have ever heard. She is basically an apologist for obesity trying to tell everyone it is fine. During her talk she extolled the "health" benefits of being overweight and basically stated that since eating at a deficit her never worked, it was not the way to go for everyone.

    The previous posts are correct. The fad diets did not work, ergo eating a reasonable amount of food and counting calories does not work.

    Nothing but a snake oil salesman.
  • rosellasweet
    rosellasweet Posts: 163 Member
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    It also seems to start with the assumption that everyone is an emotional eater (false) and that bingeing is inevitable.

    Then it tries to sell you something.

    Moving on.

    This. Food is only a comfort sometimes but mostly because it tastes good. Not to say that some people overeat or undereat when they are stress/depressed. Also, if you read her mini bio under her picture, it seems that she is trying to promote how to feel better about your appearance no matter your weight and not losing weight.
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
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    As those above me have mentioned, I feel like she's using portion control and restricting interchangeably, and she's using portion control incorrectly. Binge eating is an emotional response, and no amount of portion control or restricting with improve it or make it worse. My biggest fight in this weight loss journey has been against binge eating, especially since I have been stressed lately, but my current or past eating habits have little influence on what I do when I feel the need to binge. She mentions the emotional part of binge eating as the reason why "portion control" doesn't work, but if it's an emotional response, then what does "portion control" have to do with any of this in the first place?

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