The Struggle with Portion Control

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  • tracie_minus100
    tracie_minus100 Posts: 465 Member
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    I also pre-log. I weigh out my portion, and that's all I get.
    It's hard though. I'm the kind of person who will eat until it's all gone if it tastes good, whether I'm full or not. Which is how I got obese in the first place.
    Now I've lost over 94lbs in the last year through portion control and exercise. But it sure isn't easy, even now. When something tastes reeeeally good, it almost hurts to stop. I saw a meme the other day that perfectly described me..."the meal isn't over when I'm full, the meal is over when I hate myself". That's pretty much the way I used to eat every meal.
    So anyways like I said, pre-logging and knowing that your measured/weighed portion is all you get helps. Also, load that plate up with veggies. Best of luck. :)
  • jacklifts
    jacklifts Posts: 396 Member
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    i think you need more veggies. you're eating pretty well other than that. veggies should add volume to help fill you up. I have a problem with portion control as well, and eating a lot of veggies has helped a lot. Also, paring down meals to 2 meals, or one meal with a couple of small snacks has helped a lot. lastly, you might think about cutting out stuff like juices, it's just unnecessary calories,and hard to fit into 1300 calories.
  • tarabole
    tarabole Posts: 166 Member
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    To expand in the excellent suggestions to add bulk by way of steamed or raw vegetables, always eating the vegetables first can help with feeling satiated and consuming less calorie-dense foods.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
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    I dont prelog. I do try to eat volume meals though.

    If you google volumetric recipes, lots will show up

    Basically i add as much low cal filler as i can.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I don't prelog either.

    I do choose portions based on what I consider a reasonable amount to eat (given serving size, calories, what it is, how much I've eaten that day) and measure them out and don't get seconds. And I'm also a volume eater who eats a bunch of vegetables with a meal.

    OP, when you say you are having trouble with portion control, how does that work. Do you take more than you should or feel hungry and continue getting more food beyond your calories. If the latter, adding vegetables is definitely a good idea, but part of it is habit and training ourselves that we don't need as much as the eye might be telling you. Pausing 10-15 minutes before getting a second serving (so satiety signals can sink in or you realize it's that it was tasty, not that you are hungry) and trying to eat more slowly can also help.
  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
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    I have the same struggle when eating at a deficit. You are at 1300 so that's not a lot. I skip breakfast and lunch or eat lunch late. That frees up some calories for larger portions. It works for me because I am not hungry until around 2 or 3pm. If you are hungry, I don't think it would work.

    In other posts many people suggest upping calories so you lose 1 or .5 pounds a week. You could try that.
  • Alairissa
    Alairissa Posts: 160 Member
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    Wow everybody thanks for the responses. Also wanted to let you know, that mfp automatically puts me at 1200 calories. So I manually increased it to 1300. I have suddenly gained around 5 lbs in a week..... Any idea what it could be?
  • cJOYv6881
    cJOYv6881 Posts: 72 Member
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    I struggle with portion control too, joining MFP was a real eye-opener! I've tried everything from putting everything on my plate that I would normally eat, then putting some back (removing a heaping spoonful of pasta, cutting two inches off the end of a steak, etc.), to logging my food after I plate it but before I eat anything. The second method seems to work well, at least for me. If I log my pasta, for example, and it tells me it would put me 300 cal over my goal, I take some off, re-weigh, and log it again until I get a better serving size. I've been working on getting my portions down for a few weeks now, so I'm getting better at eye-balling it. And of course, I've been weighing absolutely everything to make sure. My stomach seems to be adjusting to not being stuffed full of quite so much food.
  • Alairissa
    Alairissa Posts: 160 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I don't prelog either.

    I do choose portions based on what I consider a reasonable amount to eat (given serving size, calories, what it is, how much I've eaten that day) and measure them out and don't get seconds. And I'm also a volume eater who eats a bunch of vegetables with a meal.

    OP, when you say you are having trouble with portion control, how does that work. Do you take more than you should or feel hungry and continue getting more food beyond your calories. If the latter, adding vegetables is definitely a good idea, but part of it is habit and training ourselves that we don't need as much as the eye might be telling you. Pausing 10-15 minutes before getting a second serving (so satiety signals can sink in or you realize it's that it was tasty, not that you are hungry) and trying to eat more slowly can also help.

    Hi! It is a mix of both. I take more thinking I won't be full and then, I usually get a second serving till I am stuffed. I have started to not do the second part that process. I am trying to eat so I am not stuffed, but it's like an addiction kind of and I end up sometimes breaking and then feel super guilty after.
  • Alairissa
    Alairissa Posts: 160 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Looks like you're Indian? There are vegetables in Indian cooking! Ask your family cook to include more of them, and to show you how to make them :) I see you're not a vegetarian - if the rest of your family isn't either, request more meat. If they are, request more dal and other legumes.

    Also, probably both roti and rice in the same meal in the portions you're having is not doing you any favors. I'm triggered to overeat when I have too much starchy carbs and not enough protein and non-starchy veggies in the same meal.

    Yea, we are non veg, however we mostly cook non veg so meats, and I find that to be very high in calorie, also it is too heavy. How much would you recommended one roti weigh? I am not sure how many calories one roti is as well. Also added you as a friend! :smiley:
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Alairissa wrote: »
    Wow everybody thanks for the responses. Also wanted to let you know, that mfp automatically puts me at 1200 calories. So I manually increased it to 1300. I have suddenly gained around 5 lbs in a week..... Any idea what it could be?

    Well you didn't gain 5 lbs of fat.

    What's your height and weight and age. And what's your daily activity level?
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
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    I haven't read many of the replies, but I took a quick peek at your food diary (today & yesterday only, so I don't know if those 2 days are truly representative of your eating routing) and I notice low protein and fat consumption. In my experience, if I focus on hitting my protein (30%) and fat (30%) macros, I am much more satiated and "full" feeling during the day.

    During my time on MFP, I have learned by trial and error which meals leave me feeling satisified, even when eating a single serving and not having to go back for seconds.
  • Alairissa
    Alairissa Posts: 160 Member
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    Lovee_Dove7 wrote: »
    Alairissa wrote: »
    Wow everybody thanks for the responses. Also wanted to let you know, that mfp automatically puts me at 1200 calories. So I manually increased it to 1300. I have suddenly gained around 5 lbs in a week..... Any idea what it could be?

    Well you didn't gain 5 lbs of fat.

    What's your height and weight and age. And what's your daily activity level?

    I did realize it is quite impossible to gain 5 lbs of fat that fast.. :smile: height is 5'1" and weight is 140 increased to 145 when last checked, (The difference occurred in about a week). Also I am 21.
  • Alairissa
    Alairissa Posts: 160 Member
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    Calliope610 wrote: »
    I haven't read many of the replies, but I took a quick peek at your food diary (today & yesterday only, so I don't know if those 2 days are truly representative of your eating routing) and I notice low protein and fat consumption. In my experience, if I focus on hitting my protein (30%) and fat (30%) macros, I am much more satiated and "full" feeling during the day.

    During my time on MFP, I have learned by trial and error which meals leave me feeling satisified, even when eating a single serving and not having to go back for seconds.

    I have noticed that I am not hitting proteins, and always going over on carbs. Any tips for that? I have an indian diet.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
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    The struggle is real. That's all I've got.
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
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    Alairissa wrote: »
    Calliope610 wrote: »
    I haven't read many of the replies, but I took a quick peek at your food diary (today & yesterday only, so I don't know if those 2 days are truly representative of your eating routing) and I notice low protein and fat consumption. In my experience, if I focus on hitting my protein (30%) and fat (30%) macros, I am much more satiated and "full" feeling during the day.

    During my time on MFP, I have learned by trial and error which meals leave me feeling satisified, even when eating a single serving and not having to go back for seconds.

    I have noticed that I am not hitting proteins, and always going over on carbs. Any tips for that? I have an indian diet.

    For me, high protein, fat and fiber satisfy. I'm currently maintaining, and have gone from 75g carbs daily to 150g. I'm in an experimental stage as I just entered maintenance. Do you use a food scale? This would probably be a good thing for someone as tiny as you are. It allows you to be exact with your intake, and you can determine exactly what works for you.
    Play around with macros, try increasing protein,fat and fiber (slowly), for example.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    Alairissa wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Looks like you're Indian? There are vegetables in Indian cooking! Ask your family cook to include more of them, and to show you how to make them :) I see you're not a vegetarian - if the rest of your family isn't either, request more meat. If they are, request more dal and other legumes.

    Also, probably both roti and rice in the same meal in the portions you're having is not doing you any favors. I'm triggered to overeat when I have too much starchy carbs and not enough protein and non-starchy veggies in the same meal.

    Yea, we are non veg, however we mostly cook non veg so meats, and I find that to be very high in calorie, also it is too heavy. How much would you recommended one roti weigh? I am not sure how many calories one roti is as well. Also added you as a friend! :smiley:

    When I ate a lot of Indian food, I was living and working in a yoga community, had a very active lifestyle, and did not count calories, so have no direct experience with roti calories :(

    Do you have a digital food scale? Try weighing out the amount of roti you would normally eat and only eating 3/4 of it.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    Alairissa wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I don't prelog either.

    I do choose portions based on what I consider a reasonable amount to eat (given serving size, calories, what it is, how much I've eaten that day) and measure them out and don't get seconds. And I'm also a volume eater who eats a bunch of vegetables with a meal.

    OP, when you say you are having trouble with portion control, how does that work. Do you take more than you should or feel hungry and continue getting more food beyond your calories. If the latter, adding vegetables is definitely a good idea, but part of it is habit and training ourselves that we don't need as much as the eye might be telling you. Pausing 10-15 minutes before getting a second serving (so satiety signals can sink in or you realize it's that it was tasty, not that you are hungry) and trying to eat more slowly can also help.

    Hi! It is a mix of both. I take more thinking I won't be full and then, I usually get a second serving till I am stuffed. I have started to not do the second part that process. I am trying to eat so I am not stuffed, but it's like an addiction kind of and I end up sometimes breaking and then feel super guilty after.

    If you eat more slowly, you will give your brain time to get the message from your stomach that it is full. This is what I do with pasta and pizza - chew slowly and thoroughly. (And eat them with non-starchy veggies and protein.)
  • GsKiki
    GsKiki Posts: 392 Member
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    Only cook enough for one meal, or if that's not possible put food on the plate in the kitchen. Don't give your self opportunity to fill your plate again.
    Try eating more veggies that are low in calories in your meal like cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce (no dressing, just salt and a little bit of lemon juice) or if you want to cook it in your meal try zucchini.
    Also if you like your plate too look fuller use smaller plate, or cut your food into smaller pieces. Eat slower and take smaller bites.

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