Really struggling with portion control

fastfoodietofitcutie
fastfoodietofitcutie Posts: 523 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am not giving up carbs, fasting or doing any other trendy diet. I’m simply just trying to eat like a “normal” person. Eat everything but stay within my calorie range. It blows my mind how small actual serving sizes are! I feel like I’m not satisfied unless I have more than 1 serving of everything. Any words of wisdom?

Replies

  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    Protein, fiber, and/or fat help most people feel full. Which one(s) work best for you is something you will need to figure out through trial and error. Some people also feel full when they eat a large volume of low calorie foods, like vegetables. If you do this, just make sure you are getting the minimum calories, protein, and fat too.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,068 Member
    You may need to play around with your macros a bit. I find it much easier to stay in my calorie range with lower carbs, but higher protein and fats than I do with a higher carb diet. Still am definitely "hungry" before meal-time, but it's not as long and no where near as miserable with my current macro alignment.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited November 2019
    yes! It's a weird adjustment seeing how much a "suggested serving" is compared to how much I used to eat of it. like crackers for example. A serving size is like 4 crackers :D However with that said, you don't have to eat the suggested serving size as long as you stay at your calorie target overall. A lot of snacks, I tend to portion out the suggested serving size though, just for simplicity.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    It was a shocker at the beginning but it didn’t take long to adjust. You might want to try more foods you can eat in volume like many veggies and fruits. Just keep at it.

    Good luck with your journey! 🍀
  • geraldaltman
    geraldaltman Posts: 1,739 Member
    Only advice I can give is to try finding a way to convince your mind, yourself that less tastes and is just as good as more. My own example is peanut butter which I have had a life long love affair with. Once upon a time, I would just slather copious amounts of it on my toast or sandwiches. Then upon getting on, or returning to calorie and nutrition I began seeing how much extra fat and calories I was needlessly consuming and why I was buying PB far more often than one person ought to. Well, that is where I learned that my enjoyment did not suffer using less and my grocery dollar stretched just a little further on; and while far from perfect and and get a "hankering", that is when a full 2 tablespoons would be my "cheat treat". Trust me, I do! Using a digital food scale (if you don't already) could be helpful. If you portion out your meals (I try to do mine around 8 oz.). It will rarely be exact unless you are really meticulous about it. If your final portion is a fraction or three over, I don't see that as detrimental.
    Well, I hope there is something here you find useful.
  • 84creative
    84creative Posts: 128 Member
    I’m always hungry! I generally eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and two small snacks at specific times of the day. I’m bulking at the moment so eating more inbetween these now.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    Yeah, portion size was definitely an eye opener when my wife and I launched our diets 6 months ago. We used to drop 16 oz of dry spaghetti into boiling water and cook up 18-20 meatballs with a jar of tomato sauce and a jar of tomatoes. It was a bit ... "informative" to find out how many calories that was LOL Now we split 6 oz of pasta and have 4 meatballs each. Felt like insane torture the first week. Then you get used to it. Keep plugging away, and be sure to cut back anything that is both high calorie AND not satiating, like empty white refined carbs. That'll help a lot.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,415 Member
    There have been a number of studies linking *smell* to feelings of fullness. I'm not sure it works for everyone or if it's even a useful factoid for many in the convenience society, but I find that when I spend half an hour *cooking* my food before I eat it, I feel full faster. It's actually something I have to watch out for when I'm switching often between cooking for myself and eating out or eating left overs. I have to weigh out my food either way, because the sensation difference is so strong and not necessarily properly related to what I've actually ingested.

    If you're into heavily seasoned foods, you may notice this more than if your foods are less strongly scented... If you're like my husband and can't smell a whole lot, you may also think I'm a bit crazy. ;-)
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
    Buy a food scale. Takes the guesswork and inability to control portions out of the equation.

    Read this article, as the Food scale sticky is no longer working: https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/want-lose-weight-weigh-your-food-week-ncna772476
  • BackcountryMountainGal
    BackcountryMountainGal Posts: 3 Member
    Eat slowly and mindfully without distractions (tv, internet, reading etc). This really helps with overall satisfaction
    when you concentrate on how the food feels/tastes/smells. Drink a glass of water before your meal or have soup broth which will help fill you up.

    Whenever you reduce your caloric intake, there is an adjustment period your body goes through and you WILL feel hungry because it's not getting what it is accustomed to.

    When I've eaten all my macros for a meal or a day and still feel unsatisfied, I use distraction techniques that keep me busy and I forget about my stomach - go for tea with a friend, go for a walk, workout, clean the house, meditate with deep breathing, go to bed (lol). Also, thirst is often mistaken for hunger, so I focus on more water intake. The bonus if you do a work out, then you can eat a few more calories ;)

    It's hard to go over on protein and fiber, so if I do eat over my allotted calories for the day, I choose a high protein-high fiber snack.
  • candylilacs
    candylilacs Posts: 614 Member
    Start with the nutritionist told me. You have a plate of food. You have a fist of protein, a fist of carbs, and a whole hand of greens (vegetables.)
  • phoebe112476
    phoebe112476 Posts: 269 Member
    Your stomach will shrink and you will get more accustomed to eating less. One thing that I haven’t seen mentioned in this thread yet is volume eating. Some people eat foods that are low calorie and can eat large volumes to feel full. Search for volume eating and you will find threads with good suggestions if this might help you. I am not a volume eater routinely but have hungry days sometimes. The large amount of broccoli below was used in place of rice with this entire. The whole thing was only 350 calories. And I was not able to finish it all due to feeling stuffed!

    tb0ybjm1ed6l.jpeg
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,168 Member
    ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »
    There have been a number of studies linking *smell* to feelings of fullness. I'm not sure it works for everyone or if it's even a useful factoid for many in the convenience society, but I find that when I spend half an hour *cooking* my food before I eat it, I feel full faster. It's actually something I have to watch out for when I'm switching often between cooking for myself and eating out or eating left overs. I have to weigh out my food either way, because the sensation difference is so strong and not necessarily properly related to what I've actually ingested.

    If you're into heavily seasoned foods, you may notice this more than if your foods are less strongly scented... If you're like my husband and can't smell a whole lot, you may also think I'm a bit crazy. ;-)

    Like Elizabeth, I'm a fast eater, so I'm usually still feeling kind of hungry when my first portion is consumed.

    I like her "cook it yourself" option as a way to enjoy some of the food's sensory pleasures before eating, but I also like to start that cooking by making myself a plate of raw veggies to graze-munch while I do the other cooking. I like lots of different ones, the classics like cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, celery, sweet pepers, but also less common ones like celeriac, jicama, hakurei turnips, and more. A mountain of veggies on a salad plate is usually only 50 calories or so, and one can sprinkle them with seasoned salt or herbs, or use a flavored-vinegar dip for extra flavor.

    This combination of the low-cal, nutritious, but high volume and crunchy snack, plus the delay that comes with cooking, helps to give the snack time to register as satisfying, and reduce the odds that I'll gobble a dinner portion and want to run right back for more.

    Another option is to add an after-dinner cup of hot herb tea (or some other no/low calorie beverage that you like), not so much to add fullness, but to create that delay that helps satiation register.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    Go_Deskercise wrote: »
    Log your food BEFORE you eat it. This gives you a chance to edit portion sizes and calorie amounts to leave you room later in the day or lets you eat more than the recommended portion sizes.

    This really helped me so I could see how many calories things like cheese and high-calorie condiments were infringing on my calorie targets. I would eat less of those in favor of something more substantial.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,740 Member
    Growing up, we were encouraged to have seconds or even third helpings of dinner. It was a compliment to the cook (Mom) to ask for more. When I went out on my own, I had to figure out how to eat less. For a while I would eat a frozen dinner, so my serving size was limited, but add one or two servings of vegetables to help fill me up. Now I am fine with some recommended serving sizes (i.e. vegetables rice, pasta) but others (meat, pizza) I eat more but make sure they fit in my daily calorie allowance.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    fastfoodietofitcutie wrote: »
    I am not giving up carbs, fasting or doing any other trendy diet. I’m simply just trying to eat like a “normal” person. Eat everything but stay within my calorie range. It blows my mind how small actual serving sizes are! I feel like I’m not satisfied unless I have more than 1 serving of everything. Any words of wisdom?

    Do not dismiss trendy as ineffective. If you are struggling it is worth an experiment to see if you can solve your hunger while staying inside your calorie goal. If that means skipping a meal to have 2 bigger meals then that is what it means. You don't have to start there. There have been many good suggestions in this thread to try first if you want.

    I would rather be abnormal and finally get to a healthy weight then stick to my guns and be miserable trying to be whatever "normal" is.


  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Go_Deskercise wrote: »
    Log your food BEFORE you eat it. This gives you a chance to edit portion sizes and calorie amounts to leave you room later in the day or lets you eat more than the recommended portion sizes.

    This is good advice, as well as what cwolfman said.

    The issue is overall cals, not whatever portion you have been told is the serving size. Like cwolfman, I often eat more than a serving (if that's 3-4 oz raw) of my protein, and typically it's not that calorie dense so that doesn't add many cals, but helps me be full. I ignore portion size for my side starch and go with what seems a reasonable amount to me given the cals (something like 100 g of raw potato, usually less than an official portion on the package of rice, since I find that satisfying, a serving or less of pasta for the same reason -- point is I decide how many cals I want to spend on it given how many I want for the whole meal, although now that I've done that for a while I have an intuitive sense without having to do the calorie math), and then I fill up my plate with vegetables, which are low cal. I certainly don't stick to one serving of veg, as that's pretty tiny IMO, and veg don't have many cals. I save cals by limiting (but not avoiding) some of the higher cal additions like oil used in cooking or better or the like.

    If you are sticking to one serving of everything you may actually not be eating all your cals, it kind of depends on what you are actually eating. I found it pretty easy to not change my overall volume of food (just certain items) and cut cals by a lot.

    What also helped me (it's not the answer for all) was eating only at my 3 main meals, so as to have the cals to make them a reasonable size.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    I exercise every day, for health and so I can eat more!
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    fastfoodietofitcutie wrote: »
    I am not giving up carbs, fasting or doing any other trendy diet. I’m simply just trying to eat like a “normal” person. Eat everything but stay within my calorie range. It blows my mind how small actual serving sizes are! I feel like I’m not satisfied unless I have more than 1 serving of everything. Any words of wisdom?

    Find low or no calorie drinks to accompany your eating. A cup of tea or coffee with a snack is more filling that the snack alone.

    Some foods are very high is volume and low calories...popcorn is my favorite example. Air popped and lightly seasoned popcorn is actually a pretty large serving for low calories.

    It takes getting used to adjusting to what a normal portion is...give yourself time. American restaurant portions are often 2-3 TIMES what one should eat at a sitting, for example. Readjusting expectations and what is healthy will naturally take some practice when a Quarter Pounder with large fries and a huge soda is touted as a meal sized portion.
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    my trick is to indulge in large portions of complex carbs rather than small portions of simple or refined carbs.

    For example: I'll eat raw sweet peppers as if they were apples, and dip them in hummus as I go.

    Anytime I can get sweet and savory in one plate, I find myself 1000 times more satisfied than just sweet or just savory.

    as others have mentioned, the nutritional makeup of the food we eat has a lot to do with our sense of satisfaction when the plate is emptied.
  • foreverblissful
    foreverblissful Posts: 50 Member
    Kinda goes with what other people have said before:

    1. Make sure you're drinking enough water. I found when I started drinking half a gallon a day aka 8 cups of liquids a day(combination of unsweetened teas, and water) it helps hold me out inbetween meals.

    2. Find your calorie range that will align with your fitness goals if you haven't already and make sure it is realistic for your activity level and nutritional needs. It's possible you may have mundercalculated your goal, it doesn't hurt to double check!

    3. Eat more veggies! I know you said you want to "eat like a normal person," I'm not quite sure of what you mean by that. One person's healthy norm can be unhealthy to another person based on age, height and body composition. At the end of the day 200calories of veggies is more liekly to fill you up than a slice of 200 calorie bread.

    4. Eat less traditional "carbs." Not trying to tell you to go keto, but higher carb diets are generally less filling and more calorically dense than lower carb diets(I've heard this from bodybuilders and athletes on youtube). You can try to combat this by replacing "traditional" carbs aka the junk we all think of when we hear carbs(sugar laden bread, flour, rice, etc.) with more complex carbs(look out for low whole wheat breads not all are created equal, try switching out all purpose flour with whole wheat, or replace your grain and flour products with carbier vegetables--potatos, carrots, root veggies as a whole etc.)

    5. Increase your activity level, and build more muscle. If you burn more, you can "eat more" without gaining unnecesary weight(I'm assuming this is your worry rather than gaining). This is a part of the reason that I know so many atheletes who actually "struggle" to eat enough to maintain their body mass! They can't keep up with the amount of calories they burn! Even if you already exercise already, you may need to up your intensity, or add more days to your routine to boost your calorie range. You'll burn a lot more calories the more muscle you have and the more active you which will allow you to eat to satiation.

    6. Make sure you're actyally hungry and not mentally craving food! Chew gum instead or eat a super low calorie snack to hold you out if you'll be eating soon!

    TLDR: At the end of the day, there are just some foods that won't fit into your calorie goal AND satiate you by nature, which does mean you may have to tweak your diet slightly. Having those things in moderation preferably as sides along wih more filling healthy foods, may just be the solution, rather than the main feature of your meal. You can also shift them as cheat meals instead, or buy lower calorie "healthy" renditions of them. For instance I eat banza chickpeas pasta for pasta dishes instead of real pasta, it's 10x more filling for the same calories. My last suggestion is becomming even more active and building muscle to increase your calorie limit. Hope that helps!

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