Portion control

marquitafortune

I just bought portion control containers. smart diet control seven pieces, has anybody ever used them?

callsitlikeiseeit

Buy a scale and learn to weigh and log your food correctly. You can cram a LOT of calories in those containers and they dont take into account hidden calories in oils and fats

joyanna2016

A digital scale is the best investment you will make. You can zero out what's already in the bowl and keep building and weighing your meal. Incredibly helpful tool!!

NovusDies

As you can see a digital food scale is highly favored here. With that said many people are able to make progress without one. If you prefer to use these portion control containers I would suggest you read any related material to see if there are techniques for improving accuracy.

The reason I prefer the food scale is because it harder to get the portion sizes wrong.

PAV8888

Look, you can control CALORIES any which way you like.
--you can control portions
--you can control the type of foods you eat
--you can record the foods you eat and guide yourself according to what you records show
--you can ask yourself as you slowly eat whether you've had enough food and whether you're truly hungry
--you can only eat a limited amount of high calorie foods and a greater amount of lower caloric density foods as long as that results in you eating fewer calories than you expend
--you can <insert method that works or doesn't work that you're willing to try>
--you can actually record the weight of the items you eat and add up the calories they represent using a database

You can succeed using ANY of the above methods as long as your goals are reasonable, your measurements represent reality instead of fiction, you work withing your true limits (which you may not even know), and you're willing and able to adjust based on actual results.

containers, small plates, eating foods from one list vs another are all more approximate methods when compared to using a food scale and correct database entries.

A lot of people believe that weighing food and recording it is obsessive because they associate the behaviour with the act of over-restricting their food intake.

I find that weighing my food and recording it is liberating because it allows me to consume the most that I can while still meeting my goals which I take care to select with extreme caution, conservatism, and lack of over-confidence.

Why would I obsess as to whether I can have an extra snack, when I can easily see it in black and white and know my current caloric balance with reasonable certainty?

To me knowing the true score means less mental bandwidth wasted!

bmeadows380

If you're starting out with a lot to lose and have a pretty good size calorie deficit going, then you've got "slop" room and the containers should be fine. Just note that cups, spoons, containers, whatever, are only generally accurate in volume measurements - sort of like playing horse shoes.

Some foods are low calorie compared to their density, and the containers are perfectly fine to use as the error won't be that many calories. Most vegetables would be here; broccoli, green beans, leafy greens, etc. Being over by a few grams isn't going to make that big of a difference in this area.

However, some foods, especially your fats, are incredibly calorie dense, and being over by just a few grams can be a huge difference in calories. For instance: 2 Tbsp of peanut butter is usually around 180 calories. Scooping it out with a tablespoon to measure can be off by as much as a half a teaspoon or more, which is 30 calories added to your intake. Most oils run about 120 calories per Tbsp; if you measure only 1/2 tsp more, you're adding 20 additional calories to your intake.

So for high volume, low calorie foods like many vegetables, the volume containers are fine; for high density, high calorie foods like oils, nuts, etc, a food scale will get you much more accurate results. But if you don't have a food scale and, as I mentioned before, have a lot to lose and a decent calorie deficit that gives you some room for less accurate measurements, the containers will be a good place to start in learning to control your portion sizes; just note that as you get closer to your goal, you may have to tighten up your logging in which case, your best friend will be the food scale. If your deficit, for example, is 750 calories, the food containers may make you off by as much as 200 calories a day (for example), but that still has you in a deficit, so you will still lose weight. If your deficit is only 250 calories (which would be the safest deficit if you don't have a lot to lose), then the error inherent to those containers could potentially wipe out your deficit.

Priasmama416

I use a food scale, measuring cups, and serving spoons that I bough with measurements/ lines in the inside

psychod787

PAV8888 wrote: »

Look, you can control CALORIES any which way you like.
--you can control portions
--you can control the type of foods you eat
--you can record the foods you eat and guide yourself according to what you records show
--you can ask yourself as you slowly eat whether you've had enough food and whether you're truly hungry
--you can only eat a limited amount of high calorie foods and a greater amount of lower caloric density foods as long as that results in you eating fewer calories than you expend
--you can <insert method that works or doesn't work that you're willing to try>
--you can actually record the weight of the items you eat and add up the calories they represent using a database

You can succeed using ANY of the above methods as long as your goals are reasonable, your measurements represent reality instead of fiction, you work withing your true limits (which you may not even know), and you're willing and able to adjust based on actual results.

containers, small plates, eating foods from one list vs another are all more approximate methods when compared to using a food scale and correct database entries.

A lot of people believe that weighing food and recording it is obsessive because they associate the behaviour with the act of over-restricting their food intake.

I find that weighing my food and recording it is liberating because it allows me to consume the most that I can while still meeting my goals which I take care to select with extreme caution, conservatism, and lack of over-confidence.

Why would I obsess as to whether I can have an extra snack, when I can easily see it in black and white and know my current caloric balance with reasonable certainty?

To me knowing the true score means less mental bandwidth wasted!

Or a combination of all of those! I avoid high amounts of energy dense foods, most of the time. Still weigh my nuts **giggle giggle** and seeds. I measure my oats, yogurt ect... with measuring cups. I use visual to guage the weight of my meats with the occasional scale check to see if I am still good at it. Use smaller plates, ask myself if I am truly hungry, and still log what I eat. Figured, why not use the best of all of it! LOL sorry for the chuckle.... I'm mentally still 12!

AquaMeow

I've noticed that the more I eat healthier food the more I don't feel hungry at all.

amusedmonkey

I just imagined cramming 2 slices of pizza into a small container or limiting the amount of vegetables I eat. Thanks for the unpleasant thought