Tips for eating family dinners

Poupet

Hi there-Just wondering if anyone has any helpful tips for keeping control during family dinners. I serve healthy food, its just the serving sizes that get to me sometimes. I find it difficult to have a half a cup of rice or to hold back on seconds when it comes to pasta or potatoes (my weakness). I love MFP because I dont feel deprived of the foods I love, but I do feel deprived of the amounts I want to eat!!!

kassied09

I feel like that will get better with time- getting used to eating smaller portions will definitely take time, but your stomach will get smaller. Work out and drink water as well- it will help keep you full.

curiositycat

I find that if I already have a dessert in mind (usually a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich) to look forward to, it's much easier to keep the portion sizes under control. Having decaf coffee with dessert also helps fill me up so I can eat less at dinner and know I won't be hungry later.

leannmr2002

use smaller plates to trick your eye/brain into thinking you are getting a "full" plate

BeverageTreats

And make plain steamed vegetables and load up half your plate with that first.

kr3851

I struggle with pasta and rice servings too!!

I've started making much more veggies than I would usually, and eating those first on my plate, so that I'm full when it comes to rice or pasta time! Sure, I WANT more pasta or rice, but I don't NEED it as I'm already full. If you really can't bear not to have more... wait 20 minutes or so before having a second helping. I find that I've either found something to do, feel full, or actually eat more because I'm genuinely hungry.

Often, I think I'm hungry when really I just WANT more. We need to learn to listen more to our bodies - because giving in to them so quickly in the past has made us spoiled!!

kjannan

I use a smaller plate & put some aside for lunch the next day.

I gained weight because I felt like if I didn't eat lots I'd miss out & my partner would eat it all- now I leave him to it!!

Lakerlady5747

Potatoes are my weakness as well! Anyway, I have found that if I make up my plate and leave the rest of the food on the counter/stove, I'm not nearly as likely to take seconds than when I have all of the food on the table. This is something you might want to try, along with using a smaller plate so you feel like you have a full plate of food.

Silvercivic

I try to log the foods I eat before I eat them. Sometimes I hit that "done logging for the day" button at like 4:00 because I've already logged my dinner and dessert. I wanted to eat more food tonight, but I didn't want to go back and change what I already logged!
Good luck and keep up the good work!

it_be_asin

Eating for satiety is important - load up on the leafy salads, non fatty/starchy vegetables, and low fat protein; and give yourself a taste of the most filling starchy stuff you can find and anything fatty. I find rice, corn and oats are more filling than wheat - but your milage may vary.

christine24t

this probably isn't an option since you have a family, but i only make really small portions of food. 1/2 a cup of whole wheat noodles instead of just a big pour into the pot. That way there are no "leftovers."

cloneme_losehalf

A couple things that worked for me when I faced that before on another program.
1...I did not set the things on the table in view.
2...I filled half my plate with the better veggies.
3...I used a smaller plate.
4...I drank water while preparing the meal.

I do the same thing now ... sort of. I portion everyone's meal out and put the stuff away. If they are eating the right portions I don't think they need to get into the bad habit of bad portion amounts. IF they are hungry a while after dinner, then that warrants a need for a snack.