portion sizes ~ are they really important ?

schustc
schustc Posts: 428 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just wondering the general opinion of this. I frequently fill up on triple portions of veggies and fruit or double portions of lean meats to get extra protein and satisfaction. I had a 9 cup Tupperware bowl of salad for lunch, a 6 egg white omelette sandwich for dinner... when it comes to high calorie foods, I am more inclined to eat half portions of those and bulk up on low Cal foods.


I know this goes against the: portion the size of your hand, etc etc. How important is portion control? I definitely go over any recommended portion sizes 90% Of the time

Replies

  • phlower
    phlower Posts: 103
    Just wondering the general opinion of this. I frequently fill up on triple portions of veggies and fruit or double portions of lean meats to get extra protein and satisfaction. I had a 9 cup Tupperware bowl of salad for lunch, a 6 egg white omelette sandwich for dinner... when it comes to high calorie foods, I am more inclined to eat half portions of those and bulk up on low Cal foods.


    I know this goes against the: portion the size of your hand, etc etc. How important is portion control? I definitely go over any recommended portion sizes 90% Of the time


    Unlimited portions of water-based veggies. I wouldn't eat that much fruit, as it does contain a lot of sugar. 6 eggwhites is just fine, as all of the cholesterol is in the yolk. Be careful with large amounts of meat, even lean, as it still contains saturated fat that's bad for your heart.

    The big thing with portion control is that Americans are fat because we just eat too much to begin with. Restaurant portions, etc are often enough to feed a family of 4.

    But no one ever got fat from eating too much fruits, veggies, or eggwhites. As long as you are meeting your daily recommendations, I say eat up!
  • savageman69
    savageman69 Posts: 339 Member
    portion size has NO effect on weight loss...all that matters is hitting your macros and coming under your calorie usage in a day
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    I kind of though this - but you see so many people touting portion control as a HUGE deal - I just wondered if there as any negative to not doing it that I hadn't thought of.

    sounds like I'm golden :) and happily full 95% of the time :)
  • maricash
    maricash Posts: 280 Member
    In my case it's been the only thing that has worked, by which I mean that it is the only thing that has kept me within my calorie goals for the day and led to real weight loss. But, if what you are doing is working for you, than I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep doing what you're doing.
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
    Portion control only matters insofar as you know you're logging accurately.
  • Jester522
    Jester522 Posts: 392
    portion size has NO effect on weight loss...all that matters is hitting your macros and coming under your calorie usage in a day

    Same goes for meal frequency.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    All that matters is your total calories for the day and enough protein, nothing else matters.
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    The big thing with portion control is that Americans are fat because we just eat too much to begin with. Restaurant portions, etc are often enough to feed a family of 4.

    Sick
  • FoodandFitness
    FoodandFitness Posts: 502 Member
    Eat what you like according to your tolerance and preference. What you add up to at the end of the day is all that matters.
  • justiningham
    justiningham Posts: 139 Member
    I think portion sizes are important...

    The reason being that often the actual size of a portion is much smaller than we think - take a bowl of cereal, if you actually weigh one portion it is tiny, many people have 2-3 portion plus the added milk for those portions. The problem comes if you record that as 1 portion (not 3) and only record the calories and macros for the 1 portion. If you record it as 3 then it is not a problem as long as it fits in with you daily/weekly allowance.

    This I believe is the same for any food and portion size - as long as it is recorded correctly its not an issue.
  • Arilysal
    Arilysal Posts: 46 Member
    In Malaysia we have TGIF restaurants, when they first started one plate could feed a family of four. Now they have to downsize it because most Malaysians cant finished it or share it with the other family members, not exactly a money making formula to have large portion. XD

    Also, our McDonald portions are PATHETIC. Child-size to the Americans, yet its still making us fat.
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    In Malaysia we have TGIF restaurants, when they first started one plate could feed a family of four. Now they have to downsize it because most Malaysians cant finished it or share it with the other family members, not exactly a money making formula to have large portion. XD

    Also, our McDonald portions are PATHETIC. Child-size to the Americans, yet its still making us fat.

    This is interesting and worth considering. I know portion control played a huge role when my food choices were poor, I.e., many pieces of pizza instead of one. I think it would be good for me long term, to learn to scale back my portions to avoid any relapse in future. All part of changing my lifestyle slowly over time. I will definitely keep this in mind. For right now, though, it is a good way (larger portions of veggies, lean meats and sometimes fruits)to keep hunger at bay while I work towards my goals.


    Thank you to everyone who replied! I do log everything, and weigh or measure everything that is not already portioned out, so I know what I am eating. :-)

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