How to Learn Portion Control

Do you use proper portion control or do you eat every meal as if it is the last meal you will ever eat? Too many of us do, which leads to overeating and being over weight.
Restaurants think they are doing the public a good service by super sizing everything, but in reality they are causing a huge problem. If you don’t want that problem to be your waistline or your butt, you need to learn portion control. Here are a few tips to help you.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. To learn portion sizes, look on the nutrition label on the package. This is what the USDA recommends we consume. Most of us have much larger portions when filling our plates

2. When possible use measuring cups, measuring spoons or scales so you are measuring correctly. When in a restaurant you can estimate servings by using these easy tricks:
   *a 3 ounce piece of meat will be a size of a deck of cards
   *1 cup is the size of a tennis ball
   *1 ounce of cheese the size of a domino.

3. To make mealtime easier, buy in bulk to save money and then repackage in zip-lock bags. By putting pasta, rice, cereal and nuts in single serving baggies will keep you making too much and overeating.

4. After you’ve learned portion sizes of your favorite foods, get out your smallest dishes and measure them. For example, does your soup bowl hold 8 ounces, 12 ounces or 16 ounces? Have you been eating 1, 1 ½ or 2 servings?

Tips & Warnings

• If trying to lose weight avoid buffet restaurants.
• Avoid serving food in family-style method on the table; fill your plate at the stove.
• Eat lot of salad and fresh veggies to fill up the extra space on the plate.

[whiteshoulder]

on 11/12/2009 Great ways to learn portion control...something more people should be concerned about.