Losing weight requires several important things – exercising more and watching what you eat. Whether you’re on a specific diet that limits a certain food group, like carbohydrates or sugar, or simply want to eat less overall, you need to measure your food. Understanding portion control, as well as the size of theright portions, will help you meet your weight loss goals.
Thankfully, measuring your food doesn’t require any type of complicated equipment or implements. Instead, simply follow these tips to food measuring success!
Is Measuring Food a Waste of Time?
To put it simply: no, measuring food isn’t a waste of time at all. You need to remember that serving size and portion size are completely different things. For example, if you go to a restaurant, you’re more than likely going to be served a plate with large portions of food on it. The restaurants do this to make it seem as though you’re getting your money’s worth, and you certainly are. However, the food on your plate is a serving size. What you should be eating is the portion size, which is much smaller.
Understanding how to measure your food, even if it’s just a quick estimate, can help you not only eat less but also adhere to your diet. If you’re restricting calories or counting macros, then knowing portion size can help you determine just how many calories or macros are in a specific item, like a piece of chicken or a small pile of green beans. There are many different ways to do this, many of which we’ll go over here.
Using Your Plates
Did you know that the average 10-inch sized dinner plate is far too large? The same is true of those huge bowls that you have in your cupboard. Studies have shown that not only do large plates and bowls make the food look smaller, but they also make it more likely that you eat too much of the serving. Large utensils, like spoons and forks, help with this as well.
In order to keep your portions under control at home, use smaller plates, bowls, and utensils. A plate with an eight-inch diameter will work well, and choose bowls that hold about a cup and a half of things like soup and ice cream. Since you won’t fill them all of the way, you’re more likely to eat just a cup-sized portion of those things. Small utensils, like salad forks and standard soup spoons, prevent that psychological need to eat a lot too.
Also, once you’re using plates and bowls that are the right size, it’s also easy to use them to ensure that you’re following the food pyramid or new food plate. The general rule of thumb is to fill up half of the plate with vegetables of some kind (boiled, steamed, fresh, etc.). One half of the remaining space (one-quarter of the plate, for the record) should consist of your protein, like chicken, pork, beef, or fish, while the remaining quarter is designated for the carbohydrate portion of the meal, such as rice. By following this, you’ll not only keep your portions under control size-wise, but you’ll also follow the food pyramid.
Of course, there are also plates that come with these pre-printed measurements on them and raised areas in the center to make it easier to fill the sections. If you’re worried about adhering to this method of measuring your portions, then a pre-printed plate will be a lifesaver, as will a fitness membership that helps you keep track.
Understanding Portion Sizes
It also helps if you understand what portion sizes should be to begin with. Since going by the serving size on the package (which is usually much larger than your portions should be) is not a great idea, you need to know exactly how much of each item is recommended at every meal, such as:
- Meat – three ounces or 85 grams
- Vegetables – one to two cups or 150 to 300 grams
- Rice and pasta – one-half cup or 75 to 100 grams
- Cooked beans – one-half cup or 90 grams
- Cereal – one cup or 40 grams
- Nut butter – two tablespoons or 16 grams
While you don’t need to eat all of these things at every meal (a plate with meat, beans, and vegetables on it will suffice), it helps to know how much of each food is recommended. Now, understanding them is one thing. Knowing what those portion sizes look like is another.
Estimating Sizes with Comparisons
When it comes to determiningportion size, you have a few choices. Either whip out your food scale and measure everything in grams before it goes onto your plate, physically measure everything out with measuring cups and spoons before you eat it, or find a way to estimate the portion size by comparing it to something else. As you can imagine, not only is this last suggestion the most practical, but it’s also the easiest. After all, how would it look if you whipped out your measuring cups the next time you go to a restaurant? You don’t want to be “that person!”
Luckily, you have two choices when it comes to the comparison model of portion size. Either compare the portion to your hand or to an object that you’re familiar with. Here’s how those methods work:
Comparing Portions to Your Hand
Use either your flat hand or your fist to determine the proper portion size of many different foods, like:
- One cup of vegetables is the size of your fist.
- One three-ounce portion of meat is the size of your flattened palm.
- One-quarter cup of nuts is the same as a small handful.
- One half-cup of pasta or rice is the same as a rounded handful.
The only issue with this is the fact that people’s hands are different sizes, so what looks like a three-ounce portion of fish for one person, based on the size of their palm, may be less than palm-sized on another person. Although this measurement isn’t 100% accurate, it does provide a good estimate for when you sit down to lunch or dinner.
Comparing Portions to Objects
In addition to comparing portions to parts of your hand, it’s also possible to compare them to everyday objects that you’re familiar with, like decks of cards and softballs. Here’s how that works:
- One half-cup of ice cream is the same size as a tennis ball.
- One serving of meat is the same size as a deck of cards.
- One serving of peanut butter (two tablespoons) is the same size as a ping pong ball.
- One-quarter cup of dried fruit is the same size as a golf ball.
Unlike the hand measuring option, this one is a little more reliable because these objects tend to have standard sizes. For the most part, the sizes of a tennis ball, deck of cards, ping pong ball, and golf ball don’t really change.
Controlling Your Portion Sizes
But there’s more! Measuring your food and understanding portion size are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. You also need to know how to control your portion size without measuring anything. Some tips here include:
Don’t Eat Out of the Container
You may be tempted to grab that box of dry cereal or bag of pretzels and start snacking, but this usually leads to eating more than you intended. Unless you specifically count out the number of pretzels or chips that make up a portion and then put the bag or box down, you’ll usually polish off far more than portion size, which won’t help your diet. So, ditch the “grab the bag and go to town” mentality!
Choose Appetizers When Eating Out
Many restaurants have appetizers on the menu that masquerade as standard entrees, only smaller. For example, a smaller grouping of chicken fingers or a half-sized quesadilla can each count as an entrée. All that you need to do is order them instead of a standard meal to ensure that you’relimiting your food intake.
Ask for a Half Portion
Another option, when eating in a restaurant, is to ask for a half portion of a meal. If they can’t do that, then ask for a doggy bag when they bring you your meal. Place half of your food in the container, and just eat the other half. Not only do you then have a meal for later, but you’re also adhering toproper portion sizes. Perfect, right?
Wrapping Things Up
Now that you know that serving size and portion size are two very different things, you’re ready to take on any diet. In order to make sure that you still meet your diet and exercise goals, you need to realize just how big a portion is supposed to be, as well as how much of each meal each portion should consist of. These handy tips should help you keep your portions under control and ensure that you’re eating healthy at the same time. It’s a win-win!
Sources:
Portion Control Diet: How to Measure Correct Portion Sizes | Very Well Fit