Portion Control Tips for Body Transformation

Staying in Control With Portion Control
Top 5 Tips to Avoid Overeating

If you have been following your nutrition and progressive training plan for some time and have either failed to lose body fat or your progress has stalled, it is more than likely time to get control of your portion control. Although I believe that counting calories is a tedious, unreliable approach to losing body fat, you can not successfully transform your body if you are overeating- even if you are overeating healthy foods. So assuming you have mastered the first two steps of my “eating hierarchy”- what to eat and when to eat, it is critical to learn how to recognize and stick to eating proper portions for body transformation success.

Before we discuss sticking to proper portions, let’s review portion sizes of our most common food groups. Generally speaking, a protein portion is the size of your palm without fingers. When following a fat loss nutrition plan, it is often advisable to enjoy protein portions that are slightly larger to maintain your muscle and to avoid under eating. A portion of fruit or starchy carbohydrates is about the size of a baseball or your fist. A handful of nuts (approximately 20 nuts) is a portion size. A serving of nut butter or oil is about the size of half of a golf ball or the tips of your thumb. Although you can enjoy unlimited amounts of green vegetables, you want to have at least a handful of cooked vegetables or two handfuls of raw leafy greens with your meals. For anything that comes in a package (which should be very few things in your nutrition program), you can follow what is listed on the package as one serving. Knowing proper portion sizes for each type of food will not help you successfully transform your body unless you actually apply the knowledge. Here are my top five tips for staying in control with portion control.

1. Eat frequently.

Eating every 2-4 hours will keep your energy even and your hunger in check. Going much longer will inevitably render you hungry and indiscriminate at your next meal.

2. Cook and/or store your food in single portion sizes.

Rather than cook an entire meatloaf, make meatloaf muffins. Rather than cooking a sweet potato casserole, make medium sized whole baked sweet potatoes. This approach makes it easier to stop after one portion because each portion will be a distinct piece of food rather than some of a much bigger amount. Take this approach a step further by storing your pre-cooked meals in single serving Tupperware dishes as well to avoid the temptation to grab more than a serving when the hunger hits.

3. Fill up with fiber and water.

Even when you know what should be one portion, it can be hard to stop at just one when your stomach feels empty after your meal. To fill in the gaps, be sure to eat vegetables with each meal, select higher fiber (at least 3 grams per serving) carbohydrate choices, and drink water before, during, and after your meal.

4. Eat slowly and with awareness.

Close the laptop, turn off the television and be in the moment when you eat. Take your time eating your food so that you can realize that you are full and stop eating before you feel stuffed.

5. When the meal is over- move on.

Rather than linger at the table or in the kitchen, move on to another activity when you are done eating. If for some reason, you can’t leave the area, remove your plate to signal the end of the meal and get a glass of water or unsweetened green tea to fill up more space in your stomach so that you aren’t tempted to go back for seconds or to munch on other snacks after your meal.

In summary, controlling your portions is as much about developing helpful dining habits as it is about nutrition knowledge. Practice these habits and you will be controlling your intake to drop body fat and tighten up in no time. Although the last two tips may seem insignificant, I have personally increased my nutrition compliance greatly by implementing these habits.