Portion Control, how does it work?

If you’ve been told in the past to do portion control, and still don’t know what it means or how to go about it. You’re at the right place.

Knowing the basics of portion control can help you determine how much food you should buy at the grocery store and plan your meals more effectively, minimizing waste, and allowing you to stay fuller for longer.

The idea behind portion control remains, to avoid over indulgence in one sitting, and to determine a balanced way in which you can divide each meal with all the food groups and not be left feeling hungry. It has been recommended that you should have at least 5 meals a day, divided into 3 main meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as two snacks. At NS Neuro Spine we use the online instrument MyPlate, it is an American website, that allows you to evaluate as well as determine the amount of calories you should eat to maintain a healthy bodyweight, and even to lose weight. They also provide a wide variety of recipes and menu plans, that can be used to determine the proper portion control.

Here are a few basic principals of portion control:

1.Serving sizes

Knowing how much 1 serving (1 cup) is equal to is something that MyPlate has given plenty of information about. For example, a half large apple counts as one serving of fruits, so does one small (two and a quarter inches in diameter). If you would like to find out even more about proper serving sizes do not hesitate to contact us.

2. Dish out your servings separately

For each food group, dish out the grains first, then the vegetables, then protein etc. So you can make sure that your dishing is accurate. Making sure that you have enough from each food group.

3. Have a colourful meal

Fruits and vegetables specifically have a wide variety of colours, and with these colours come an array of phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and other constituents that are very beneficial for your health. So make your plate look colourful and exciting, this has also been proven to make your meal more interesting to eat and enjoy.

4. Get portion control dishes

This is a practical and simple way to make sure you have added a wide variety of food groups to your meals. It also spares a lot of time when you are in a rush, rather than taking out measuring cups etc.

5. Pre-prepare your meals

Prep your meals in advance and portion all of your fruits, veg, grains and proteins beforehand. This will save you a lot of time and you will not have to worry about measuring out every time that you eat.

6. Eat only until you are 80% full

Do not overindulge, and this is something that portion control helps with greatly, because you are not overeating but rather making sure that you have enough to sustain you before your next meal. Eating too much can cause lethargy, can make you less productive.

These are only a few small ideas on how to do portion control. To start out with these are the basics, and in the future you will most definitely not have to check serving sizes anymore, it will become second nature.