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June 11, 2025 By Luke Coutinho 2 Comments

Portion Control: The Right Method To Lose Weight

portion controlThe principles of weight gain and loss remain consistent, regardless of emerging theories on molecular science, blood group diets, fad exercise programmes, or restrictive eating plans. Fundamentally, your body utilises only the amount of food it requires for its functions. Any surplus is stored, potentially leading to fat accumulation.

If you’re extremely hungry and your only option is a slice of pizza, it’s acceptable to eat it. Your body will convert it into the energy it needs. However, consuming multiple slices of pizza, accompanied by a portion of pasta and a dessert, may exceed your body’s immediate energy requirements. This brings us to the importance of controlling our food portions. How much food does our body truly need?

Are We Eating More Than Our Bodies Require? 

Awareness is key. Consuming two to three large portions of bread, rice, or any staple carbohydrate at lunch or dinner might simply be out of habit. This pattern may have been established during your younger, more active years with a faster metabolism.

However, as time progresses, our bodies and their metabolic processes evolve. What if your body now requires just one portion of carbohydrates instead of three? What if a small scoop of ice cream suffices instead of a large serving? What if six small meals a day aren’t necessary? Perhaps you can still enjoy your favourite dessert by sharing it, avoiding feelings of deprivation.

Many individuals consume more than their bodies need, especially given the vast array of culinary delights available. Visually appealing dishes and desserts can stimulate our cravings. And that’s perfectly natural—we all appreciate good food.

The challenge arises when we overindulge, leading our bodies to store the excess energy. An expanding waistline is your body’s way of signalling that you’re consuming more than necessary or not engaging in sufficient physical activity to utilise the surplus energy.

While it may take months or even years for abdominal fat to accumulate, we often seek rapid solutions. This desire for instant results can lead to extreme measures that might harm our bodies. Intense workouts can strain our knees and backs, and drastic diets might result in nutrient deficiencies.

Portion control is a challenging yet effective method to lose weight and maintain it. It’s a sustainable lifestyle change that can combat the obesity epidemic. We all face challenges with food, but portion control offers a balanced approach to enjoying our favourite dishes while being kind to our bodies.

Why Do We Need Portion Control? 

The UK market offers various portion control plates designed to guide individuals in serving appropriate food quantities without feeling deprived. These tools can educate both adults and children about suitable portion sizes, fostering a culture of balanced eating.

For instance, the Healthy Portion Plate by Diabetes UK provides a visual guide to balanced eating and is available for purchase online.

By using such plates, families can instil healthy eating habits, ensuring meals are balanced with the right proportions of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vegetables.

Personally, I experimented with a portion control plate for a month. Initially, the servings seemed small, but I soon realised I had been overeating. Starting with a one-cup portion and eventually reducing to half a cup at dinner, I adapted to the change. Now, I consume less and don’t feel hungry afterward.

This approach surpasses the efficacy of weight loss pills, which often prove ineffective. It teaches you to eat appropriately, promoting a sustainable lifestyle shift. Once accustomed to portion control, you’ll naturally apply the same principles when dining out.

Embracing this simple yet effective tool can transform your eating habits and assist in weight management. Moreover, it ensures a balanced intake of essential nutrients.

We hope this article on portion control proves beneficial! To delve deeper into portion control, explore our Healthy Reads or consult a GOQii Coach by subscribing to Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce 

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general awareness and educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personalised medical guidance or concerns related to your health. Images shown are for representation purposes only and may not depict the exact recommendations or outcomes.

June 15, 2024 By Geetika Patni 7 Comments

Mindful eating: Control portions and be wise! – Part 3


portion-control-plate

In my previous two blogs, I discussed the concept of Mindful Eating and the harmful effects of Mindless Eating. In my second blog, I explained why eating slowly is crucial to enjoy your meal fully (check it out here). Today, continuing this 5-part series on Mindful Eating, I will take you through portion control and why it is a must.

Appetite is complex and dieting is a challenge.

With every passing year, it gets more harrowing. We end up blaming the food industry, which has, over the years, increased portions per package and per serving size by whopping 2-7 times than the recommended value. Most of these take-away food products and dishes don’t fit in a healthy eating plan.

Mindful eating is the key to fix this chaos. When we can’t change anyone else (i.e. food industry), we can still change ourselves.

The art of being in present when you are eating your food is termed as Mindful Eating. Eating mindfully has tremendous benefits – you really learn to taste food and realize your real favourites and dislike, thus knowing what foods best fuel your exercise, work and leisure. If you enjoy eating or your food experience, you tend to enjoy life better. The by-product of this mindfulness is also a healthy weight loss and maintenance, and even the reversal of lifestyle disorders.

Among the many advantages of this healthy practice, my favourite one is learning to eat when hungry and stop when full, avoiding overeating at any given time. I have maintained my weight for years by effectively practicing portion control.

This is difficult, yet the easiest way to lose weight, keep it off, and moreover, it’s a lifestyle change – something that can change this whole obesity epidemic. We all struggle with food. This may be the solution to eating our favourite food, yet controlling the portions and being fair to our bodies.

portion-control-1

Portion control is easily achieved when you slow down your pace of eating. When you eat slowly, you become aware of when your stomach gets full and you also know how much to serve yourself and when to stop. Portion size and eating speed can be well explained through the famous ‘French Paradox’ which says that despite high intake of calorie-rich and fatty foods in France as compared to the US, the incidence of heart disease and overweight is relatively low in France.

It is well-documented fact that the French eat much slower than the Americans, thus ending up taking smaller portions. Sensible eating, therefore, works miraculously for the weight-watchers.

In this blog, I am sharing some good tricks and hacks that will help you prevent overeating and eliminate the need to diet ever.

When you first go through the list, pick up only 2 tasks which you can practice as your healthy habits. As you succeed, take up new ones gradually and implement them consistently to build in mindful eating approach for life.

portion-control1

Here’s how to practice portion control- 

      A) At home or for your regular eating

  1. Replace your food plates with smaller plates or use a side plate as your main plate. The food portion has grown bigger, and by choosing a small plate (law of size-metrics), you will reduce your consumption.
  1. Serve backwards – visualize your plate has 2 compartments. First fill up one half of it with veggies, both raw and cooked, and then serve other half of your plate with a portion of proteins (dal/curd) and carbs (rice/roti) combined. Eating veggies make you feel full, so serving it first on your plate and eating in larger portion quickly drives up the fullness quotient.
  1. Sit Down to eat- even if it is a snack. You are making your meal more organized by sitting down when dining, and this habit will prevent on-the-go munching that you may be unknowingly overdoing.
  • Deep breathe before you start your meal. This works as ‘ringing the bell’ –bringing your attention to your next to-do task, which is feeding yourself. Gently inhale through your nose, filling your chest with air, drawing your shoulder upwards, and exhale through your mouth for a little longer. Now take your first bite or sip.
  • Dine! Don’t multitask- Eating while watching TV or while fiddling with your cell phone will distract you from your meal. And distraction will lead to over consumption. Put away all gadgets while eating and you’ll be surprised that going back to your smart phone after 20 minutes is so refreshing. Plus, the added bonus of having a satisfying meal.
  • Have liquid first – A glass of water or a bowl of healthy soup. Starting your meal with fluids will fill up your belly to prevent over eating. It will irrigate the lining of your digestive tract, making your meals easier to flow down, and, probably quench your thirst, which may be the real reason behind your rumbling belly.
  • Eat slowly – to finish a meal in no less than 20 minutes. You may realize you don’t need the second helping if you eat your meals slowly.
  • Get Smart with leftovers – Because no one is judging how clean your plate is. If you are done with dinner, don’t stuff yourself just so that you don’t have to pack up the remaining food. Wrapping up remaining food is a smart way (as leftovers taste better too!) or downsizing your cooking is another idea to prevent over consumption.
  • Snack from a bowl– and not from a bag or box. You may end up eating 50% more if the snack you are having is hidden from your view. Pour a serving in a bowl and then munch.

portion-control

If you buy a bag of trail mix that reads 10 servings, divide the contents of the bag into 10 smaller bags or label it bold – ‘to be finished in 10 attempts’.

  • Out of sight-out of mouth – Keep tempting treats like chips, cookies, candies, and ice creams out of sight – high up in the kitchen cabinet or in the back line of the pantry shelf. Putting a fruit bowl, dark chocolate, dates, and nuts in the front row and within reach easily gets you to practice snacking.
  • Follow IN/OUT rule – When at home, the rule is to eat nutritious, balanced, and wholesome meals, avoiding all treats (White Sugar/breads/pasta/creamy desserts, and fried foods). When outside treat yourself to your favourite delicacies (but in moderation, lest you slip down the slope). This way you will be able to eat super healthy most of the time, and the occasional indulgences will soothe your soul.

Here are few suggestions to practice portion control outside home

When dining out –

  • Plan Ahead – Right when you start from home, put up a portion in head- “I’ll have only 2 glass of wine today”, “I’ll eat only 1 plate of pasta tonight”. When a plan is there, you only need to work on your determination during the action, so it makes sense to make a quick portion note prior to stepping out.
  • Survey the spread first (or read menu carefully) – By getting a sense of what are the foods available, you avoid heaping on excess of usual offerings because you didn’t realize earlier that the ‘can’t miss items’ were at the end of the line. So make your plate with intention and eat only what you really want to eat.
  • Order to serve your salad or soup first and entrée only after the appetizers are done with. A lot of food on the table and in sight will promote over eating.
  • Split and Share –the entrée with your dining partner. If eating alone, try doubling up your appetizer and skipping the main course altogether.
  • Indulge wisely – If you intend to end your meal with drinks or dessert, eat only half of your capability. Yes, it’s your treat meal! But a firm moderation now will prevent you from guilt trip later.
  • Split and share desserts too – or skip them totally and order yourself an unsweetened coffee/hot beverage to end the meal. Some metabolic push there! Plus you can always have a cube of dark chocolate when you reach home.
  • If Ice cream melts you away – Choose inedible dishes- say a cup over a cone, as your ice cream serving dish. Or if a cone gets you carried away, choose a kiddie, regular or sugar cone, as a waffle cone will increase your portion considerably. Avoid toppings or go for fruit based ones.
  • Tall and slim – Research says drinking from tall and slim glasses will cut down the portion of your drink by 20%, and so does avoiding exotic mixed liquor drinks. It’s that easy!
  • If you are travelling – Avoid heading to a restaurant directly. Instead take a pit stop at a fruit vendor first. A healthy snack before a meal will not spoil it, but help you portion mindfully.

Eating in moderation and compensating with a good round (or extra round) of exercising keeps one in balance. Avoid overeating and practice mindfulness – your ideal weight is just this one healthy habit away!

In my fourth blog, I shall talk about emotional eating. Very often, we find ourselves overeating or better to say indulge in mindless eating such as stress eating. Too happy indulge in over eating, too sad again indulge in over eating to feel good. The blog will take you through some pointers on how to avoid stress eating and satisfy your needs with mindfulness.

To be continued…

#BeTheForce

March 19, 2024 By Anuja Mohile 1 Comment

Eat Smart To Live Smart: Mastering Portion Control

the-food-pyramidWhat do you know of portion size and serving size? Often we read a label saying the portion/serving size as “x” amount. But, we are seldom aware of the difference between portion and serving size? You may ask, are they really different? Yes of course! And as a consumer you should be aware of the difference between the two as it may help you in choosing your food items consciously.

What is a serving size?

A serving size is average amounts that assists us in eating or helps us to decide how much to eat or identify how many calories and nutrients are present in that particular amount of food that we eat. For example we buy a packet of noodles weighing 100grams. If you carefully read the label it may say that the serving size is 75 grams only and the nutritive values for the serving will also be provided.

What is a portion size?

Portion size cannot be defined universally. It is the amount we take on our plate. It may vary according to the food we eat at different times. Thus, to continue the example given previously the serving size may be 75 grams but, you cannot really store 25 grams for the next time. So you have the whole pack for yourself. This would be the portion you choose to take on your plate.

Now eating portion size instead of serving size is not entirely wrong. Quite often it may occur that you eat several servings in one portion itself. In fact when we eat out in restaurants their portions may even exceed the servings that are recommended by the food pyramid. Further, new marketing strategies add up. The introduction of large size portions at cheaper price and meal combos or value meals has actually decreased the value of healthy, nutritious and fresh food in the consumer minds.

There are so many fast food chains that offer more food for a very slight increase in cost. Not only in restaurants but also in super markets we choose to buy bulk or opt for various offers like buy one get one free. This is a very natural consumer tendency but buying and further eating products in larger quantities itself is a major reason for gaining weight. It is the easily available large portion sizes that make you eat high fat, sugar, and thereby high calories.

Today, the portion sizes have grown so much that there is enough food for more than two people in a single plate. In fact we opt for restaurants where the dish is big enough. This kind of portion size increase is also taking place at home and is known as portion distortion. The food guide pyramid allows us to understand the different foods that we need to eat based on their nutritive value and also the proportions in which we should consume these on a regular basis.

Based on the food guide pyramid and serving size we can achieve portion control on the foods we eat. Portion control helps us to understand the nutritive value of the portion of the food, thereby how much of it should be consumed. Thus, in order to obtain a balance in the healthy and unhealthy foods that we eat it is extremely important to practice portion control in our daily routine. It helps us to control the quantity as well as the quality.

To conclude here are few tips for a better portion control in our daily life

** While choosing and eating food: Prepare and eat food at home. We tend to eat more portions in restaurants.

** Pack snack items in individual servings.

** Use a small dish which will give less space for food.

** Read labels to understand what a serving looks like. Read the number of serving per packet. Don’t start eating directly from the box. Try serving one serving per plate.

** When eating out, avoid eating supersized meals and other deals that promote overeating

** At restaurants share your meals, if not at least get the extra meal packed instead of finishing it there itself. Split your main dish with your friend. Don’t order separately.

** Prepare daily meals just for the number of people available.

** Don’t cook in bulk especially in case of sweets.

By mastering portion control and making mindful food choices, you can pave the way for a healthier lifestyle and enhance your overall well-being. Remember, it’s not just about what you eat, but also how much. So, eat smart, live smart, and enjoy a balanced and nutritious diet every day. For additional tips on diet and nutrition, explore Healthy Reads or connect with a certified expert through GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here. Start your journey toward a healthier life today!

#BeTheForce

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