Hey everybody!  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  This post is all about portion control! 

This is an important concept for weight loss and for overall weight management.  It’s easier to know how much to cut back (if you’re looking to lose) or how much to eat (if you’re looking to gain or maintain) when you understand the concept of portion control.  So I’m going to share some tips that have helped me become more aware of what I eat and how much I eat, which in turn has helped me lose and maintain weight.  Hopefully they’ll help you too!

Tip #1: drink water before and during your meals

As I’m sure you know, water is a major component of our physical makeup, and it’s also great for flushing out toxins, improving your complexion, relieving fatigue, the list goes on (look for a post on this in the future!).  But water is also good for portion control because it fills you up!  If you drink a glass of water before a meal, you’ll be less likely to overeat simply because you won’t have the room for extra food.  Drinking water during your meal will also have the same effect, and aid in the digestion process.

Tip #2: watch the size of your plate

The bigger your plate, the more likely you are to fill it up.  It’s difficult to recognize how much you eat when you use a large plate or bowl.  Use a smaller plate so that you can keep track of how much you're eating, and so that you can "clean your plate" and not feel guilty afterwards!  If you're really in need of an "accountability partner" of sorts, check out these affordable portion control plates here.

Tip #3: enjoy your food

In order to really savor your food, you should eat slowly.  Have you ever eaten a meal and failed to notice until afterwards that you were stuffed and should've stopped eating long before you did?  That’s because your mind moves a lot slower than your mouth does.  By taking your time eating, you give your stomach more time to send a signal to your brain that you’re full, which will decrease your chances of overeating.

Tip #4: the 20-minute rule

Now if you skipped tip #3 and inhaled your food, you may notice that you still feel hungry at first.  So give your brain some time.  Research shows that it takes the brain about 20 minutes to recognize when you’re full.  So if you wait 20 minutes after you finish plate #1 and you’re still hungry, then you can go for seconds.

Tip #5: don’t eat out of the bag

This tip is more for snacks than meals.  Don’t eat your snacks directly out of the bag, especially if you buy "family size" bags!  Take a small portion out of the bag and put it in a napkin, paper towel, or small plate.  It’s more difficult to keep track of how much you’re eating when you’re eating from a “bottomless pit”.

Tip #6: keep a food diary

I have found this to be very useful for me!  I’ve used the MyFitnessPal app in the past, which is a free calorie counter and diet and exercise journal, accessible via the App Store for Apple products and Google Play for androids, and it's awesome, but I do better with handwriting stuff like this.  So if you’re more of a paper and pencil kinda person like me, you can also buy a physical journal or planner to keep track of what you eat.  You really don’t realize how much you eat until you write it down!  Check out this super simple and affordable food journal I found here.  If you're into keeping your planner and food/diet journal all in one place like I am, check out The Happy Planner at your local Michaels or on Amazon!

And that’s it!  Lots of little changes that you can make to help you become more aware of what you eat and how much you eat in hopes of adopting a healthier lifestyle.  I hope you found this useful!  If you have portion control tips that you think others may find useful, feel free to leave them in the comments!  Sharing is caring :)

As always, thanks for journeying with me.