8 Simple Ways to Control Your Portions
By Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N
, SELF magazine
Q. I have trouble controlling my portion sizes mostly because I eat so fast. Growing up I was always shoving food in my face before a sports practice or a game.How do I slow myself down after years of racing to finish my plate?
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A. You're absolutely right: Eating too fast can definitely lead you to overeat. Recognizing the habit--and how you developed it--seems like a big part of the battle. Now you just need some strategies to help you develop healthy new habits! Here are some ideas--and I bet our readers will have more to add.
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On your mark, get set, pause.
Before you pick up your fork, put your hands in your lap and take a couple of deep breaths.Remind yourself that the meal is an experience to be savored and not a race to the finish.
Pay attention.
This seems obvious but take the time to notice what you're eating. See if you can really taste the ingredients, the seasonings. Observe the texture, the temperature, the flavor. Pretend you're a restaurant critic and will need to describe the meal in minute and colorful detail afterward. Notice what you like and don't like--although if you didn't do the cooking, you might choose to keep your review to yourself!
Finish each bite.
I often catch myself loading up my fork with the next bite before I've even begun to chew, much less taste, the bite that's in my mouth. You can actually put your fork down between bites or simply rest it on the side of the plate but don't make another move until you've swallowed. Have a sip of water or wine. Then think about what you'd like to put on your fork next.
Make each bite smaller.
Cutting the size of each bite in half, and fully savoring each one, will also help slow you down.
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Make meals media-free.
Eating in front of the television or computer screen is a good way to lose track of what you're doing. Call a moratorium on multi-tasking while you're eating.
Out of sight, out of mouth.
Serve yourself an appropriate amount of food and then put the rest away. Leaving serving bowls on the table (or eating out of them) encourages over-eating.
Down-size your dishes.
As Dr. Brian Wansinck, the author of Mindless Eating, points out, the average size of a dinner plate has increased from 9 inches to a whopping 13 inches. When you use larger dishes, you tend to eat more. If you have fashionably oversized china, try serving your meals on the sandwich plates instead of the dinner plate.
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Wait before heading for seconds.
If you finish your plate in under fifteen minutes and you still feel hungry, wait at least five or ten minutes before heading for seconds. Often, the urge for more simply goes away.
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