Portion Control

Portion sizes are a key to healthy eating. Here are a few ideas to help right size your portions.

1. Use smaller dishes. By switching to a salad plate rather than a dinner plate you can fill the whole plate and consume substantially fewer calories. This is a good tip for those of us who feel the need to eat everything on our plates. The same holds true for glasses, bowls, etc.

2. Pre-portion foods. Rather than eating straight out of a bag of chips, candy, or anything else for that matter, count out the allotted amount in a single serving and place in a bowl or plastic bag. This is usually a good step for me as I realize how many calories I am wasting on a food that will not fill me up. Take this one step further and pre-portion all of the servings in the entire bag and have ready-made snack bags to prevent grabbing random handfuls.

3. Muffin tins. Use muffin tins to portion items prior to baking. Simply divide into tins and cook for half the recommended bake time. If not quite cooked, continue checking every few minutes. Muffin tins can also be used to freeze smaller portions of soups and sauces for later use. Simply ladle thesauce into the tin. Once frozen transfer to a freezer bag for use as needed.

4. Remove items. Serve food on plates and remove the remaining food from the table. Out of sight, out of mind. The same holds true at restaurants where breadsticks, chips, and other appetizers are constantly being refreshed and refilled; ask to have the item removed and the temptation to continue eating those items will be gone.

5. Eat more healthy choices. Portion control is more than just eating smaller portions; it is eating larger portions of healthy items. Place fresh fruits and vegetables in easy to reach places. Serve larger portions ofthese items with your meals. By eating more healthy foods you will be fuller, leading to fewer unhealthy snacking urges.