One of many strategies we utilize to educate our clients on proper nutrition is portion control. Portion control is a major factor when it comes to reaching your goals with fat loss and habit modification.
Many times people will go over their calorie goals by overeating. Most restaurants serve you 2-3 times a proper portion size and I believe it goes back to the psychology if the plate is full I am getting a good deal. This can cause some problems with overeating and conditioning the body to consume more food.
Portion size matters, research has shown that people consistently eat more food when offered larger sized portions. So portion control is important when you’re trying to lose weight and keep it off.
A simple strategy we use is from Precision Nutrition.
It can be very simple to complete and it works like this:
- The palm of your hand indicates the portion of protein you should consume
- The size of your fist indicates the portion size of veggies
- The cupped had will indicates the portion size for the carbs
- The size of your thumb indicates the portion size for fats
Here’s a quick way to remember: P = Palm = Protein (PP), Fist = Fiber = Veggie, Cupped Hand = Carb (CC) and Thumb = Fat
With women we shoot for the above portion size and for men we would double the portion, so it would be two palm size portions of protein instead of one. This is a simple and effective way to help control overeating.
The next time you are out at a restaurants try to use this technique to help with your urge of over eating. If you would like some more specific nutritional help request a free consult.
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