Trick Your Brain to Love Portion Control

Portion control is arguably the simplest and easiest habit you could adopt as part of a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight, especially soon after you've lost weight. Here's tips to trick your brain into embracing portion control once and for all. 

Portion control is about eating just enough food in order to stay fueled and fuller longer. When we overeat, it leads to irregularity in blood sugar levels. 

Ignore the Plate Size

Small plates do not always equal smaller meals. At the University of Connecticut, researchers presented a group of 162 participants with consistent portions of food on various sized plates. Those who were overweight or obese ate the same amount of food regardless of plate size. The importance is understanding a proper portion size and serving size. Divide your plate into sections and separate food groups by those sections. Start with loading half of your plate with vegetables. Divide the second half into quarters, with protein in one and starches in the other.

Eat with Chopsticks

If you are one of the 1% who happens to be very good at picking up food with chopsticks, then you’ll notice your eating is unhurried compared with fork, spoon or knife meals.  Have you ever tried to get a lot of food in your mouth using chopsticks?  If you have, you would know it’s not possible.  You are forced you to slow down, and take smaller bites of food – giving your stomach time to process what you are eating and getting full. This way you end up eating less over a longer period of time.

You’re eating too much

Eating clean is not the only thing you need to do to lose weight.  Portion control is a big part of this.  If you are eating clean, but eating too much it can be hindering you from reaching your weight loss goals.  In order to lose weight, your body needs to burn more calories than you consume.  This means you can’t eat giant portions and expect great results.  You should be eating slow and when you are hungry.  You should not feel hungry (don’t even think of depriving yourself!), or feel stuffed from over eating.  Balance is key here – so try to just cut the normal portions of what you would regularly eat.

Consume Healthy Carbs

Eating carbs can also help satiate you and keep you from overindulging during meals or the one too common summer barbecue. Carbs (which turn into Glycogen) can signal the brain that the body is full and satisfied. Have a smaller amount of everything, is better than binging on non-carb alternatives.