Portion Control

At Health First Group, we believe that portion control plays a vital role in weight management. Below Stephanie Blackwell discusses?5 simple tips?that you can follow to ensure you are following the correct weight method steps.

Tip #1 Understand what it looks like

The first step to understanding portion control is getting a handle on what a nutritionally complete plate looks like- half a plate of non-starchy veg (basically all veg except corn, potato, turnips/parsnips), one-quarter of the plate smart carbohydrates (whole grains including brown rice, brown pasta etc) and one quarter of the plate lean protein.

Tip #2 Familiarise yourself with?Australian Healthy Eating Guidelines

Become familiar with the Australian Healthy Eating Guidelines, and learn to visualise what one serve is of each core food group. Your hands can be a good measurement tool (see picture below). Correct serving sizes, especially of your smart carbohydrates, will prove pivotal to weight loss/maintenance. You can try serving your smart carbs last when dishing up, this can help avoid serving a larger serve as there should not be too much space left on your plate.

Tip #3 Try different strategies

Mindful eating strategies are also helpful with portion control. Do you know it takes around 20 minutes for the food in your mouth to reach your stomach? Serve your food on a smaller plate and eat your meals in a non-distracting environment. If cooking in bulk, serve your meal plus your leftovers and put your leftovers away. Another good strategy is to serve up your vegetables first, followed by your protein and then by your smart carbohydrate, this method means there is less room on the plate to over serve the carbohydrate portion, which are usually the hardest to control. It’s important to spend time trying to get in touch with your hunger and satiety cues to avoid overeating.

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