Resized portions will seem small only if they're not satisfying. By favoring satiating foods, you can feel full from smaller servings. Focus on fiber. Simply choosing foods that are rich in fiber can help fill you up. Think of how you feel after 1 cup of oatmeal vs. the same-sized serving of cornflakes.

In one study, increasing fiber intake to at least 30 grams per day for 12 months helped adults who were at risk for type 2 diabetes lose almost as much weight as people who followed a more complicated diet that specified exactly how many servings of carbs, vegetables, and protein to consume.

They also lowered their blood pressure, and improved insulin resistance and fasting blood insulin levels. Fiber-rich choices include beans, fruits, vegetables , and whole grains.

Curb your appetite. Take the edge off your hunger with a healthy appetizer ; that will help you limit yourself to that 1-cup serving of cooked pasta.

A salad before or during the meal helped people eat 11 percent fewer calories overall, in a study in the journal Appetite.

In another study, starting a meal with soup can cut calorie intake by up to 20 percent. But stick to a lower-calorie broth-based soup like minestrone or chicken and check sodium because soups often contain lots of it. Take smaller bites. That can help you keep portions in check. For example, research from the Netherlands found that people who took tinier sips of tomato soup ate about 30 percent less than those who gulped it.

The researchers said that the finding applies to solid food, too. Supersize the salad. It's difficult to find fault with a heaping bowl of raw vegetables. So in addition to the standard lettuce , tomato, and cucumbers, add asparagus, beets, green beans, or whatever vegetables you like. Watch out for the extras, though—cheese, croutons, wonton noodles, and, of course, dressing can catapult a salad's calorie count into double-cheeseburger range.

At a salad bar? Measure out the extras. If you're at a restaurant, get the dressing on the side so that you can control how much you put on, Young says. Or just ask for balsamic vinegar plus a little olive oil splashed on top.

Eat veggies family-style. Measure out carbs such as potatoes and protein such as steak to control portions of higher-calorie foods. But put vegetable side dishes on the table so that people can help themselves to abundant servings of those filling, low-calorie foods.

Cornell University researchers found that people eat more of foods that are right in front of them. In the case of fiber-rich, low-calorie produce, you might fill up on fewer calories.

Increase portions with produce. Not sure a half-cup serving of cooked rice will fill you up? Round it out with vegetables. For example, add 1 cup of chopped fresh spinach per serving of rice for a bulked-up but not weighed-down side dish.

Mix the spinach into the hot rice as it finishes cooking, stir, and cover the pot for 1 minute. After the heat wilts the greens, stir again before serving. You get a bigger portion—and an extra serving of nutrient-packed veggies.

Editor's note: This article also appeared in the March issue of Consumer Reports On Health. Rachel Meltzer Warren, M. The Truth About Portion Control.

Train your brain so that you'll feel satisfied on fewer calories. By Rachel Meltzer Warren. After a while, you may not need to measure everything. Summary Using measuring equipment can help increase awareness of portion sizes and correctly assess how much food is normally eaten.

Research suggests that people are often surprised at how much food they eat 3 , In weight-loss studies, those who kept a food diary tended to lose more weight overall This likely occurred because they became more aware of what they ate — including their unhealthy choices — and adjusted their diet accordingly.

Summary Jotting down your total calorie intake can increase awareness of what you consume. This can motivate you to make healthier choices and reduce your chances of overeating. Unwanted weight gain may start with large portion sizes. However, there are many practical steps you can take to control portions.

These simple changes have proven successful in reducing portions without compromising on taste or feelings of fullness. For example, measuring your food, using smaller dishes, drinking water prior to meals and eating slowly can all reduce your risk of overeating. At the end of the day, portion control is a quick fix that improves your quality of life and may prevent binging.

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. Some diets are more radical than others, but all have the same goal: to expedite and maintain weight loss. Read on to learn about calorie and carb….

Calories matter, but counting them is not at all necessary to lose weight. Here are 7 scientifically proven ways to lose fat on "autopilot. Although breaking the cycle of overeating can be challenging, there are ways to overcome it. Here are 23 ways to stop overeating. Saying that obesity is only a matter of willpower is nonsense.

There are many factors involved, both internal and external, that affect our eating…. For beginners and even experts, meal prepping can seem like a chore. Instead of letting that deter you, learn how this nutritionist and registered….

Here are 14 better-for-you swaps for some popular favorites. While they're not typically able to prescribe, nutritionists can still benefits your overall health.

Let's look at benefits, limitations, and more. A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic? How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Nutrition Evidence Based 9 Tips to Measure and Control Portion Sizes.

By Mary Jane Brown, PhD, RD UK on November 19, Share on Pinterest. Use Smaller Dinnerware. Use Your Plate as a Portion Guide.

Use Your Hands as a Serving Guide. Ask for a Half Portion When Eating Out. Start All Meals With a Glass of Water. Take It Slowly. Be Aware of Suitable Serving Size.

Use a Food Diary. The Bottom Line. How we reviewed this article: History. Nov 19, Written By Mary Jane Brown. Share this article. Read this next. Calorie vs.

Carb Counting: Pros and Cons. Medically reviewed by Katherine Marengo LDN, R. By Kris Gunnars, BSc. By Jillian Kubala, MS, RD. How to Become a Meal-Prep Master — Tips from a Nutritionist For beginners and even experts, meal prepping can seem like a chore.

These giant portions warp our perception of how much we should eat, she argues in a new book, Finally Full, Finally Slim. And our actual dinnerware has gotten bigger over time as well, she says. Young, like many others in nutritional science, is a critic of fad diets.

Thomas agreed that super-sized restaurant meals have the power to distort our thinking around how much food we need. But the portion control movement is just more of the same, she argues.

Both interfere with our internal cues about how much we need to eat, which may fluctuate on a daily basis. A central, and problematic, aspect of portion control is the nutrition labels on packaged food.

The Economist found that calorie counts on labels were off by an average of 8 percent, and that frozen foods can understate calorie content by up to 70 percent. The way portion sizes are calculated for labels is also impossibly confusing.

In , the US Food and Drug Administration unveiled new food labeling requirements , including updated larger portion sizes. Many consumers believe these portions to be suggested serving sizes, which they are not. As the FDA explains :. By law, serving sizes must be based on amounts of foods and beverages that people are actually eating, not what they should be eating.

How much people eat and drink has changed since the previous serving size requirements were published in The reference amount used to set a serving of soda is changing from 8 ounces to 12 ounces.

They have more like a cup-and-a-half. Another problem with portion control is the movement can be co-opted to deflect the pressure on food companies to mass-produce healthier foods. The National Consumer League is leading a campaign to emphasize portion size in the next set of dietary guidelines, which the US Department of Agriculture adjusts every five years and is slated for an update in By the same token, it may be perfectly fine to eat more than one portion of a food, depending on what that food is and your nutritional needs.

Portion control pits us against ourselves by making external rules—plate size, numbers on a label—the arbiter of our appetites rather than our actual hunger.

Instead of starting with a granola base, fill your cup with yogurt and then sprinkle just a tiny amount of granola on top for the crunch you crave.

The same principles apply to your other meals, too. First, load up your plate with veggies and a serving of lean protein. Then, add a quarter cup of brown rice or your carbohydrate of choice.

For example, dim lights and listening to relaxing music set the tone for a more leisurely meal. Remember to chew slowly, put your fork down between bites, and sip water to make your meal last longer. Another way to slow down your eating speed includes trying foods that require shelling, peeling, or individual unwrapping, Blatner suggested.

Oranges, edamame, and pistachios in their shells are healthy options. When you sit down with a bag of chips, you may not pay attention to how much you are eating. According to a Nutrients article, people eating snacks from smaller containers ate less compared to people eating from larger packages.

This could have happened because people are unaware of serving sizes when eating from the larger package. A smaller container serves as a visual cue for when people have eaten a full portion. You can apply this logic to snacks, too.

If you buy a bag of pretzels or tin of nuts that contains 10 servings, divide the contents into 10 smaller containers ahead of time. Before you dig in to your entrée, have some soup. Though it may seem counterintuitive to add more to your meal, consuming soup could make you feel fuller, similar to water.

Additionally, according to a Obesity Reviews article, harder and more solid textures can help people feel more full. Chunky or viscous soups may be particularly helpful in making you feel sated. To help you feel full, Young recommended trying a broth-based soup, preferably with veggies for natural fiber.

In a study published in PLoS One , researchers observed people at two separate breakfast buffet lines that featured the same seven items: cheesy eggs, potatoes, bacon, cinnamon rolls, low-fat granola, low-fat yogurt, and fruit.

One line presented the foods from healthiest to least healthy, while the other line had the order reversed. You can portion the kinds of foods you eat more carefully if you know what is available. Take a stroll around the buffet or dinner table before you serve yourself, Young suggested.

You can have alcohol or a soft drink with your meal, but keep it to one glass and enjoy it slowly, Young suggested. According to a Scientific Reports article, people drank slower and less from glasses that were straight-edged, compared to outward-sloped.

The American Heart Association AHA recommends that you limit your consumption of sugary beverages and just one ounce can of regular soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar—a full four teaspoons more than what's recommended for women per day, or one extra teaspoon for men.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans , adult women should limit themselves to one drink and adult men two drinks 12 ounces of beer; 5 ounces of wine or less in a day. Turn off the TV, stop working, and put your smartphone away while you eat.

Per a Frontiers in Psychology article, people ate more calories if they used their phones during their meals. Also, consider avoiding using your lunch break to work if you can—a Nutrients article also found that people felt less sated if they ate while working at a computer.

One tip nutritionist Cynthia Sass, MPH , likes to use is easy, memorable visual cues for healthy awareness of how much of a food you should be eating. A thumb, from where it bends to the tip, is a typical-sized portion for olive oil. A deck of cards in thickness and width is a typical-sized portion of fish, and a tennis ball is a typical-sized portion of fresh fruit," Sass told Health.

Many people have expect to eat some type of dessert at the end of a meal, Blatner said. Blatner recommended brewing a flavorful decaf tea like peppermint, cinnamon, chocolate, or a fruity variety to satisfy that expectation.

Or, reach for a bowl of fruit or small sweet potato topped with cinnamon and peanut butter. Use limited data to select advertising.

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This article further explains portion control. It also provides 12 tips on how to use it for weight loss. Portion control is when a person manages and controls the amount of food they eat during meals.

They determine and select a certain amount of food for each meal to control their caloric intake. This can help them to reach or maintain a moderate weight. The number of daily calories needed for weight loss varies with each person.

It depends on factors such as:. People need a certain amount of calories daily to provide their bodies with energy for:. There are several methods to plan caloric intake for portion control.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases NIDDK provides several resources. People may wish to speak with a healthcare professional to determine a medically recommended weight. They can also help recommend an eating plan before a person makes significant diet changes.

People can use smaller plates to help manage how much they eat. Standard portion sizes look larger on a smaller plate. This can help people avoid feeling dissatisfied and prevent overloading their plate. A review looked into past research into the effectiveness of different portion control tools.

However, they also recommended further investigation. Most portion control plates designate how much of the plate a person should fill with each type of food:.

A review looked at the use of portion control plates. They found most research indicates that using such a portion control plate is effective in helping people change their portion size. Measuring cups can help people gauge specific amounts to eat. Although individuals can buy cups designed for portion control, they do not necessarily require them.

People can use any cup, mug, or container that measures a specific amount as part of a portion control plan. Different products have different serving sizes. Labels may list serving sizes as cups, grams, ounces, slices, pieces, or numbers. The recommended label serving size may differ from the size a person should eat for portion control.

This is because the recommended serving size may not reflect the amount of calories a person needs to eat. For example, one serving may be equal to calories.

An individual may need to eat more or less than that to meet their caloric intake. If a person has questions about serving sizes and portion sizes, they can speak with a dietitian. The British Heart Foundation recommends a person wait 20 minutes before returning for a second portion of a meal.

This can be an important part of portion control, as an individual may feel like they want or need more food when their body is actually still processing what they just ate.

Keep in mind that it can take a little while for the body to feel full after eating. This is why it can be important to wait for some time, such as 20 minutes, before continuing to eat more.

Adding extra carbs can double the portion of this type of food. If an individual feels they would like something extra on the side, such as bread, they should reduce the serving of carbs already on their plate.

Research, such as this review , has found that the ideal portion of carbohydrates in a meal would be about a quarter of what is on the plate. People may be able to measure out portion size using their hands.

One example is measuring out food relative to parts of their hand:. When eating out, people should avoid larger or supersized portions. Individuals may find that portion control and weight loss are easier without extra food already on their plates. This means a person can refuse the bread basket on the table.

They can also consider whether they really want or need the french fries with their burger. Requesting to remove certain items can make it easier for a person to manage their portion and not eat more than what they need to. An individual can ask for half of their meal as takeout before they begin eating.

They may even wish to share a meal with someone else to reduce the portion size. According to the NIDDK, this may take at least 15 minutes. It found that the people in the group with the slower eating rate felt fuller after a meal.

One small study investigated the effect of drinking water before a meal. It showed that a glass of water before eating can help people feel fuller despite eating less.

This study, conducted on young adults without obesity, found that drinking water before a meal may be an effective weight loss strategy, as it may cause people to eat less. However, it also states that the exact mechanism of this is currently unknown.

Keeping a food diary or tracker app can help people be aware of how much food they consume. This can, in turn, help manage their food portions.

It is important that a person is completely honest in their food diary. It is the only way for them to truly see what and how much they are consuming. When keeping a food diary, they can consider tracking the following :.

Taking one serving from its container and eating it off a plate can help people manage portion size. It can also help to either put the container away or move away from it to eat the served portion.

Visualizing how much food a person eats can be an important part of portion control. It can also help them acknowledge the exact amount they need to eat to feel full. People can lose belly fat with weight loss through diet and exercise.

Portion control can be an effective strategy for weight loss, as well as for a person to be able to maintain a moderate weight. A review showed that portion control plates can help reduce portion size. However, they cautioned that there is little research into how people actually consume the portions.

Focus on fiber. Simply choosing foods that are rich in fiber can help fill you up. Think of how you feel after 1 cup of oatmeal vs. the same-sized serving of cornflakes. In one study, increasing fiber intake to at least 30 grams per day for 12 months helped adults who were at risk for type 2 diabetes lose almost as much weight as people who followed a more complicated diet that specified exactly how many servings of carbs, vegetables, and protein to consume.

They also lowered their blood pressure, and improved insulin resistance and fasting blood insulin levels. Fiber-rich choices include beans, fruits, vegetables , and whole grains. Curb your appetite. Take the edge off your hunger with a healthy appetizer ; that will help you limit yourself to that 1-cup serving of cooked pasta.

A salad before or during the meal helped people eat 11 percent fewer calories overall, in a study in the journal Appetite. In another study, starting a meal with soup can cut calorie intake by up to 20 percent.

But stick to a lower-calorie broth-based soup like minestrone or chicken and check sodium because soups often contain lots of it. Take smaller bites. That can help you keep portions in check. For example, research from the Netherlands found that people who took tinier sips of tomato soup ate about 30 percent less than those who gulped it.

The researchers said that the finding applies to solid food, too. Supersize the salad. It's difficult to find fault with a heaping bowl of raw vegetables. So in addition to the standard lettuce , tomato, and cucumbers, add asparagus, beets, green beans, or whatever vegetables you like.

Watch out for the extras, though—cheese, croutons, wonton noodles, and, of course, dressing can catapult a salad's calorie count into double-cheeseburger range. At a salad bar? Measure out the extras. If you're at a restaurant, get the dressing on the side so that you can control how much you put on, Young says.

Or just ask for balsamic vinegar plus a little olive oil splashed on top. Eat veggies family-style. Measure out carbs such as potatoes and protein such as steak to control portions of higher-calorie foods.

But put vegetable side dishes on the table so that people can help themselves to abundant servings of those filling, low-calorie foods.

Cornell University researchers found that people eat more of foods that are right in front of them. In the case of fiber-rich, low-calorie produce, you might fill up on fewer calories.

Increase portions with produce. Not sure a half-cup serving of cooked rice will fill you up? Round it out with vegetables. For example, add 1 cup of chopped fresh spinach per serving of rice for a bulked-up but not weighed-down side dish. Mix the spinach into the hot rice as it finishes cooking, stir, and cover the pot for 1 minute.

After the heat wilts the greens, stir again before serving. You get a bigger portion—and an extra serving of nutrient-packed veggies. Editor's note: This article also appeared in the March issue of Consumer Reports On Health. Rachel Meltzer Warren, M. The Truth About Portion Control. Train your brain so that you'll feel satisfied on fewer calories.

By Rachel Meltzer Warren. Last updated: January 22, Sharing is Nice Yes, send me a copy of this email.