News alert: there is no magic secret to weight loss. No pill, waist trainer, or 3-day diet will help you reach your goal of lasting weight loss. The only way to lose weight when it comes down to it is to consume fewer calories than you currently do each day.
Well, what about exercise?
With moderate activity, about 30 minutes of activity a day, you can easily burn some of the calories you've consumed. But, the main thing keeping you from your weight loss goals might be your food portions.
Read on to learn how to reign in your out-of-whack portion sizes so that you can make your weight loss happen for real.
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1. Get Familiar With Portions
One of the main reasons that people overeat is because they are grossly misjudging what a real portion size is. When you learn what a portion should look like, it will be clear why those extra pounds aren’t coming off. You might be eating way more calories than you thought. To help you better gauge your portions here is a simple guide for the portion sizes:
- Vegetables and Salads: A fist-sized portion for women and two fist-sized portions for men (although you can't really have too many veggies!)
- High-Proteins (Meat, Fish, Nuts): A palm-sized portion for women and two palms for men
- High-Carb Foods: One cupped-hand portion for women and two for men — such as whole grains and starchy vegetables
- High-Fat Foods (Butter, Oils, Nuts): One thumb-sized portion for women and two for men
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2. Don’t Eat From The Container
The easiest way to eat more than you planned and stall your weight loss goals is to eat anything directly from its original container (unless it’s fruit). Pour the chips, cookies, popcorn, whatever, into a small bowl so that you only have the amount you need.
Finishing off family-sized chip bags and pints of ice cream is not the way to get to your goals. We all know this, but you can't have too many reminders. For these types of munchies, typically whatever fits into the palm of your hand is the right portion.
The same goes for meals like Chipotle's burrito bowls or even the fries from your favorite fast-food spot. When transferred to an actual human-sized plate, these meals become huge and you can see that you can easily be satisfied with half, or maybe even less. This one change will be a game-changer to your diet and help you get over that hump once and for all.
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3. Use Smaller Plates
It turns out that your dishes can have a big effect on how much you eat. We won't even go into the role that colors can have on your perception of food, but even the size of your plates can help you control your portions a bit better.
This works because you automatically think you are sitting down to a bigger meal when your plate is full. Even if it’s the same amount that barely covered a larger plate. So bring out the appetizer plate for dinner to cut back when you might be tempted to overindulge.
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4. Read Labels and Follow Them
Another way to learn about actual serving sizes is to read the nutrition facts on your food. The real serving sizes are likely smaller than what you think, meaning you could be eating 2-3 times more calories than you know. It’s important to read food labels closely to make sure you’re not consuming much more than you planned.
For instance, bottled sodas and alcoholic beverages often have a single serving size that actually equates to two servings in one can or bottle. So either switch drinks or pour half in a glass and save the rest for another day.
Similarly, almonds are ultra-healthy, but they are very high in fat. Thus, a true serving is just 6 almonds, even though most people eat far more in one sitting. This means your healthy snack could be costing hundreds of extra calories from fat.
5. Drink Water Before Meals
Another way to prevent overindulging is to drink water before your meals. If your stomach is already full of water, you will be less tempted to eat until you’re stuffed past the point of no return. Typically, we eat more than we need because we're eating too fast. Drinking 16 oz of water before meals can give you a helpful reminder to stop before you go too far.
Sharita Jennings is a fitness and travel enthusiast and creator of Get Fit Like That, LLC. She is a health policy attorney and ACE certified group fitness instructor and fitness nutrition specialist. She provides online fitness plans and leads group fitness classes in Washington DC. Check out her fitness tips and workouts at GetFitLikeThat.com.
