Many people gain weight these days because they don't realize just how much they are eating. This can be true even if they glance at the nutrition labels. The reason for this? They don't realize the difference between food portions and food servings. They think that the number of calories they see on the label is the amount in the whole container, which might actually contain two or more servings. Either that or they don't realize that the portion sizes served when people eat out (and sometimes when they eat at home) are way larger than the standards.
Food portions are the amount of foods that you actually serve yourself and eat, while food servings are the standard serving sizes for these foods set by the U.S. government (or the recipes that you might make at home). Eating more than these serving sizes means you are getting more calories than the labels or recipe might say are present "per serving".
Getting your food portions under control can help you to lose weight and eat healthier. If you can do this, then you can concentrate on eating the correct serving sizes of higher calorie and treat foods. You can also pay attention to eating more servings of healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables. This has the added bonus of allowing you to eat more varied and different sorts of vegetables.
One way to do this is to practice measuring all your food before you eat it so that you get used to the way the standard serving size looks. Eventually you will be able to estimate at a glance about how many servings you are eating and you won't have to measure this anymore. Developing this talent is encouraging in itself. Any flair you acquire in this area builds up your confidence in yourself and your sense of control.
It might be worthwhile to mention here that the more you feel in control in any dieting regime the more easily it is to maintain it. You aren't just reading it from a book. YOU are an active protagonist in the process. It becomes YOUR diet and thus so much easier to stick to.
It will be easier to eat healthier once you are familiar with the standard serving sizes and how many are recommended each day. Then you can make smarter decisions about your food portions and will be better able to monitor your total calorie intake over the day.
Eating out can make it difficult to control your portions since restaurants today tend to serve way more than one portion per serving. However, you can undertake a number of different strategies to help with this. You can order a salad and an appetizer as your meal, or you can have half your meal boxed up before you start eating.
Try not to eat any desert unless you know they are truly low calorie. It is always a good idea to finish a meal with fresh fruit, unless your diet specifically forbids it. Fruit is a healthy alternative to restaurant high-calorie sweets and can often assist in the digestion of your meal. And you also get a good feeling for sticking to your diet regime.
Avoid supersizing your meals at fast food restaurants unless you are sharing with someone else, otherwise you will get many more calories than you bargained for. Drink water with a slice of lemon rather than high calorie sodas.
Finally, at the end of the day, when you've been very careful with your portion sizes and you feel satisfied with the progress of your chosen diet, allow yourself the treat of a small glass of chilled white wine. And think to yourself, "Well done".
For more information on healthy weight loss and to receive my valuable report on the secrets of losing weight and staying slim, completely free, please visit http://www.rightweight4u.com
Chris A Clarke is committed to researching and producing informative and up to date articles on all aspects and facets of healthy eating programmes, diet and exercise regimes.
Chris thinks that diets and weight control should not be oppressive, but relaxed and effective. The more you have to struggle with a diet the less likely you are to complete it. The more you enjoy your chosen weight loss regime, the more chance you have of staying with it and the more successful you will be. Please read my other articles and look out for new ones.
If you have any comments or suggestions about this article, or any of my others, please contact me at chrisclarke@rightweight4u.com where I will be delighted to hear from you.
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