The Handy Guide to Portion Control for Weight Loss + Healthy Living

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Super-sized meals with king-sized portions have become the norm. Here’s how to portion control to keep the pounds off.

Food portions have doubled in the last few years, with modern portion sizes of popular foods packing in an extra 50 to 150 calories per meal.

So, it’s no surprise that most people find it extremely difficult to lose or maintain their weight unless they have a clear understanding of portions. To cut through the confusion and get your portion control back on track, keep reading. You’ll discover the crucial difference between a portion and a serving size, as well as handy tips to know exactly how much you’re eating.

In essence, portion distortion refers to the phenomenon that causes us to believe that super-sized portions of food constitute normal meal sizes. We’ve gotten so used to eating large portion sizes that when we do eat a nutritionally proper serving, we feel like we are barely eating anything at all.

This distorted view of portion size can easily lead to overeating and rapid weight gain as we’re consuming way more calories than necessary.

Now, considering that many portion sizes have doubled or even tripled since the 1980s – which would mean just a couple of these meals every day could send you way above an extra 100 calories per day – at the end of the year, how much will you have gained?

To put this into perspective, you might think that an extra 100 calories a day from a larger portion size might seem insignificant, but those extra calories can add up to 10 extra pounds a year.

Here are some examples (yes, we shouldn’t be eating any of these items since they’re not Paleo, but they are good for comparison):

• A serving of french fries in the 1980s was 210 calories; today it is 610 calories.
• A slice of pizza in the 1980s was 500 calories; today it’s 800 calories.
• A turkey sandwich in the 1980s was 320 calories; today it’s 820 calories.

Portion Size vs. Serving Size: The Important Difference

It’s easy to assume that one portion of a certain food you eat (say, a sweet potato), is equal to a serving size of that particular food. However, this isn’t the case.

A portion of a specific food is the amount you choose to eat for a meal. For instance, you may eat one and a half sweet potatoes as a portion, but that portion will vary based on the size of the sweet potato.

A serving size of food is a measured amount of that food, so it’s consistent every time. For example, one cup of cubed sweet potato.

When people believe portions and serving sizes are the same, they eat a whole bag of chips thinking it’s only one “portion”, when in fact, it contains three servings or 300 calories.

Many foods come packaged as a single portion but actually contain multiple servings. What looks like a three-ounce bag of potato chips (one portion), may contain three actual servings of chips.

Why is this distinction important? Because, when people believe portions and serving sizes are the same, they eat a whole bag of chips or drink a whole bottle of juice thinking it’s only one “portion”, and therefore contains only one “serving” of 100 calories, when in fact, it contains three servings or 300 calories.

This confusion can easily lead to overdoing it on calories, sugars, and carbs, leading to blood sugar spikes and weight gain.

6 Tips for Controlling Portion Sizes (Plus the Ultimate Handy Bonus Trick)

1. Read labels like a hawk

Get into the habit of reading the labels on all of the foods you’re eating. Snagged a bag of plantain chips? Make sure that when you see that one serving has, for example, 160 calories that there is only one serving in the bag.

2. Repackage foods containing more than one serving

When you purchase foods that have multiple servings, make sure to individually repackage them in recyclable bags or containers as one serving size. This helps keep the tendency to carry on snacking through the bag in check and also helps you to visualize a single serving size.

3. Be mindful at restaurants

Typically, portion sizes in restaurants are larger than average. This can easily lead to consuming an abundance of calories, even when you think you’re choosing something healthy.

A good way to portion control in this situation is to ask how many ounces of meat are in a dish (3 to 4 ounces equals one serving). You can also get into the habit of eating half and saving the rest for later.

4. Use smaller plates

When you’re cooking at home, plate your meals on small dishes. This is mostly psychological: The smaller your plate, the more “full” it looks with food on it.

Studies show that doubling your plate size can actually increase the amount of food you consume by a whopping 41 percent, so this portion control technique has some power behind it.

5. Leave food on the counter during dinner

Instead of setting food directly on the dinner table, try leaving it on the counter. This allows you to eat only one or two portions, then assess for 10 minutes whether you’re actually still hungry, then (and only then) get up for more. If the food is in front of you, you’ll be more likely to reach for seconds without thinking.

6. Eat slowly and use a napkin

Studies show that the slower you eat, the fewer calories you consume. This may be due to the time it takes for your brain to register it’s full, which is about 10 to 15 minutes.

When you eat your meals, slow down and savor the food. Many people find wiping their mouths with a napkin between each bite helps cut the urge to eat too quickly.

Portion Control at the Tips of Your Fingers (Literally)

Here’s a handy way to gauge portion sizes: Use your hands!

Portion control using your palm, fingers, and thumb to estimate what a certain number of ounces looks like. For example:

• One cupped handful: 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables, chips, crackers
• Palm: 3 to 4 ounces of meat, fish, or chicken, sweet potatoes, or starchy squash
• Fist: 1 cup of fresh fruits or vegetables
• Fingertip: 1 teaspoon oil or coconut cream
• Thumb: 1 to 2 tablespoons or 1 ounce of nut butter, salad dressing, seed butter, or dairy-free cheese

Portion control doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s simply a matter of getting into the habit of reading labels and training your eyes to identify correct serving sizes versus what appears to be “normal” portions.

Watch this video – Weight loss through portion control: Tips to lose pounds and live healthy

Written by Megan Patiry

Author Bio:

Megan is an inquisitive nutrition and wellness writer harboring an editorial love affair with the decadent and the nutritious. She is a dedicated researcher in all areas of ancestral health, a certified specialist in fitness nutrition, personal trainer, and professional almond milk latte addict.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

Here Are 4 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

If the scale refuses to budge regardless of how well you’re sticking to your diet, you may need to consider one of these four reasons you aren’t losing weight.

While eating a clean diet is important, there are actually several other significant factors that play a role in weight loss.

These four factors, in particular, could be the reason you’re hitting a plateau in your fat loss.

4 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight

1. You’re Stressed

When we’re trying to lose weight, we often focus on two main things: diet and exercise. However, managing stress should be just as high on your list, as it plays a big role in losing weight.

When we’re stressed, our body produces the hormone cortisol also known as “the stress hormone”. While this stress response serves us in emergency situations, our modern lifestyle is loaded with too much emotional stress from everyday life, like work and finances. When left unchecked, your high stress levels can become chronic.

Chronically elevated cortisol levels lead to significant weight gain, especially around the abdominal area. This is because cortisol can increase insulin resistance, which causes your blood sugar to stay elevated – encouraging your body to store more fat.

Stress can also stall weight loss efforts by making us crave carb-laden or sugary “comfort” foods. These indulgent treats hit the reward centers in our brain, which triggers the release of “feel good” hormones like serotonin.

When we’re chronically stressed, this makes us temporarily feel better, so we end up reaching for second helpings. This response is known as “stress eating”, and can make losing weight an even bigger challenge.

Tips to reduce stress:

• Roll out your yoga mat. Studies show that engaging in daily yoga practice reduces cortisol levels. Start with these five de-stressing poses!

• Try meditation. Research shows it can help calm the nervous system to reduce stress levels.  Begin with just 10 minutes of mindfulness!

• Get out in nature. Take at least 20 minutes out of your day to sit or walk in a natural setting to lower your stress hormones.

2. You Aren’t Sleeping Enough

If you’re not getting a solid seven or eight hours of sleep at night, it could be contributing to your weight problems. One study found that women who reported sleeping less than five hours per night were at greater risk of weight gain, and in general, weighed more compared with women who slept seven or eight hours per night.

Poor sleep hygiene does a number on our hormones. First, the stress of not getting enough sleep raises our cortisol levels, which as we know, leads to fat gain. It also disrupts the hormones that regulate our appetite, making it easy to overeat the next day.

Research proves that a lack of sleep can make it more difficult to lose fat. One study examined weight loss participants who slept under 5.5 hours a night for two weeks and then slept for more than seven hours a night for two weeks.

During sleep restriction, fat made up only 26% of the weight loss, while fat made up 57% of the weight loss during the normal sleep period. In other words, the participants who slept more lost more fat.

Tips for getting better sleep:

• Turn out the lights early. This includes your electronics, too! Studies show that the blue light from electronics can disrupt our sleep and wake cycles, resulting in less sleep.

• Put down the coffee. If you can’t quit caffeine entirely, limit your intake to a cup or two in the morning. Avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening.

• Try valerian root. Studies show that taking this herb fights insomnia and improves sleep quality.

3. Your Hormones Are Out of Balance

The way our hormones work makes a big difference in how we lose weight. Specifically, hormones like cortisol, leptin, and insulin play a key role in fat loss.

Leptin is a hormone produced by your body’s fat cells and sends signals to your brain to tell you when you’re full. This is why it’s often referred to as the “satiety hormone”.

It essentially works like this: high levels of leptin tell your brain that you have enough fat stored and that you can stop eating, while low levels tell your brain that fat reserves are low and that you should eat.

It’s possible to develop a resistance to leptin, especially if you have high levels of body fat. In this case, your brain stops responding to the signals from leptin and assumes that you need to eat more, even when you don’t. Obviously, this can result in cravings and overeating, which don’t bode well for losing weight.

Insulin is another hormone that can hinder fat loss. It is responsible for regulating our blood sugar levels, and also affects fat storage. When we consume sugars or carbs, our body releases insulin to help shuttle those sugars into our cells to be used for energy. If we consume too much sugar, insulin will convert and store the excess as fat to keep our blood sugar stable.

Similar to leptin resistance, people with chronically elevated blood sugar levels from a bad diet or blood sugar issues can develop insulin resistance. Here, our cells stop responding to the effect of insulin, leaving a higher amount of sugars and carbs to be stored as fat instead of used for energy.

Tips for dealing with hormonal issues:

• Visit your doctor. Either your primary doctor or naturopath to test your hormone levels.

• Eat well. Get plenty of hormone-balancing foods, and avoid processed foods.

• Do calming yoga. The right breathwork and poses can help. Try this healing yoga routine to regulate your hormones.

4. Eating Too Many Calories

One of the most basic weight loss rules is that your energy expenditure needs to be greater than the amount of energy you’re taking in. If you’re eating more calories than your body burns per day, the excess will be stored as fat.

Even on a Paleo diet, it can be easy to over-consume calories, especially since we tend to eat a lot of healthy fats like avocado, coconut, and nuts. While these are healthy and you should definitely enjoy them, it’s helpful to remember that they are extremely calorie-dense.

Portion control is everything. Consider this: eating a small, palm-sized handful of nuts will give you roughly 180 calories. If you mindlessly snack out of the bag, you could be looking at over 500 calories in one sitting – roughly the amount in a meal.

Tips for managing calorie intake:

• Be mindful of portions. Divide snacks into single-portion sizes before you start eating. Remember to measure out oils as well, which contain roughly 120 calories per tablespoon.

• Avoid liquid calories. While a keto smoothie or jug of coconut water may seem like no indulgence at all, these can quickly add up to 100 calories or more, and they rarely help you feel as satisfied as whole foods.

Remember: The Scale Isn’t Everything

Don’t forget that the number on the scale isn’t telling the whole story. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you’re relying strictly on a scale to tell you whether you’ve lost just fat, you may be disappointed for no reason.

Instead, a better strategy is to take regular measurements of your waist, hips, or arms to see how many inches you’re losing. This is especially important if you’ve started lifting weights because you’ll be more likely to gain muscle weight while losing fat.

Watch this video – 10 Dieting Mistakes – Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight! | Joanna Soh

The Bottom Line

It can be frustrating when you aren’t losing weight, even when you’ve optimized your diet. Before you throw in the towel, consider these four reasons you might not be losing weight and see if any may apply. A few lifestyle tweaks could make all the difference in reaching your goals.

If you’re still struggling with weight loss, have you considered trying a Paleo Challenge? Accept our 30 Day Challenge and watch your body torch extra pounds and gain extra energy. Let PaleoPlan’s certified nutritionists guide you step by step, day by day through it with meal plans, shopping lists, recipes, inspiration and more! Click HERE to get started. 

Written by Megan Patiry

Author Bio:

Megan is an inquisitive nutrition and wellness writer harboring an editorial love affair with the decadent and the nutritious. She is a dedicated researcher in all areas of ancestral health, a certified specialist in fitness nutrition, personal trainer, and professional almond milk latte addict.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

6 Scientifically-Backed Ways to Burn Fat Revealed Here

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

No “lose 10 pounds in 5 seconds” gimmicks here – just real advice on how to burn fat, backed by science!

Fat loss: is there a more coveted health goal in the world? Many of us are not losing weight for somewhat obscure reasons, so be sure to read my article (4 reasons you are not losing weight), before proceeding further here. Once you’ve done that, take a look at these steps, and if you’re feeling extra bold – start doing all six of them regularly – to really ramp up your fat loss!

No scams here – just real advice, that works! I’ve personally helped thousands of people lose weight, and I know what works, and what doesn’t. These are real tips, which I follow myself. So without further ado, let’s get to burning off those love handles!

1. Walk Anywhere You Can

This is an easy one, and anyone can do it! Besides work (where you may get fired if you’re continually late) walk anywhere and everywhere!

Have to go to the grocery store? Guess how you’ll be getting there! Forgot to pick up your allergy medicine at the drug store? That’s another mile of walking!

Though this may not be terribly fun, this will be very effective, and after one month, you will truly see results from just using your legs more.

On top of the weight loss benefits, walking more will cause around a 3% growth in brain tissue after a year. Those who do not walk? They will lose 2%. Pretty big difference, when you get right down to it! Think of all the places to which you drive or take transportation.

Those are (potentially) quite a few steps you could be taking, with each step leading you closer and closer to that coveted six pack you want (and no, I don’t mean beer here). Walking can lead to a 3% growth in brain tissue, while not walking can lead to a 2% loss.

When we were kids, we walked everywhere. Sure, we may have indulged in a delicious treat from time to time, as well, but we likely walked somewhere to get it!

This concept is easy to incorporate into your adult life, and if you do nothing else on this list, make sure you take this step. If you are worried about the environment, you’ll be happy to know that this is an environmentally-friendly move as well, since you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint.

If you’re having trouble getting started, bring a friend with you, and make it part of your daily routine. A walk around the block after work will help you to de-stress, and also allow you to make some healthy social connections. So do your brain and waistline a favor, and start using your feet to hit the pavement, instead of the gas pedal!

2. Drink Green Tea

Though green tea is not the hyped “mega-ultra weight loss super-cure” that everyone wanted it to be, it does show a little bit of promise when it comes to fat loss.

Having a cup or two in the afternoon, rather than your regular cup of coffee, will allow you to enjoy the thermogenic effects while avoiding the drawback of not being able to sleep later that night. Green tea contains L-theanine – an amino acid which has a calming effect.

This will give you all the energy of coffee – minus the jitters and horrible crash. Don’t overlook how effective green tea can be as part of a more comprehensive fat burning regimen.

Green tea also contains polyphenols, which have been shown to possibly help prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease, as well as being anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, antibacterial, antiangiogenic, antioxidative, antiviral, neuroprotective, and helpful in lowering cholesterol.

3. Strength Train

If you are not already exercising – what are you waiting for!? Building muscle will help shed away all that extra fat around your belly, as well as help to tone up your arms and legs. Not to mention, you’ll get an awesome rush of beta-endorphins which will make your brain quite happy!

I have seen too many clients who are scared to pick up any weights – but this does not have to be the case. You don’t have to start like Arnold – just start going to the gym regularly and do some push-ups, pull-ups and bench presses.

Follow that up with a few sprints, and you’ll be feeling better and burning more fat in no time! You are the sum of your closest friends, so pick healthy comrades to keep you in line.

A partner or personal trainer here can also be a good way to get a nice kick in the butt – resulting in better results and an improved social network. You are the sum of your closest friends, so pick healthy comrades to keep you in line.

Strength training also aids in bone health as we age, and keeps the body and brain stimulated. Even if your exercise routine consists solely of walking and strength training, you will be doing much better than if you had stayed sedentary!

Watch this video – Intense 25 min Full Body FAT BURNING Workout | No Jumping Beginner Friendly

4. Drizzle Your Food with EVOO

Studies have shown that after 8 weeks of an olive oil-enriched diet, dieters will lose more weight than by following other methods. Since extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has many other benefits as well, it makes total sense to drizzle every meal with some EVOO.

Having a big Paleo omelet for breakfast? Drop some olive oil on it! Having a spinach salad for lunch? It’s not complete until it’s covered in extra virgin olive oil!

The 1-2 punch of a generous serving of protein and extra virgin olive oil at every meal will help you to rapidly drop pounds – and your newfound abs will thank you for it!

Eating healthy and losing fat doesn’t have to be bland and boring. EVOO can bring up the taste meter on just about any food. No more bland salads or chicken dinners here!

And remember that dietary fat is necessary for the absorption of vitamins, nutrients and phytochemicals from fruits and vegetables.

And remember: fat doesn’t make you fat, meaning dietary fat doesn’t add to body fat. The right kind of dietary fat will actually help you burn body fat! Avocados are another good choice here, so to help burn off those love handles, load up on good fats!

5. Eat Fewer Carbs

This is the classic “easier said than done” way, but if you are consuming lots of healthy fats, this shouldn’t be a problem. The high satiety levels of protein and fat will help keep the carbs out of your mouth, and the promise of weight and fat loss should further slap that spoonful of ice cream away from your lips!

Don’t go overboard here, though – you can actually gain weight if your metabolism gets out of whack from going too low carb. 100-200 grams of starchy, fibrous and nutrient-dense (read: not sugary) carbohydrates per day will keep your body and brain happy.

When eating fewer carbs, be careful not to go overboard. Going too low carb can throw your metabolism out of whack and cause you to gain weight.

Stick to sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and some lower-sugar fruits. Stay away from juices, soda, dried fruit and candy. If you get an even dispersion of carbohydrates throughout the day, and they are the right kind, your hormones and fat-burning furnace will be firing at full tilt!

And remember – lower is not better here! Make sure you are eating at least 100 grams of carbs per day – unless you are exercising furiously – in which case you need even more!

6. Use MCT (Medium-Chain Triglycerides) Oil

MCT oil is a supplement made from a type of fat called medium-chain triglycerides. MCT molecules are smaller than those in most of the fats you eat (long-chain triglycerides [LCT]). This makes them easier to digest. You can absorb MCT in your bloodstream quickly. This turns it into energy you can use

This is even the case for the studies involving Alzheimer’s. But the fact of the matter is, MCT oil leads to greater weight loss than even extra virgin olive oil does, so you need to be loading up on this fat!

Your brain will thank you for this step, too, as the lauric acid in coconut oil (which has an MCT content of 54%) turns into monolaurin inside your body, eventually turning into a great source of fuel for your brain, without any glucose needed.

Some people even like to ingest MCT oil strictly for its reported mental benefits. But the truth is, all of the steps on this list will help you shed the fat, and by lowering your sugar intake, the neurons in your brain will be firing better, too!

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, I hope I have inspired you to go out and get rid of any excess body fat you may have. The process isn’t that hard – it is well within your grasp! By simply making a large amount of small, miniscule changes – we can see big results!

The hidden secret to fat loss is one dirty word: patience. You will not melt all the fat away overnight – but you will get there! Do not be discouraged or give up – consistency and patience are what will really get you to your goal! Keep all six of these tips in mind, and go forward – as a leaner and meaner fat-burning machine!

Written by Casey Thaler

Author Bio:

Casey Thaler, B.A., NASM-CPT, FNS is an NASM® certified personal trainer and NASM® certified fitness nutrition specialist. He writes for Paleo Magazine®, The Paleo Diet® and Greatist®. He is also an advisor for Kettle and Fire and runs his own nutrition and fitness consulting company, Eat Clean, Train Clean®.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook