Research has shown that portion control may be the most  effective form of dieting when you take into account longevity and sustained weight loss and management.  The reason, according to Dr. Everett Logue et al. in Obesity (http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v12/n9/full/oby2004187a.html) may be that portion control is an easier behavioral target than planned exercise.  Although increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables may be the easiest way to change behaviorally, it does not appear to be as effective in long term weight reduction.

Okay, so all I have to do is eat a little less, and move a little more.  Well, it’s not that simple.  If you’ve tried portion control in the past like I have, you might be rolling your eyes.  Actually, 36% of women in the Illinois Women’s Health Registry are currently using portion control to lose weight, while only 20% are trying exercise.   So how can we make portion control work for us?  The important thing to understand is that portion sizes are often FAR LESS than we think they are.  In fact, research has shown that Americans typically underestimate their caloric intake by as much as 25%.  So if I think I’m only eating 1600 Calories (a typical weight loss goal), I might actually be eating 2,000.  It’s also important to know that women and men of similar height and weight do NOT have the same caloric needs.   Metabolism in women works differently; men generally have a higher Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the rate at which our bodies break down calories.  In other words, we don’t need to eat as much as our male counterparts…sorry ladies, but try leaving that second helping to him.

So what is the correct portion size?  Well we are probably all familiar with the serving size values:

1 cup green and leafy vegetables or ½ cup mashed potatoes for the veggies
½ - 1 cup of fruit or 1 oz dried fruit
½ cup rice, 1 cup (cooked) pasta, or a bagel for the grains
3 oz chicken, beef or fish for protein
1 cookie or a ½ cup ice cream for the sweets

But what do these sizes actually look like?  Well, sadly, a lot less than we’d like to think.  Here’s the run down:

Portions Table

For more portion size tips, see this cool tool at http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate

Even though portion control can be an effective weight loss method, it is still important to keep an active lifestyle and exercise regularly for a healthy weight AND a healthy heart!  Happy and Mindful Eating!

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Comments

Really basic stuff here but it makes perfect sense. You don’t have to count every single calorie to succeed in this part of your weight loss plan.

Agree with Eric above, but unfortunately our dear medical profession has taught us all that health is someone else's responsibility when it goes wrong. Good health starts with the individual not with doctors and surgeons. If people took a little more personal responsibility, we'd all be a lot more healthy.

There are many great ways to lose weight in a healthy way. This website provides awesome tips, techniques, and secret ways to permanent weight loss without harming your body. Enjoy!~

Great post! I really love to read your blog as I get to learn a brand new thing everyday, keep up the great work!

There was a time I when I tried this so called portion control where you were supposed to eat 10 small meals a day instead of the traditional 3 main ones. Maybe it's just me but it didn't help. I now have an active job and have taken to jogging in the morning and walking the dog at night, combined with a mainly vegetarian diet This has worked wonders.

Great post! I have often struggled with losing weight and yes, it probably does have something to do with my portion control. I was definitely not informed of the correct sizes my meals should be. I plan on passing this to my kids as well. Thanks! EDITOR'S NOTE: Getting our kids to control portions is really important....too many obese kids around these days.

I have read what must be hundreds of blogs about weight loss and yet, a very obvious simple statement you make her is as far as I can see, unique, and at the same time must be perfectly valid. That is the the female metabolism makes us need fewer calories then our male partners. In our house we dish up equal portions and the ladies sit down to the same portions sizes as the men. Then we wonder why we ladies keep gaining weight, and the men seem far less prone to such problems...

"Even though portion control can be an effective weight loss method, it is still important to keep an active lifestyle and exercise regularly." While I specialise in weight loss for men, I have to agree with the above statement and take it a little further. I would also like to add that whatever you do eat while losing weight make sure that you can continue eating that (perhaps a little more) when you have achieved your desired mass. Another important point is just because you are female (and have a lower BMR the men generally) does not mean that you cannot increase you BMR so that you naturally burn more food. This is, of course where exercise - the right form of exercise comes in. Finally, remember that the combination of proper diet and appropriate exercise has been shown to promote long term sustained fat weight loss far more that diet alone.

It is easy to say but when you’re craving something and you want it really bad, you know how it ends up sitting comfortably on your sofa, your favorite show is on and you eat that unhealthy food again, but if feel so good, at least till after you consumed it.

Good Post. One thing to note is that excess salt (sodium) can impede weight loss.

Portion control has been advocated for years and of course it works. What I have found as I grow older, now in my early 60's is my appetite has taken care of the amount I eat, but I really need to learn to eat better foods. I'm a carbo junkie.

If you want and need to lose weight, diets are not the answer. Anyone can lose weight simply by addressing these two issues. Your metabolic impalances caused by... 1. The Foods You Eat, and... 2. By How Active Your Body Is. Simply put, when you learn how to eat properly, and when you earn simple fat burning exercises, you will lose weight and be able to keep the weight off, forever, if you continue with this lifestyle. I am in my forties and I have never looked this good simply by following the above advice.

Nice post. I have lost 40 lbs in the last 2 years by controlling the portion size of my meals and following an exercise routine. I believe that the combination of the two are rather important when trying to reduce your weight and keep it off for good. Making a lifestyle change is always difficult, but being healthy and fit in my opinion is well worth it. Eat well and be fit for life, Jan

I think this is the best method of losing weight especially those who have diabetes. Since I began to eat less about a couple of months ago and do some brisk walking in the afternoon for at least 30 minutes, my weight has gone down dramatically. I can say it is very effective and less painful.

Let's face it, portion control is hard to do. The World Health Organization says that over one billion of us are overweight. That's why a lot of people are going overseas for lower cost medical alternatives like gastric bypass or lap band surgeries.

Always drink a glass of water 30 minutes before eating a meal so that your body can digest the food/proteins. Also, you tend to eat less if you drink water before eating. Always drink water 30 minutes before/after a meal. It helps your body to digest all the proteins. But you should not drink water WHILE eating, otherwise all the proteins will just go straight through the drain.

"Okay, so all I have to do is eat a little less, and move a little more. Well, it’s not that simple." You're absolutely right, it's not that simple, especially when you've got a husband an two strapping sons who have no interest in complying...

I didn't realize how small the portions should be. As I have aged, I can no longer eat the way I did when I was younger. The fast food "Super Size It" mentality comes with a price that shows up around the waist line. Thanks for the info.

I used to work with a lot of Europeans and whenever they traveled to the US they'd always comment at how large the portions were everywhere we ate. It really got me thinking and now I pay more attention to the serving size in addition to the nutritional info. It is rather shocking how small some portions really are!

I did exactly that and in 6 months I lost 28 pounds, went down from size 38 waist to size 34 and I feel so much energetic!

A good weight loss tip is to eat five or six smaller meals or snacks throughout the day instead of two or three big meals. This will help keep your blood sugar level steady (which will help prevent cravings), will help keep your metabolism elevated, and will provide you with a consistent supply of nutrients and energy.

I’ve been gaining around a pound a year for the past 3 years or so. It’s so frustrating. I lost weight by skipping dinner (or eating a piece of fruit) – but nothing sustainable

quote : "Weight loss is really simple when you break it down to the basics. It’s all mathematics: you simply have to consume less calories than your body burns. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy! Trying to lose weight, especially those “last few pounds”, can seem like an uphill battle, but if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight." i agree with u man . . this article very nice for my fashion blog . . thanks Michelle :)

I think they call it grazing when you eat a bunch of small meals all day long. It takes a ton of self control, but worth it!

Hi friends: I think portion control is one of the best ways to lose fat. It imporante you know, it's impossible to lose more than 3 pounds of fat in a week. As I always say: It is better to lose fat slowly but in a healthy way, that much weight. great post, I really liked :)

Eating less is often the most difficult part of a weight loss plan. You don't have to count every single calorie to succeed in this part of your weight loss plan. Just have a general idea of how many calories are in your basic foods, and try to keep it to the recommended level.

I have always found it very difficult to have the willpower to stick to any certain exercise regiment and I have tried the portion sizes (probably not the correct portions), but it is also extremely hard. I have always been told not eating, like skipping a meal, is not good for you either. I find myself doing that often just because after I have gotten used to eating less, I tend to lose my appetite all together sometimes. I wish I could find a happy medium that I could stick to.

Yea, the best way to get rid of fat is to start reducing your diet. If you had 250 gm of food then reduce it to 150 gm gradually. This way will burn you calories and hence fat. Doing some workout with this will help more. Remember - Health is Wealth!!!

The most amount of weight I ever lost was eating 6 times a day. Smaller portions through out the day. And of course it was cutting carbs and the foods were healthy. Along with exercise I lost over 30 pounds in 6 months.

healthy fats like raw nuts, avocados etc…and don’t drink your calories, cut out all soda and fruit juice and drink water instead.

God that visual with the cheese and the dice is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. But thank you for this informative post!

don´t stay in front of your computer and make some sport. Stop doing Internet business

That table at the end with the specific examples of food and related portion size is incredible! Wow, everyone is over eating. Crazy.

One reason I love Weight Watchers is it teaches portion control and gives you additional points for exercise. In a world of Super Size Me, it's hard to know what a real portion is supposed to look like. Nice post!

What a great artilce. This is my 3rd time of reading this great article. I have even decided to copy it to my computer for future reference.

Although many factors to weight management are considered, we tend to overlook the basics of physiology: calories in - calories out = weight. Diet (not in the "fad" sense, but way of eating) and exercise are crucial. Most Americans can decrease their regular portions and still do quite well, but we are addicted to super-sizing. Being overweight leads to many problems including heart disease, some cancers and, of course, chronic low back pain. Blogs like your's serve as good reminders of these principles. Thank you.

Our company sees a LOT of people coming in for minor cosmetic surgery where a nice simple portion control would probably do the trick. Sadly, we as a society, are all hooked on the "quick fix". I personally have dropped about 12 pounds in the last month and a half (after the holiday binge) by just getting back to normal portions of actually *healthy* foods - eggnog is NOT a food group LOL.

That's a very interesting article indeed. What I don't understand is why most of the diet and weight loss articles are women related? As a man I have exercised portion control, and it definitely works. Now, the problem I am facing is that I cannot keep portion sizes small for a long time. When I see that I have lost some weight, I start gradually increasing the portions again. This brings me back to the starting point. So, be careful! This yo-yo effect is annoying. :) EDITOR's COMMENT: Please note that we are an Institute for Women's Health Research and one of our missions it to explore sex differences :)

The small portions are easy enough to digest - it's the large portions of will power that are in short supply, I think you'll agree that's the main problem.

Portion control is an excellent method of losing weight. When losing weight, the underlying factor is the body using more calories than you're actually taking in. Whether you exercise, etc. only helps lose weight faster and maintain a healthy body. It is possible to lose a large proportion of fat just by cutting out calories but not actually changing your lifestyle or exercise regime. Exercising merely helps maintain a healthy body and good fitness (which people should be doing anyway for well-being). Portion control is also useful in the third world. A recent study showed in various villages where this study was carried out; those who ate the same amount of food, but split it into 5 portions and ate at regular intevals during the day seems to fare much better than those that split the food into three portions and ate only three times a day. Those who ate less per portion, but more often over the course of the day were healthier and less suscepitble (sp?) to illness and disease.

That a bit too harsh for a serving that size to lose weight. As millions as already asked themselves, How To Lose Weight then the only simple answer would be to move more. Take long walks in the country and breathe the air. Walking every day for 10 minutes or more will definitely make you lose the weight much faster. Losing the weight is easy if you just move and keep on moving everyday.

I think its always easier to modify something you are already doing that it is to start some new habit especially if the new habit takes you out of your comfort zone. Moderation in all things my Mum used to say. The fact is though for optimum health you will need a good balance of diet and exercise.

Another trick I've found is to serve the food from the kitchen rather than using serving bowls and platters on the table. It forces you to think twice before having seconds.

Thanks for sharing such a valuable post. I really loved reading it.

Let me add that before one tries pills and/or other more drastic measures, simple calorie counting can have a great positive effect as well.

Portion control is very tough along with exercise. It is necessary to control your eating habits. I like the article alot and helpful in maintaining body weight. Very helpful in explaining portion size for food.

Portion control is very important - it's a pity more people don't adhere to this simple way of losing weight. If we slowed down when we ate, we'd probably feel more satisfied and eat less as well.

Great diet plan! Wow that serving is too small but if it can help me, I would try it.

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