Portion Control Hacks

With restaurants often serving large portions and offering “super” sizes, one’s view on appropriate portion sizes for food can easily become distorted. Use these 4 hacks to implement portion control.

1. Use smaller plates. Switch up your large dinner plates with salad size or smaller plates! Want to see the difference for yourself? Place a 1 cup serving of food on both a large plate and a small plate. Notice the difference between the two and the trick that this plays on the mind.
2. Avoid eating out of the bag. Eating out of the bag quickly leads to mindless eating. Portion out the desired amount of food and put the bag away, before you start eating.
3. Ask for a half of your meal in a to-go box. Box up half of your meal, before you start eating. This is especially helpful at restaurants when ordering large entrees. Bonus: you have leftovers for quick meal!
4. Helping hands. Don’t have serving cups handy? Your hand can serve as a quick reference for serving size. Follow these rough guidelines:

• Fist= 1 cup
• 1 cupped hand= ½ cup
• 2 cupped hands= 1 ounce
• Thumb= 1-2 tablespoons