Healthy Portions: Mind over Matter

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Sometimes making healthier eating choices doesn’t come down to changing what you eat, but changing how you eat. This is the case when it comes to cutting down on portion sizes. During your medical weight loss program, you may find it helpful to think about the ways that you can cut down on the foods you are eating in addition to making a few healthy food swaps.

Finding the Right Portion

Healthy eating behaviors can make a huge difference in your daily calorie intake. Simple behaviors like establishing a healthy eating place and becoming more mindful of every bite that you take by eliminating certain snacking habits can give you a nice boost as you lose weight.

One simple strategy to improve your eating habits is to become more cognizant of the amount of food that you are eating daily. Portion size plays a huge role in calorie intake. If you eat too much of an item, it directly effects how many calories you are taking in. Do this every meal of the day and you may end up taking in a few extra hundred (or even more!) calories every day!

To adjust your portion sizes there are several simple tricks you can try:

  • Adjust your plate or cup size. Rather than filling an oversized cup with juice, go back to a traditional juice cup and limit yourself to a few ounces.
  • Switching to a smaller plate will naturally reduce how much food you eat in one serving, as well.
  • Be aware of recommended serving sizes by making it a habit to read the container your food comes in.

As you start spending more time and energy researching portion sizes, you may become surprised by how often you are eating more than you intend to by simply not being aware of the recommended serving. While food companies are mandated to put the serving size on the packaging, they aren’t required to package food according to that serving size. The result is that many candy bars actually hold several servings per wrapper, as do many sodas and other snacks.

Your medical weight loss doctor will encourage you to make changes to what you are eating, but don’t let the changes stop there. Have a long look at the sizes of the portions you are having at every snack and meal. Being more aware of the healthy portion size can make a big difference in your ability to reach your weight loss goals.

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