10 ways to reduce portion sizes

"Eat food. Not too much.  Mostly plants."

--Michael Pollan

Today we'll be focusing on the "not too much" part.  Most of us enjoy eating, and most of us (especially here in the US) consume more food than we need. The fascinating thing about this is that eating more food than we need is something that often happens accidentally.  We can train ourselves to be satisfied with less. 

Please note:   This post is for people who regularly eat medium to large portions and who generally do not pay attention to calorie content.  If you are someone who has suffered from anorexia, body dysmorphic disorder, or have used other forms of extreme calorie limitation, this post is not for you, and you should seek help from a medical professional.

Here are some tips for those of you attempting to balance your health by eating smaller portion sizes.

Exactly.

1) Order the small

When you order any food out, always order the small size.  Sometimes even the 'small' is more than you need, and it's really appropriate to order the kiddie size. 

2) Keep the serving dishes off the table where you're eating

Research has shown that we actually eat less when we need to leave the table to refill our plates.  When the serving dishes are in the center of the table, and the post-dinner discussion lingers on, we will continue to nibble and consume more.

3) Don't clear the table until the meal is over

This is counter-intuitive.  We tend to think that seeing the remainder of the food we've already eaten in front of us won't affect how much we continue to eat.  It turns out, we eat more when the dishes have been cleared.  You'll notice that most servers at restaurants completely clear the table before they ask if you want dessert.   (Apparently, we humans have a pretty short memory.)

4) Don't eat in front of TV and Computer Screens

We eat more in front of screens.  We aren't paying attention to our food, to its taste, or to how much we've eaten.  Creating a general rule for yourself that screen time and eating time are separate will help you out.

5) Buy smaller dinner plates and bowls

Again, this is counter-intuitive.  We tend to think that if we get a smaller dinner plate, we'll go back more often for the same amount of food.  Not so.  Researchers have found that across the board, we consume less food if we eat it off of smaller dishes. (And to get really meta on this, test subjects who ate off larger dishes and who had been told the data about consumption thought that they WOULDN'T eat more.  They still did.  That means you do, too.)

6) Never eat snacks right out of the package; put them in a smaller serving dish instead

By now you've probably figured out that I'm not a huge fan of packaged snacks as a healthy choice anyway, but if you are going to eat them, don't eat them right out of the package.  You will eat less if you put the snacks in their own small dish.

7) Drink more water

It sounds so simple, but it really helps.  Make a plan to drink more water throughout your day and throughout your meals.

8) Add an extra veggie to your meal (as suggested here)

By adding an extra veggie to your meal, you're putting more vegetables on your plate and filling up with more of the good stuff.  Even better: serve the extra vegetable BEFORE the meal as an appetizer. 

9) Slow Down

Eat slowly.  Enjoy your food and savor its taste. Take breaks between bites (a great time for drinking water!)  Before you go get seconds, sit for a few minutes to digest and to feel if you're really still hungry, or if it's really your taste buds wanting more stimulation.

10) Be mindful when you are at parties or going out to dinner with friends

We all eat more when we are in larger groups of people.  It's helpful to have an action plan before the event. You don't have to order an appetizer or an extra cocktail just because you're out with friends.  Try sharing fewer dishes among the group or ordering a dish that is heavy on the veggies.

Much of this research came from the book Mindless Eating:Why We Eat More Than We Think, by Brian Wansink