Portion control is one of the most effective ways to continue to eat the foods you love while finding success in your weight loss. While it’s obviously still important to fill your diet with nutrient dense foods that fulfill your macronutrient needs, portion control can allow other, less nutritious foods to find a spot in your diet without impeding on your results. According to nutritionist Lisa R. Young, prioritizing fruits and vegetables as the base of each meal first and foremost will allow for more wiggle room throughout your day. “Fill half of your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables at each meal. Practicing portion control will feel a whole lot simpler,” she explains.
Your dishes also matter when it comes to weight loss, and downsizing your plates to account for a healthier serving size may reveal big results. “Eating off of a larger plate can actually be a good strategy for salads and veggies that we want to eat more of. And not all portion-control strategies are about eating less. However, for a pasta meal, I’d certainly suggest downsizing your bowl,” says Young. She also notes that with this mentality, you can still enjoy desserts in a more reasonable amount. “Want to enjoy an ice cream treat in the dog days of summer? Use a small bowl and a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon.”
If you’re not sure what a healthy portion of each macronutrient might look like, there’s a universal hack you can use to make things easier. According to Precision Nutrition, the size of your palm represents how much protein you should consume, your fist suggests your vegetable portion, your cupped hand represents your serving of carbs, and your thumb is the size of healthy fats you should have with each meal. Another good rule is to allocate half of your plate to veggies, just under ¼ to a carb and just over ¼ to protein.
Nobody wants to have to eliminate their favorite foods from their diet in order to achieve visible weight loss, but adjusting the portion sizes of your meals may allow for more flexibility in your diet. So long as you follow the general weight loss guidelines of optimizing your dishes to include more vegetables, proteins, healthy fats and carbs, having a reasonable amount of the unhealthy foods you love won’t make an impact on your results.