Many of us tend to underestimate the amount of food we eat and tend to overestimate the recommended portion sizes for many foods. Remember that your stomach is about the size of your fist. Don't expect to stuff 10 times that amount of food into it without negative consequences. Something many people don't realize is that your stomach will stretch when you're used to eating a lot. If you only eat small amounts of food at a time, your stomach won't ever stretch out like it does when you gorge yourself on a big meal, and then, with a smaller stomach, it won't take as much to make you feel full. You can do this by only taking small, right-sized portions of food onto your plate, and when you're done with that, sit back and feel whether or not you're still hungry. Give yourself 10 to 20 minutes. If you really are still hungry after that time has passed, take a tiny bit more; however, if you give your body time to signal your brain, you'll find that you're usually not still truly hungry.
For example, try pouring out your usual portion of pasta and measure it! Then, compare it to the label portion size. Chances are, you're eating two, three, four or more times the amount on the label.
If you are confused when reading a food label, try relating the portion size of a serving to everyday items. It is an easy way to visualize what a true portion size looks like.
- Woman's fist or baseball -- a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist
- A rounded handful -- about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta – this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels
- Deck of cards -- a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) – for example, one chicken breast, ¼ pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop
- Golf ball or large egg -- one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts
- Tennis ball -- about one half cup of ice cream
- Computer mouse -- about the size of a small baked potato
- Compact disc -- about the size of one serving of pancake or small waffle
- Thumb tip -- about one teaspoon of peanut butter
- Check book -- a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)
- Eyeball it! Take a look at the recommended serving sizes on the new USDA MyPyramid Food Guidance System. Get out a measuring cup or a food scale and practice measuring some of your favorite foods onto a plate, so that you can see how much (or how little!) a ½ cup or 3-ounce serving is. This will help you "eyeball" a reasonable serving!
When you're eating a meal, stop when you're satisfied, not when you're full. Don't you hate when you feel as if your stomach is full? This is a sign that you have made a mistake in the way you just ate. After you're done eating, your stomach should not feel empty, but also not completely full. Acquire the habit of eating slowly so you can stop when you are satisfied, not full; the brain needs about 20 minutes to get the "Not hungry anymore" signal.
Eat slowly. Chew your food until it has turned to mush. This means at least 4-5 chews per bite of food. And no, you can't just take bigger bites so that this is a reasonable amount of chews; take small bites also. Remember that it takes about 15-20 minutes for your satisfied-feeling to get to your brain even if your stomach is bloated and regardless of how much you eat. You could eat 10 plates full of food, and as long as you did it within a few minutes, you still wouldn't feel satisfied. Likewise, you can eat just a smaller portion and feel satisfied if you give your system time for the digestive and hormonal processes to take place so the signal gets to the hypothalamus in your brain. Eating slowly helps to keep the amount of food you're eating small until you feel the satisfied feelings. It also prevents you from gorging yourself, and gives you more time to accurately reflect on whether your stomach feels full yet or not. It takes about a whole 15-20 minutes for your stomach to send the message to the brain that you are full, so you could be eating 15 minutes more than your body wants. Eating slowly prevents overeating and will get you satisfied with less calories without feeling hungry or deprived.
Change from eating whenever you can and exercising only when you must' to 'eating only when you must and exercising whenever you can.' Most people like eating, and don't like exercising. The result is that they eat every chance they get and exercise only when they have to. You must change your thinking around, to exercising being the necessity and eating being the luxury, and work towards developing a lifestyle that reflects this. However, avoid taking on eating as a chore. Enjoy it and savor every bite. This will help you eat slowly.
Drink lots of water every day. This is very important. You may think you are hungry when, in fact, you are really just thirsty. It also makes your liver and kidney a lot happier. Try adding a slice of lemon, lime, or orange to your water for a great taste; cucumber slices for an even crispier taste!
