Reducing portion sizes is an important part of any weight loss programme, but it can often be challenging. When we are hungry we want to eat enough to feel satisfied, but small servings of food on our plate look inadequate and we need eat enough to suppress our appetite.
Here are some simple ideas for reducing our portion size and still maintaining satisfaction:
Top of the list for food to keep us satisfied is vegetables. These are the one food group that we can eat substantial portions of, while taking in relatively few calories.
As an example, a meal of chicken breast, brown rice and vegetables makes a substantial meal, with a low-calorie value. A three ounce chicken breast contains less than 150 calories, and 1/2 cup of brown rice has 110 calories. Now if we add vegetables, 1 cup of cauliflower which has about 30 calories and 1 cup of broccoli has less than 60 calories. This equates to approximately 350 calories for a substantial filling and nutritious meal. If we fill our plate with lots of low-calorie vegetables and take smaller portions of other foods, we will be eating far fewer calories yet still feel full and satisfied.
We could try using a smaller plate rather than a large dinner plate so that there will not be empty spaces when we reduce the portion size. We could also use a dessert plate or soup bowl, but again we need to serve small portions of high calorie foods and large portions of vegetables.
Lastly, we need to look at why we find it difficult to reduce portion size. What are afraid of? Why do we find the exercise daunting and unsatisfactory?
We should try this simple experiment at our next meal, take a small plate and add only a small spoonful of each food and only a one ounce serving of meat, fish or cheese. Look at the small quantity of the food on the plate and accept that this is all that we will eat for this particular meal.
We should then assess exactly what feelings this promotes. It is likely that we will think in terms of how can we only eat such a meagre portion, we will be hungry again in no time, we need to eat more than this, we cannot cope with feeling hungry. Whatever thoughts and feelings emerge, we should write down then we will have an idea of why we overeat. The most common reason is the fear of not having enough to eat, or a feeling of starvation and deprivation.
We can overcome these fears by constantly reminding ourselves that we will always have plenty of food to eat. Look in the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards and look at all the foods that are available to us. Take a look at grocery store, it is full of delicious foods which we can purchase and eat at any time. Once we have overcome the fear of scarcity, we will no longer feel the desire to eat anything and everything or as much as we do now. We will know that reducing portions is fine because food is plentiful and will always be available as and when we want and need it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Townley
Here are some simple ideas for reducing our portion size and still maintaining satisfaction:
Top of the list for food to keep us satisfied is vegetables. These are the one food group that we can eat substantial portions of, while taking in relatively few calories.
As an example, a meal of chicken breast, brown rice and vegetables makes a substantial meal, with a low-calorie value. A three ounce chicken breast contains less than 150 calories, and 1/2 cup of brown rice has 110 calories. Now if we add vegetables, 1 cup of cauliflower which has about 30 calories and 1 cup of broccoli has less than 60 calories. This equates to approximately 350 calories for a substantial filling and nutritious meal. If we fill our plate with lots of low-calorie vegetables and take smaller portions of other foods, we will be eating far fewer calories yet still feel full and satisfied.
We could try using a smaller plate rather than a large dinner plate so that there will not be empty spaces when we reduce the portion size. We could also use a dessert plate or soup bowl, but again we need to serve small portions of high calorie foods and large portions of vegetables.
Lastly, we need to look at why we find it difficult to reduce portion size. What are afraid of? Why do we find the exercise daunting and unsatisfactory?
We should try this simple experiment at our next meal, take a small plate and add only a small spoonful of each food and only a one ounce serving of meat, fish or cheese. Look at the small quantity of the food on the plate and accept that this is all that we will eat for this particular meal.
We should then assess exactly what feelings this promotes. It is likely that we will think in terms of how can we only eat such a meagre portion, we will be hungry again in no time, we need to eat more than this, we cannot cope with feeling hungry. Whatever thoughts and feelings emerge, we should write down then we will have an idea of why we overeat. The most common reason is the fear of not having enough to eat, or a feeling of starvation and deprivation.
We can overcome these fears by constantly reminding ourselves that we will always have plenty of food to eat. Look in the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards and look at all the foods that are available to us. Take a look at grocery store, it is full of delicious foods which we can purchase and eat at any time. Once we have overcome the fear of scarcity, we will no longer feel the desire to eat anything and everything or as much as we do now. We will know that reducing portions is fine because food is plentiful and will always be available as and when we want and need it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Townley
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