Weight Loss Tip #3: Cut Your Portions

“Take twice as long to eat half as much.”
- Anonymous

One simple thing you can do to help yourself start losing weight is to cut your portion size when you eat. Most people eat way more than their body needs.

Eating large portions of food at one time is a bad habit. Like any other bad habit, it won’t be an easy one to break, especially if you’ve been overeating for a long time.

Here are some pointers to help you learn how to control your portion sizes:

• Leave off that extra spoonful you’d normally take. This was the first thing I started doing to control my portions. If I cook rice for dinner, I’d normally take two large spoonfuls of rice. Now, I force myself to stop at one spoon. You might not think it makes that much of a difference, but trust me, it does. You can literally cut your portion sizes in half just by doing this every time you eat.

• Eat on a smaller plate. One of the easiest ways to control your portions is to start eating your meals from smaller dishes. Smaller plates means less space for food. But I’ll bet you’ll be amazed at how full you feel after eating such a smaller amount of food. Of course, it would probably be best to start with the first tip above, because if you try to go down to a smaller plate before you start cutting your portions, you’ll be in a for a big surprise.

• Slow down when you chew. This is the key to smaller portions. One reason why you don’t seem to get full very fast when you eat large portions is probably because you’re chewing and swallowing your food at lightning speed. Be conscious of every bite you put in your mouth. Savor the flavors. Wait a few seconds before you take another bite. Slowing down to eat will help your stomach catch up with your mouth.

• Drink a glass of water 30 minutes before you eat. Most of the hunger pains you feel aren’t really even hunger pains. It’s your body’s reaction to not receiving all the junk you’d normally put in it. I heard Oprah say something one time and it has stuck with me ever since. She said (paraphrasing) every time she feels hungry or hears her stomach growl, she imagines that if she waits just a few minutes, her body will eat away at some of the excess fat and then she won’t feel hungry anymore. Most of the time, when you feel hungry, if you’ll just drink some water, you’ll find that the hunger pains subside rather quickly. Drinking a full glass of water 30 minutes before you eat will give you a full feeling, which will help you to want less when you fix your plate.

Image: stock.xchng