My portion sizes.

[jojothejo]

I eat massive portions. Always have done since the start and my weight loss is almost 6 stone. As long as your piling your plate high with free food, what does it matter how much you have?

I personally need to eat such large portions because I'm full all evening then and don't get tempted to snack at all. The key to Slimming World is unlimted free food, and you've done brilliantly. As long as you continue to maintain, I dont see the problem.

x

 

[chunky-monkey77]

Okay,

I often see threads reguarding portion sizes and Slimmingworld.. and although i occasionly give thought to my own portion sizes when reading them, quite frankly i usually just disguard any thoughts because i just thought it was silly. free food is free food and all that.

However, now that i am having to take a closer look at my food diaries etc, i can see that im not doing anything wrong.. but i know in my heart my portion sizes are more than man size, i for one cannot say my portion sizes or appetite naturally decreased the smaller i got.. because this is just not true. It may be for others, but it isnt for me. If anything they'v gotten bigger.,

i LOVE my food, as we all do on here but i dont know when to stop, i graze, i eat when im not hungry, i eat for the sake of it, and when i am hungry, i eat untill im so full i can barely move.

I have no portion control. This is not to say i binge on free foods. Most deffinatly not (hey if your gunna binge, might aswell do it properly LOL) but i do cook MAHOOOSIVE meals.. that only i can finish. Even OH who has a black whole for a stomach only ever finishes what i give him maybe only half of the time. I am scared to be hungry, i have a real fear of it. I hate hate hate it. It makes me grumpy and i can't function. So i over-compensate and make sure that theres no way i could possibly cram anything else into my tummy after a meal!

My question is.. what is the right portion size? who defines this? Bar weighing everything - which im not willing to do - how i do i know what is the right amount i should be eating.

I know we all say that we eat loads, and im sure we all do.. but im starting to concider the fact that my version of 'loads' and the rest of your versions of 'loads' is quite different.


How do i figure this out?

thanks fern for asking this question would love to know the answer myself !

 

[Xassy]

Fern, you seem to be really hard on yourself. Try to take a step back and be objective. You've lost a lot of weight, I think you've done amazingly! Judging from what I can see here, you are not the only one who eats large portions. I definitley do. I can relate a lot to what you wrote about being afraid of being hungry. What you're doing is clearly working for you, so try not to worry. Chin up, chicka, you're doing really well!

 

[cocktailprincess]

Hi doll

I think you have had lots of brilliant answers regarding the psychology of SW and eating above and thoroughly agree that if your weight loss is a success at your current rate of eating, why rock the boat.

However, I just wanted to answer the original question by listing recommended portion sizes. These are in the WW book as guidlines (please no-one bite my head off for using WW- I know we all love SW but at the end of the day WW when followed correctly is a healthy diet so it's guidelines are researched and authorised by health authorities)

A medium chicken breast, a medium portion of grapes and a medium jacket potato are all the size of a computer mouse

A medium portion of dried spaghetti stands on a 5p coin

A medium portion of cooked rice is the size of a tin of tuna

A standard scoop of mash or ice cream is the size of a lime

A medium portion of cheese is the size of a small matchbox

Now obviously I eat a lot more than this, but to be honest I have cut back on my portions a lot since I started. The 3rd superfree rule with EE really made me see my plate differently and I cut back on the bulk of my plate to fit on the extra veggies- once I realised that I wasn't going to die of hunger if I ate less I started really concentrating on how much I needed/ate.

That said- this is a personal journey for everyone and we all have different physical AND (more powerfully) mental needs from food

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[poppygirl]

Hi fern, I too can identify soooo much with your post. As someone else said, sw has helped me move away from destructive eating and all the weighing and measuring I have been used too. I think the advice everyone has said re smaller plates is great. I have been Reading The Beck diet solution which is a great book and there is a chapter on hunger and to learn not to panic if you feel hungry-you may find that chapter helpful-I def did.

But like everyone says you have done so so well with your losses and your eating habits etc is obv working for you. Are u still consistantly lossing? It's good to hear we are not the only ones with big appitites. Thanks for starting this thread, it's been interesting Reading xxx

 

[Purple_Star]

Hi Fern honey. It is believed that most people will eat the same weight in food every day so if you have very light food eg salad you may feel hungry after, however if you eat cooked vegetables like cabage and carrots etc they weigh far more and you will end up eating less in the long run. Portion control is vital to maintain a healthy weight. I use much smaller plates now than I did at the beginning of this journey. If you look at the recipes in the slimming world cook books I am often amazed how small some of the portions are eg 2 ounces of pasta/rice per person but then on the next page I think wow what a lot. So I would say it is difficult to judge portion sizes by just the recipes in the book. i am more inclined to look at the recommended portion sizes on the back of the packet eg allow 75 gms of pasta for a main meal. Paul Mckenna's i can make you thin is based on bringing eating into our awareness. I have lost count the number of times I have finished my "treat " and thought "where did that go " If you watch naturally thin people they will often leave food on their plate because they have had enough. paul Mckenna says this is good training and we can start small by always leaving at least one mouthful on the plate to show that you are in control of the food and that the food isn't in control over you !! Phew fingers aching now lol xxxx

Brilliant post!!!!

 

[judimac]

I once went on the Atkins diet . What that brought home to me was how little food ,if you're eating enough protein, you need to feel satisfied. Now I've always had a big appetite,( back to childhood when I was praised for clearing my plate) Now I do stop if I've put too much on my plate instead of ploughing on till I feel stuffed.
Funnily enough I'm having to get smaller plates as our dinner plates stop the new (slimline) dishwasher working .

 

[jaylou]

I've always eaten big portions, pre SW which got me 3 stone overweight, and during SW which helped me lose that 3 stone - the difference was the food I ate big portions of!

Nothing has really changed tbh, I still cook a lot of pasta and rice, I pick the biggest jacket potato I can find, I cooked a 1kg bag of new pots yesterday to have with a roast dinner (for 3 of us) - we didn't eat them all, probably about 250g each but I still cooked them all! Thing is, on SW you can have large portions if you want them - that's the beauty of it IMO.

I agree with CP (as usual!), the third superfree really has helped to balance things out with my meals thus reducing the red/green foods.

Another tip, if you do want to look at portion sizes, is look at the red/green B choice sizes - so a portion of chicken on green is 113g or a portion of spuds on red is 198g, if you wanted to go down that road.

I'd crack up if I had to reduce my portions - to me, it's enough having small bread and an ounce of cheese!!

 

[Greeneyes11]

The problem I have is I eat big portions and I dont lose the weight..... over the last 3 weeks I have put on 3lb (* week), lost 5lb the following week and then gained 1lb this week and have been eating the same for each, so over the last 3 weeks I have lost 1lb... I am getting totally disheartened coz everyone else seems to lose weight and I dont...... I fill up on free foods, have 1/3rd superfree, have around 10 syns a day and put on weight.... not sure why some can eat big portions and some cannot.....

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

hey guys, Thanks for all your fabulous replys
- i havnt had a chance to hop on the internet, so excuse my late reply!

- I have taken note of all your suggestions, as i think its deffinatly my portion sizes i need to look at.

I have been struggeling to shift 7lbs since christmas. I am now back to 10st (at last weigh in, i will be a hell of alot more after this week at wi tomorrow) which is 1lb under my original target weight.

I just cannot think of anything else i can do to shift it.. huff! lol


i am buying a smaller plate tomorrow i tell thee!

and thanks for those portion sizes CP, .. it has to be said, if a 'medium' portion of rice should fit into a tuna can, my rice portion must be classed as XXXXL , i ALWAYS cook to much, but then eat it anyways.


i also eat stupidly fast, which sets my asthma off. I never learn though. I really must slow down..

im going to work on this this week, iv had an awful few days off plan.. my motivation just escaped me.


Thanks for your lovley words reguarding my weight loss etc, thats really sweet


Love you all millions, i hope this works for me!

 

[zombiecakes]

Mine are huge too as big as my OH has and I always finish eating before anyone else I have this thing about my food going cold so like to eat it while its piping hot has its plus side because I could never ever pinch leftovers off other plates, cold food that is meant to be hot makes me heave

They say it takes 20 minutes for it to register in your brain that you have eaten so they say the best way is to slow down. So that it takes you 20 mins to eat your meal mine is more like 5 mins max and I just couldnt slow down as it would mean eating cold veg and gravy ect :9529: my old cons used to always tell us to slow down and to put your knife and fork down between mouthfulls lol ..... yea right like I am ever gonna do that!!

Hehe, you just described me too. The thought of eating dinner after it's gone warm/cold..... /shudder! Even watching people eat certain foods slowly (when you know they've gone cold) makes me gag! Hell, even thinking about it making me wretch :8855: