My portion sizes.

[Littleslimmingbee]

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?

 

[determinator]

I dont have many answers for you I am afraid but am there with you in everything you say !! I can eat a huge plate piled high with food , and still feel 'empty ' and snack soon after !!!
I know I am rarely physically hungry and dont knwo how to stop the need to stuff myself stupid !
I am considering looking into hypnosis as i am sure it must all be in my mind .. and I can eat as much fruit and free food as I can and still not feel satisfied ... I still crave biscuits and cakes and naughtiness

I hope someone can give us some answers and advise with this

 

[Kater-tater]

Ive always wondered this about people like yourself who have lost weight lower than my weight. They say they eat lots but looking at diarys you cant know this. Do you really eat THAT much? Of the few pics you posted your portions where the small size i thought they would be?
I think, obvioulsy if you where hoping to stay the weight you are, that your eating the right amount and bloomin good on ya if you can lose all that amazing amount of weight eating so much!
I hope that works for me but im not convinced ha!
I would just say as long as your plate isnt overflowing then thats ok!
The only thing i would say is to give yourself a smaller amount than you usually would....then ive it 10 mins after you finish it and if you still want some more, have it!
I dont do this....yet.

 

[Becca Wecca]

I think I know how you feel. I pile my plate up high. Always have done, and probably always will do. I have a big appetite, and the longer i'm on this diet the bigger it seems to get. I very often help myself to seconds as well as a massive plateful. I eat really fast as well. I can gulf a meal down 3 times as fast as My OH who is by no means slow when it comes to eating! I tend not to fill up on free foods and snack during the day, but I more than compensate for it when it comes to meals!

But i figure as long as I'm still losing the weight it doesn't really matter does it??

 

[ninnins]

theres some "rule" about using your hand as a guide to portions, nit quite sure what it is though, vaguely remember protein sould be the size of your fist-im sure google can help you there!

or you could buy cheap smaller plates so even though your plate is still full you cant put as much on there to begin with

 

[Kater-tater]

Eating slow is the best thing you can do. You body needs time to register there is food in it.

 

[determinator]

I know they say the protein should be the size of your closed fist ...

 

[debjk]

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!!

 

[Sarah-Jayne]

I know they say the protein should be the size of your closed fist ...

Heck, I hope not!

 

[kibou1]

I'm with you when it comes to the fear of being hungry...as a result I very rarely experience hunger. I like knowing when and what my next meal will be and I also eat quite big portions. Quite often a recipe for 4 people will actually be a meal for me and my husband and a lunch for me the next day, or sometimes just 2 portions. I'm French and when I go back to my parents I tend to eat smaller portions (but loads of bad stuff so don't tend to lose weight) because the plates are actually smaller. We also set the table, sit down and then bring the dishes to the table so it's easier to eat a little and serve yourself some more if you want to. In England, we serve all the food onto our plates in the kitchen, then go to the dining room and finish our meal in 10 minutes.
Maybe a smaller plate and taking our time eating is the solution?
Then again, sometimes you want the comfort of food and having a massive plate of free food is better than a massive bar of chocolate.

 

[Going2be*fab*at40]

I have a good appetite - although I do try and serve myself a smaller portion than my OH - but there are still times when I'll eat more than him for a main meal.
..but...I'm not filling up on all of the other rubbish that he can get through :-D
I'd say, that unless you are really concerned about it, then just accept that its a part of you - far better to eat big portions of healthy food anyway! x

 

[miffypie]

I know what you mean. I cook recipes from my (very extensive and geeky) SW magazine collection all the time, and generally a meal that is supposed to serve 4 will just feed me and my husband. I do worry that I'm just a little piggy

However, I think the time to re-judge your physical needs is when and if you start to struggle with weight loss - if it ain't broke, don't fix it! If you are struggling then yes, maybe time to start thinking about that, but whilst I'm still losing, I'm gonna keep cooking for 4 (and eating it all myself)

 

[Sally_Cinnamon]

Ah Fern, honey, you have done SO fabulously well with your weight loss--did you know you're one of the people I look to on here for inspiration? If I see that you've posted, I'm ALWAYS keen to read what you have to say and I have a massive amount of respect for you, not to mention being in awe of your weight loss.

That aside, and as far as the portion control thing goes...I'm sure there's some greater wisdom than me about portion control but look at the bigger picture. You have lost a PHENOMENAL amount of weight eating these portions. You've been satisfied and happy with the food you've been eating. You haven't felt deprived--at least certainly not as much as you would have felt on a more restrictive eating plan. There's a lot to be said for that. And as someone else said, if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

Having said that, I'm all too aware that I eat very large portions. If I'm making my favourite pasta dish I can easily cook half a packet of pasta, add a ton of veggies and four cheese triangles. I'll have a huge bowlful and then go back and eat the rest. I know that my body doesn't NEED that amount of food, but my mind is convinced I do. But whilst I'm healthy and losing weight I'm not worrying about it. For me, there's nothing more depressing than seeing a plate of food and knowing that that's it, that's all I can have. That scenario is far more likely to send me scuttling into the kitchen for something far less sensible.

I'm pretty sure that my "full" switch is broken, probably from years of binge eating/fasting/appetite supressants--I don't always know when to stop or even how to stop. And nowadays I don't necessarily know how to correct it.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here, other than that I hear you, and I'm right there with you. I'm not going to offer suggestions for portion control--you and I and everyone with any kind of eating issue already know all the tricks of cutting down, it's implementing those tricks that's the problem. Just wanted to tell you that you're fantastic.

So, not much use at all then really, was I? :8855:

 

[Kater-tater]

I agree with the above post also, i always read everything you post as your weight loss has kept me postive and hopefull i can do this plan

 

[IanH]

Portion control is one of those difficult things - especially with the term "free food" - if its free why should we control how much we eat of it.

The basic thing is - everything that is listed as free food is free - in moderation. If you're full then stop. If you're hungry then eat.

I look at photos of peoples plates and start comparing their meals to mine and think i eat twice as much as that in one meal - but at the end of the day - i'm eating when i'm hungry (or at least trying to), and i'm still loosing the weight. my snacking between meals is much reduced and over time, as the weight has come off, my portions have decreased - i have half a steak for tea tonight - in the past it would have been the whole steak (even as big as this one was before i cut it in two). I'd have had a plate piled high (to almost falling off) of veggies with it (and about 6 or 7 different veggies) - now there's 4 or 5 and not so much of them either.

Oh - the before examples above - they were only (in some cases) 3 or 4 months ago, not before slimming world. I've not looked at portion size/control too much - that's one of the joys of Slimming World - you don't necessarily have to. If it's stopping you loosing weight - then look at it - otherwise - eat till you're full and enjoy.


.

 

[Purple_Star]

Fern, I honestly don't think it matters in the slightest how much you actually eat. Don't compare your portions to others, we are all unique and require different amounts.

However, I know that I personally am not happy when I eat to excess. That feeling of being so full I can't move - I aim to avoid that now. I just feel that thats what got me to the size I was, so I try and listen to my body now. I think thats far more important that worrying about the amount it takes for to reach 'comfortably full'.

 

[carrick]

Mostly I eat HUGE portions which was my downfall last time I lost weight on SW and left thinking I could do it on my own, so I went back gradually to what I was eating before and still large amounts. Sometimes I wonder if the 'eat as much as you like' is a good or bad thing!? Obviously this time I'm planning to stick with it for life, not just as a quick fix

 

[Brightonrosie]

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

 

[elizabeth]

I use much smaller plates now than I did at the beginning of this journey.

Me too.

I realised when I was about 2st off my goal that I was going to have to look at the portions I was eating, because this is one of the keys to achieving the weight you want and staying there. I love the overall philosophy of SW, it liberated me from years of disastrous eating, but the fact remains that calories in versus calories out is crucial the nearer you get to your goal/maintenance.

So, just echoing some of the things already said here - smaller plates for a start, learning to slow down when you eat so your body has a chance to realise it's being fed, keeping an eye on between-meals snacking. One thing I've found very helpful is investing in a set of American cup measures - I don't use kitchen scales at all, I use the cup measures for things like rice and pasta to make sure I'm having a normal portion.

 

[malaika]

I eat huge portions, as does my hubby.
A recipe for 4 normally does us just fine.
However, I just tend to eat once a day unless I am hungry, which is rare.
I do tend to eat slower than I used to and feel comfortably full when I am finished.