How to Calculate Portion Sizes

When you’re dieting it is of course important to ensure that you take in a controlled amount of food and that you don’t over indulge yourself. One of the easiest ways to do this is to control the portions that you serve yourself when you eat. As a rule we will tend to finish what’s on our plate so if you have a huge portion you’ll be considerably more likely to eat a huge portion. On the other hand if you dish yourself up only a sensible amount of food, you will be far less likely to go to the trouble of making and dishing up more when you don’t really ‘need’ it.

Here then we will look at how to calculate your portion sizes to ensure that you avoid over indulging and stay slim as a result.

Calories Count

The first thing to bear in mind is a slight complication – that is it’s not actually the size of your portion that will result in your gaining or losing weight, but the number of calories therein. Of course a smaller portion will have fewer calories but a portion of carrots can be much larger than a portion of cake as carrots are less ‘calorific’.

Tailor Made

At the same time another confounding factor is that your portion will vary depending on you. If you are a tall man then you can afford to eat larger portions than a short female. Thus you need to tailor the portions to take into account both what you’re eating and your own specific requirements.

One way to calculate your serving size then is to calculate the number of calories you should be eating daily based on your size, weight, activeness and other factors, and then to see how you want to distribute this among your meals throughout the day. To work out how many calories you need to perform your basic bodily functions you should use the following calculation to work out your ‘BMR’. (Click here)

Then times this number by 20, 30, 40 or 50% for if you get minimal, average, moderate or intensive exercise on a daily basis (respectively). This is the number of calories you need to maintain your current wait if you maintain your current lifestyle and you can then split this daily allowance between meals (you will probably want around 25% for each meal with a remaining 25% for snacks throughout the day).

Appetite

At the same time though you shouldn’t be dictated to by your serving size and if you find you are full before you finish then you should simply leave what’s left. In fact many diet guides recommend always leaving some food on your plate as a way to help yourself reduce your food intake. While you don’t need to do that, you should still avoid ‘stuffing’ yourself because it is there. Eat until you’re satisfied and then stop.

If you notice that you are constantly leaving large amounts of food then you should take this as a sign that you are serving yourself up too much. Simply adapt then by serving less each time. Note how much you eat and bear this in mind for future servings.

If you want to eat a more ‘standard’ serving of your foods’ then bear in mind that one cup of fruit or vegetable is considered to be one standard serving, while a piece of meat should be roughly equal to a deck of cards.

Tips to Keep Your Portions Smaller

If you find it hard to regulate your eating with smaller portions then you are not alone. To eat less try buying smaller plates and bowls and promising yourself you will eat only one serving. Another useful strategy is to try eating salad as a starter before your main meal. If you eat this in high enough quantities then it will stop you from being as hungry during your main meal.

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