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Personal Training & Nutrition
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Portion Control |  |
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Are your eyes bigger than your stomach? Have you heard this statement? I know I have, from my parents. It was when I was a kid and usually after my second bowl of ice-cream and I had a tummy ache!!! So are our eyes really bigger than our stomachs or have we grown accustomed to eating more? In this age of being able to have any food we want and up-sizing your meal for $1.00. It is really easy for us to be confused about what a portion size really is. Most people think that their stomach will tell them when they are full, but with some foods taking up to 20 minutes to tell the brain that their stomachs are full, this can be a very unreliable method. In a recent study where people were asked to eat a 'normal' serving size, those that had a larger serving bowl ate up to 50 per cent more than those who had a smaller serving bowl. This shows that your eyes do decide what your stomach is going to be able to eat. But it also shows that when there is more to eat, we will ultimately end up eating more, even if we are no hungry. So how do we control this? Don't put big bowls of food in the middle of the table and ask people to help themselves. This is a sure-fire way of increasing the amount of food that you eat. Not only will you be tempted to try everything on the table, but the temptation is for you to go back for seconds or even thirds! Serve up your meal on your plate and put the rest away - out of sight! An easy way to trick your eyes into thinking that there is lots of food on your plate is to use a smaller plate when you serve up your food. If this is not possible, load up you plate with lots of green vegetables or salad (not potatoes, pasta and bread!). Then, put a smaller portion size (about palm size) piece of meat/chicken/fish on your plate. You will be amazed at how much you have eaten, yet still feel satisfied. You should also find that bloated feeling straight after a meal is non-existent. You could even start to lose some weight! Now that's a real bonus!!!! |
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