Portion Control: The Easy Way to Maintain Your Weight

In the house I grew up in, we would have 6 meals a day, sometimes more. Holidays were the only times we would gorge ourselves. I never gave it much thought. It wasn't until my 20s that I realized it was one of the reasons I never gained a lot of weight.

Portion control is the easiest and lasting way to keep weight off. If you train yourself to eat only one portion of something, you'll be taking in less calories and eating healthier.

Learn to recognize portions by sight. If you eat only a 2oz steak at home, you'll learn what 2 ounces of steak looks like

If you eat out, take some home. My boyfriend finds it so amusing that I can't eat an entire meal when we're out. I always bring home at least half of my meal.

Plan your meals. For someone who hasn't always eaten proper portions, controlling it can be difficult at first. Don't be afraid to buy a kitchen scale and start your training.

Junk food is all right to eat if you use portion control. A small, lunch size bag of potato chips is ok to have as a snack every once in a while. Even better choices are fruits or vegetables that you like.

Learning curve. Beginning a portion-controlled diet can be hard at first. You will find your stomach growling some. If you can stick it out, the grumbling will get less and less. Your stomach will learn when it's getting food and how much. Don't give in to it's complaining.

Break up your meals. If you eat 6-8 small meals every day, your stomach will never be completely empty. It helps to keep your blood sugar and energy levels up, which makes you less likely to binge.

If you eat out a lot, try a kid's meal. Almost every restaurant has some type of kid's meal, take advantage of it. Children's meals are actually about the right portion size for an adult. Regular size adult meals have a tendency to be almost double the right portion size.

Serve meals a plate at a time. Don't use the feed yourself method. Fix a plate and don't go back for seconds. This will not only help your waistline, but you'll make and waste less food too.

Double up on the vegetables. They have less calories and bring a nice amount of color to a plate. Instead of half a plate of roast beef, make the beef a third or a quarter of the plate.

Low calorie doesn't really matter. Portion control is the most important part of eating this way. You can choose low fat, low calorie or low carb food, but that isn't what is making the difference. The difference is in the way you are eating.

This type of eating takes a while to learn and tolerate. If you can stick to it for 30 days or more you won't regret it. It's not really a diet plan, but more like a lifestyle change.