Four Simple Ways To Practice Portion Control Savviness When Dining Out

I really feel that nutrition should be simple and non-imposing, fitting nicely around your lifestyle. Therefore it is important to find ways to simplify things and sometimes some of these methods may need to be a little bit unconventional and creative.

Being savvy in Portion control is one of the areas where there is the need to be creative, because it is such an important part of weight management and is often a bit of a drag for most. I personal find it work to measure food and I know that many others do as well. It just takes so much of the fun out of eating and implies that you need to count calories.

Many times the greatest challenge with portion control is when we go out to eat. The portion sizes of restaurant menu items are so very exaggerated. There's usually much more on the plate than one person could ever eat.

1. One good way of managing this is to ask for an extra plate and dish out a smaller quantity from the meal before even beginning to eat. This way you are more likely to leave more food on the original plate than you would have if you had began eating from it right away. You can then easily take any remainder home in a doggy bag.

2. Another easy portion control method is sharing the meal with a friend or two depending on how big it is.

3. One idea that may not be even considered or widely practiced as a portion control technique for adults is choosing items from the kids menu. These items usually reflect true recommended serving sizes vs. oversized menu choices, cost significantly less and even contain mini-versions of regular menu items. The latter is especially true with fast food restaurants where the kids menu reflects items on the main menu in smaller portions.

4. Consider small plates or half plates. If this is not indicated on the menu, ask whether the restaurant offers its. Some restaurants such as Cheesecake Factory offer a comprehensive small plate section on their menu.

Being portion savvy when dining out is not only essential to successful portion control and weight management, but can be easily done if you are open to becoming a bit unconventional and inventive. Happy Dining!



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,