Understanding portion control ?

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What is portion control?

Portion control is understanding the right amounts of food that you should be consuming at any given time. Lack of portion control is one of the main reasons why people fail to lose or maintain a healthy weight. A lot of the time people believe they are eating healthy food, however their portion sizes are far too big than what they should be. They may be eating all of the ‘good foods’ however if the calories were calculated they would be far too high than what they should be consuming.

As we all know to lose weight we have to burn more energy than we take in. It is easy enough to understand but why do so many of us have problems with being successful with our healthy eating or weight loss?

There are many many reasons why people fail on a diet plan. Portion control is definately one of them. Some people believe that if they fill their plates with the good food they will still lose weight. Unfortunately calories are calories and if you overconsume energy from what your body needs you will store fat and gain weight.

By understanding what your portion sizes should look like you will have a far greater chance or being successful when dieting or on a diet plan.

Tips to regulate your portion sizes

1. Increase your understanding on the energy density of foods.

Having a base knowledge of foods and knowing what calories are in certain foods will help you make healthier choices and give you an understanding of how much energy is on your plate. Once you understand the energy density of most foods, you can then make accurate decisions with your food choices. You will know what to put on your plate and what not to put on your plate. You will also understand the quantities of each. This will definately help you in selecting the right choices on your diet plan.

2. Choose or buy smaller plates

As silly as this may sound, it is extremely easy to overconsume food when you use a big plate.  As we have all been conditioned as kids to ‘clear your plate’ and ‘dont leave any food’ you are far more likely to eat more if you have a bigger plate. Also you may be pleasantly suprised how much you actually don’t need and still feel satisfied.

Take the picture below as an example. Although there is the same amount of food here on both plates, lets be honest how easy would it be to ‘fill up’ the bigger plate? It is natural to think you need more food as the plate looks empty. The calories are still the same but when using a bigger plate it is far easier to put more food on your plate and let your portions get out of control.

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3. Read the recommended portion sizes on the food label and note the calories per portion.

By having a brief read of the food labels this will highlight to you the energy density of the portion size you are about to eat. Again after reading labels for a short period of time you will have a far better understanding on the quantities you should be having and what calories/energy is in what. This may also help you make healthier/different choices when selecting what meals to make/buy. Knowledge is the key to making those healthy choices. You don’t have to go to the extreme with counting every calorie and every food label but having a better understanding will definately help you with your eating habits.

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4. Use a weighing scales

A fantastic way to understand your portions is to buy a digital kitchen weighing scales. You will only have to use this for a short period of time to understand portion sizes. It will raise your awareness on the quantities of foods. This is exactly what makes calorie controlled food and this is how we produce all of our diet meals and diet plans. We freshly prepare all of the meals and they are weighed out in the correct portions for our customers to ensure they are calorie controlled. Once you have done this for a short while you will have a far better idea of calories and what portion sizes should look like.

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Then you can say goodbye to mr weighing scales! You will then be able to accurately estimate your portion sizes without the weighing scales and it will give you the flexibility in wherever you are to make the right judgement as you now know the energy density of the foods and will help you when trying to follow a diet plan. This will really help you over the longer term and highlight the amounts you should be having.

4. Listen to your body

If you are extremely full after having a meal it is probably because you have eat too much and have taken in too much energy. Even if you think you have just had a healthy meal if you do not listen to your body and stop eating when you are full this is also a sign of overeating which will prevent you from losing weight and potentialy make you gain weight. It sounds extremely simple but it is quite easily done to overeat especially if you are enjoying your food and you want to finish your meal. Again this is where it links with our first point with choosing the smaller plate, if its not there you are less likely to eat it!

What we actually need and what we think we need!

You may be surprised what your body actually needs in comparison to what we think we need.

This conditioning is due to a habit/routine that has been created over a period of time. If you have always eat big portions this will be the norm for you and changing this may be quite difficult. You tend to find people who are overweight have family members who may be also overweight. This is down to portion control and what they have been used to eating. Breaking this habit/routine is crucial in developing a healthy lifestyle and to lose weight on any diet plan. Breaking the habit/routine is the hardest part of dieting or losing weight.

Once you replace the big portions for the smaller portions and you break the habit/routine and can stay consistent with your healthy eating this is where you will see great results in your weight loss and overall health. This is where long term weight loss results occur!

So ultimately to have portion control over your food firstly you need to get an understanding of the foods you eat and how many calories they contain. By increasing your knowledge it allows you make healthier food choices.

If you don’t know how to do this read the food labels and then use a digital kitchen scales to weigh out a portion for yourself to work out how much energy it contains. This will most likely shock you. It is extremely easy to put double or triple the recommended portion size into a bowl and demolish it with ease!

Just take a look at these photos below from kate-fit.co.uk and no limit personal training. You can see there is a difference of 116 calories in the photo on the left and how easy is that to do!? Just from being unaware of the calories that almonds contain you can easily consume too much energy without realising!

Also taking the photo on the right look at the portion sizes of 100 calories within nuts. If you didn’t know this and you natuarlly thought that nuts are healthy would you actually pick these portion sizes? I know my answer and that would be definately not and probably choose double the amount shown in the photo!
Like many other foods nuts are extremely healthy and contain good sources of fat, fiber and protein. However, these need to be consumed in the right portion sizes otherwise you could be packing on the weight eating all of the ‘healthy foods’.

It is so easy to make these mistakes and so many people do just because of misunderstanding portion control and the energy density of different foods.

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By using the 4 tips above they can really help you eat the right portions and help you lose weight or maintain a healthy eating plan. The greater your understanding on portion control the more likely you will choose healthier choices especially if you are looking to lose weight. Reading food labels and using a digital weighing scales will definately help you achieve this.

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If you really struggle with portion control and would like some help this is where we can help you. We offer several different diet plans. They range from 750kcal to 1750kcal. All of our food is freshly prepared and weighed to create your perfect calorie controlled diet plan. It also is extremely convenient if you have a busy lifestyle and need food on the go and haven’t got time to cook. We will do the work for you so you don’t have to! This includes everything including breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks. Check out our reviews on TrustPilot & Facebook of what our customers think.

Also we have a discount code for a huge saving of £25 for new customers so they can try our food on the taster plan. At the checkout use the code TASTER25. This will enable you to try our plans/food and to see if we can help you :-). 

If portion control is a problem for you if you follow the four steps above and understand what the portion sizes you should be having it will help you get long term results.

Really hope this helps you! Any questions/enquiries feel free to send us an email at [email protected].

 

How to be successful on a weight loss plan

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The key to losing weight is expending more energy than you take in. It really is that simple! Now executing a diet plan or healthy eating plan is the key to losing weight is expending more energy than you take in. It really is that simple! Now executing a diet plan or healthy eating plan is a completely different scenario. On any weight loss plan, CONSISTENCY is key. completely different scenario. On any weight loss plan, CONSISTENCY is key.

calorie deficit diet plan

How many people do you know who diet for a week or two and are back to where they started or even heavier? They may lose several pounds within the first week or two but after being extremely hungry or fed up with the new fad diet they are doing they can not take it anymore and rebound.

How do we stay consistent on a diet plan?

There are two main factors to help you stay consistent:

1.You have to enjoy the food you are eating. 

2. You have to be on a realistic daily calorie deficit.

 

On any weight loss/healthy eating plan to lose weight and burn FAT you are going to have to be consistent for at least a few weeks or months depending on how much you have to lose. If you do NOT like the food you are eating or are following a new fad diet that is not realistic over the long term, you will FAIL. Diet plans and diet food should not be torture. They should actually make you feel much better physically and mentally.

Also, the biggest reason why people fail is they pick the lowest calorie option possible (For example living on shakes) which adds up to around 500 calories a day and they just cannot withstand the hunger pains!

You have to be on a calorie deficit to lose weight (less calories that your body burns), however, you need to be on a realistic calorie deficit per day to help you stay consistent.  We recommend a 500 – 1000kcal deficit per day to help you achieve these results. This may not create fast weight loss results but it will create long-lasting results.

Remember everybody has different calorie requirements so each person will need a different amount of food to help them lose weight.
For example, A 50-year-old sedentary female will not burn as much as a 25-year-old active male. To lose weight both of these people will need a different calorie intake to get the best results.

A 750 – 1000kcal plan may work for a 50-year-old female however it would be extremely tough for a 25-year-old active male to successfully lose weight and to be able to follow this diet plan over a period of time. This is because the energy requirements are completely different and much more food will be needed.

By taking our nutritional assessment on our homepage it will tell you what plan is best suited to you. This will calculate your personal statistics and generate a calorie controlled plan that is best suited to you to help you consistently lose weight.

Another prime factor in losing weight is enjoying the food that you are eating. You have to think over a 4/8/12 week period to really see weight loss results.

4 weeks – For you to see the difference.
8 weeks – For everyone else to see a difference.
12 weeks – To change your life and have longlasting results.

So taking this into consideration the food that you are eating should not only be calorie controlled but tasty and enjoyable. This is why we allow our customers to change their meal preferences week to week so they can select the choices they prefer.

This prevents menu boredom and helps their chances of success. So to conclude on how to lose weight, the best and most sustainable way is to select a reasonable calorie intake and to select food that you are going to enjoy over a period of time. We hope this helps with any weight loss plan or diet food delivery that you may choose!

To lose weight you need to work out your daily calorie expenditure and what you need per day to maintain your weight. There are many calculators online that can you tell you an estimation of what you need. Also if you see a one fits all diet plan STAY AWAY!

Everybody has different energy needs, so you need to choose a calorie intake each day that is going to allow you to be on a calorie deficit to help you lose weight but is feasible for you. We recommend a deficit for most people of around 750 – 1000kcal per day. This is a fair calorie reduction to see long-term results. Also, the more body fat that you carry the higher your calorie deficit can be, hence why bigger people lose weight faster than smaller people.

Consistency! Anybody can lose weight over a 3 or 4 day period. This is done by reducing the calorie intake to an extremely low amount and after a few days jumping on the scales and seeing a huge result. This is NOT fat loss! This is more than likely your body getting rid of the junk food that is sitting in your stomach. Hence, a week later you are back to your normal weight or even heavier as you have rebounded and eaten twice as much after you have been incredibly hungry.

However, to get long-lasting results it needs to be turned into a lifestyle and to be done over an extended period of time.

How do you achieve this?

The best way to stay consistent on any healthy eating/weight loss plan is to enjoy the food that you are eating and to eat enough food so you are not ridiculously starving. These are the key factors helping you lose weight so you are not craving different types of food.

It is commonly known that to lose weight you need to expend more energy than you take in. That is it! But still, everybody loves the new fad or new ridiculously low-calorie diet with just shakes for example. These are not going to help you lose weight over the longer term. If anything they make it worse as most people rebound from being so hungry and eat more!

So three key actions you need to do to lose weight:

1. Work out your INDIVIDUAL daily calorie requirements. Remember age, height, weight, gender and activity level all play a role in this.

2. Reduce that calorie intake by 750 – 1000kcal per day to create a calorie deficit. 3500kcal = 1lb of fat, so a 1000kcal deficit per day will equal 7000kcal over a 7 day period. This is a 2lb fat loss.

3. Find food that you like and how it can fit into your reduced calorie intake. You have to take your lifestyle into consideration and you need to plan in advance. Everybody has a different lifestyle, so when and what you eat needs to be taken into consideration.