What’s a right portion size?
Do you know?
Eyeballing correct portion sizes can be ridiculously hard. Most of us get it wrong. I’m know I over-estimate what exactly the proper half cup serving of ice cream is ALL the time.
So how do we get it right? How can we eyeball portion sizes so we aren’t wondering if we’re getting it right and also wondering why we can’t lose weight or always feel stuffed and bloated after eating.
Here’s how we get our portion sizes right: It’s called The Plate Method.
The plate method of eating is your never-fail, never-measure guide to getting your portion sizes right every time.
Before we get into the EASY way, let’s quickly talk about the HARD way. The hard way’s called the hand method.
Let’s review what it is and why you should stop, shall we?
The hard way is the way everyone wants you to THINK is the easy way. It’s not. It’s definitely the hard way.
The hard way to figure out portion sizes
This is where your palm or your thumb or your first is supposed to represent how much of something you can eat. Like a palm sized piece of steak or a thumbnail size of added butter. You might have also seen it as a deck of cards or dice or a golf ball set of sizing instructions.
Maybe this works for some people.
Personally, I think it’s way too abstract. I mean, who has time to contemplate if the meat on a chicken leg is palm size or if it’s closer to full hand size.
I know I have NO idea how big a set of dice really is. And even if I did, I could never tell you if this slice of cheese my girl put out on the cheese board is the same size as a dice cube I’ve imagined in my head. Is it an ounce? Is it more than an ounce? Who knows.
It’s a lot to figure out. Way too much to figure out.
The best way for getting portion sizes right is The Plate Method.
This way is all about eyeballing.
Visually organizing the food you eat so you can see right away how close you’re getting to correct serving sizes.
It works every time. The only way you can mess up is if just ignore the guidelines in the first place.
The concept is super simple. You’ve probably even heard of how it works a few times already.
There are 2 steps
Step 1. Make half of every meal, vegetables (or mostly fruit). This is step 1 for a reason. We do this when our plate is empty because science tells us we’ll put more on an empty plate than a plate with less room. So fill it up, right out of the gate.
Make your vegetable (or fruit) the star of your meal. Make it a central part of your recipe. Highlight it. Celebrate it. Love on it.
Step 2. Split the other half of the ENTIRE meal (drinks and dessert included) in half. Yes, you’re getting this right. We’re talking about HALF, of half of your meal. That’s 2-quarters. One part for the dedicated carbs and the other part for your dedicated protein.
I say dedicated because there’s not much else in a cup of rice or pasta other than carbs and nothing else in a piece of steak or fish other than protein (and fat).
Part B of step 2 will be you get you thinking more about foods that do double and triple duty, but that’s a bigger conversation for another time.
Right now, just remember carbs and protein. Those are the foods that will make up the OTHER half of your meal.
That’s it. Just these 2 things. Remembering these 2 steps to the plate method will make sure you stay on track.
The key to success
The key to getting your portions sizes right using the plate method is remembering we’re talking about the entire meal. Not just what’s on your plate during the main event.
Think about the entire meal as anything you eat within the 30 minutes before and the 30 minutes after you finish the main course.
That means the entire meal includes whatever you drink with your meal (or after it’s done). It also means anything you snack on after the meal also count.
Simple carbohydrates can sneak up on us. Think of them as anything with concentrated sugar. Like juice (or soda or lemonade or caramel latte with extra drizzle). Or like the cookies (or handful of M&Ms or a leftover break-room donut or last cupcake from the party).
Stay on track with your portion sizes by making a simple choices.
If you just ordered a sandwich, skip the bread basket. If you’re fully committed to drinking that bottle of iced tea after lunch, don’t order the fries.
Simple might not be easy, but these choices are straight forward.
Practice following The Plate Method and you’ll start getting the hang of what a right portion size is, faster than you might expect.
It’s simple to remember, there’s no math, and you’ll never end up at a bottomless brunch, squinting at the bread basket trying to figure out how much bread is the size of a deck of cards after 3 mimosas.
Now go out there, and eat appropriate serving sizes like a pro!