What Is The Right Food Portion You Should Be Eating To Lose Weight?

It is easy to eat too much food. Large bags of chips, huge restaurant portions and king-sized candy bars are everywhere. The Mayo Clinic recommends monitoring your portions and paying attention to serving sizes of the foods you eat to lose weight. It may not seem like eating a smaller bagel will make a difference in your weight loss process, but when you eat fewer calories than you need, you can lose weight.

History

The average portion size of many foods we eat has changed dramatically over the years. Twenty years ago the average size of a cup of coffee with milk and sugar was 8 oz. and contained 45 calories. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, a mocha coffee, with whole milk and syrup today is 16 oz. and contains about 350 calories. Restaurant meals, muffins, bagels, cookies and many other foods we eat have also increased in size.

Significance

Eating the right portion sizes has a strong effect on your weight loss success. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2006 and led by Barbara J. Rolls, Ph.D., found that when the participants ate large portion sizes they ingested more calories and gained weight. But if you control your food portions throughout your day, you can more easily manage your weight.

Function

When you are trying to lose weight, you must eat less food than your body needs. Extreme diets that limit the types of foods you eat can help you lose weight in the short term, but do not teach you how to eat for the rest of your life. Learning to eat your favorite foods in small quantities may make it easier to maintain your weight once you reach your goal.

Benefits

Eating the right portion sizes can help you lose weight while you are dieting. Even though breads, lean meats and vegetables are all healthy foods, you can gain weight eating too much of these foods. Having knowledge of proper portions can help you avoid unintentionally eating more calories than you need. According to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, eating just 100 calories more a day may cause you to gain 10 pounds a year. Combine calorie reduction, exercise and portion control to lose weight.

Considerations

Consider weighing and measuring your food. Measure a cup of grapes in a measuring cup, put a tablespoon of peanut butter on a slice of bread and count crackers before you eat. As you practice, you will become better at visually determining how much of a food you should eat. Serve yourself just 3 oz. of meat, a serving of two different vegetables and one serving of bread for dinner. In his book, "The End of Overeating," Dr. David A. Kessler explains that learning to eat just one small portion of food at a time helps you lose weight and end your tendency to eat more than you should.