Rules of thumb for estimating portions

We all use rules of thumb for estimating the right amount to eat.

For example, most of us pour out half a bowl of cereal. No matter how big the bowl is.

We pour out a half glass of orange juice or wine. Use taller thinner glasses. You will enjoy the drink just as much, and your waistline will be happier.

My hero Brian Wansink offers this rule of thumb for checking packaged food.

If the calories are a smaller number than the grams, the food has low energy density. This would be a great choice.
If the calories are equal to, or twice as much, as the grams, eat moderately and watch your portion size.
If the calories are more than twice the grams, limit your portions.

He has teamed up with other foodie colleagues to create a new website full of useful information.
http://www.carolinebrowntherapy.com/

Big isn't better

Eating a large portion does not make you feel more satisfied than eating a small one. That's good news isn't it. So if you eat a smaller portion, you won't physically feel any less content. This research was carried out at Penn State University. They also show that people eat more if they are given a larger portion. Indeed, most of us will eat what is put in front of us. (We do it on an aeroplane, and we do it at home as well!)



So it means that if you serve yourself a smaller portion, you will feel fine. The easiest way to do this is to use a smaller plate. That way you can deceive your eyes about the size of the portion. When your eyes see a full plate, all of you feels that you are not being short-changed.

A normal-sized portion looks pretty mean and disappointing on one of the huge plates we now seem to use for our meals. The same sized portion on a smaller plate looks fine. This is because of the Delboeuf Illusion.

Hypnotherapy will help you to make regular changes to your eating patterns, so that you automatically eat in a healthier way, without having to think about food all the time.

We are eating the same things, so why is my husband so skinny and I am overweight?

Women need less energy to run their bodies than men do, and therefore need to eat less than men, even of the same weight, height, age etc etc etc. So it follows that if you eat the same as your husband, unless he is really teeny weeny, then either he will shrivel away to nothing or the woman will put on weight.

Women 's portions need to be smaller than men's. How can we achieve this?

The easiest way is to use a smaller plate yourself. This will make it easier for you to estimate a healthier portion. Large plates give us a subliminal message that large portions are okay. Join the Small Plate Movement, run by my hero Brian Wansink of Cornell University.

When you have got used to using a smaller plate (it takes a weekend), you no longer have to think about food all the time. Your plate size does it for you.

www.carolinebrowntherapy.com