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Eating too much in one sitting can completely derail weight loss progress no matter what you are eating.

That’s right, even if you are eating really healthy, if you eat too much food – meaning more food than your body actually needs – you may store that food as fat.  

Portion control can help us to ensure we don’t overeat in one sitting.  

Let’s dive into the first method.

Portion Control Method 1 – Change the story you are telling yourself about food

This might sound a little weird but I’m speaking from experience with this.  I had a major scarcity mindset when I would eat.  I’d be nervous to stop or simply fear not eating enough.  

Just so you know – that’s completely normal and innate.  It’s how our brains are wired!  But, our food-is-scarce wired brain hasn’t caught up with the food-is-in-abundance world.

Think back to a time when you couldn’t stop eating or over-ate in one sitting.  What thoughts were going through your head?  “This is too good to stop”  “I can’t stop” “I want to keep eating this”  “I can’t get enough.” 

Switch the story you are telling yourself to “I can eat this later”  “This will be there for me later” “I have had enough food now, but will get to eat some of this later” “Food will be there for me when I’m ready to eat again.”

Portion Control Method 2 – Eating slowly

Slowly and mindfully chew your food. Put your fork down between each bite and taste the flavors of your food. This uber-simple practice is a first step in portion control and intuitive eating.

Our bodies take some time to break down and process the foods we eat.  Your brain also takes some time to register you’ve eaten enough calories for that meal. When we slow down, our brains have time to keep up with our hunger and satiety signals.

When you eat slowly, you give your brain enough time to “catch up” to how much food you just consume.  Then, you are more likely to receive those fullness signals at appropriate times, before it’s too late.

Portion Control Method 3 – Using macros to track your food intake

You can do this a few ways –  Use hand portions to track your food intake or logging your meals in an app like MyFitnessPal or LoseIt.

When I was first starting my health journey and trying to lose some weight – this was my preferred method of portion control.  I had NO idea how much food I was actually consuming and tracking my food was such an eye opener!  

If you’ve never tried this before you can simply download an app, measure the food you eat (you’ll need a kitchen scale), and log that into the app.

Here are a few other resources on this:

Macro Counting 101 for Fat Loss

Counting Macros for Weight Loss?  Don’t Make These Mistakes

Hand portion calorie control

Portion Control Method 4 – Using hunger and satiety cues

This is more of an advanced skill but one worth practicing.  We all have signals of hunger and fullness and can use these to control how much we eat in a given setting (portion control).

Think of hunger to satiety on a scale of 1-10.

The goal is to stay within 3-7 at all times.  Eating a balanced meal every 3-4 hours will help you achieve this.  

Take a moment right now and scan how you are feeling.  

What level of hunger to satiety are you right now?  How long might you have until you reach level 3?  Now that you have this skill set, you can start planning ahead to avoid the levels 1-2 where we tend to overeat and portion control goes out the window.

Portion Control Method 5 – Using meal prep – pre-portioning meals in advance.

The secret of the most consistent healthy balanced eaters is knowing what they will eat ahead of time!  Planning your food, batch cooking, and pre-portioning in advance will set you up for portion control success. 

Simply taking the time to plan even 1 meal ahead of time can reduce stress, overwhelm, guilt, and keep you consistent with eating for your goals.  And believe it or not, even one healthy balanced meal, planned in advance, will make a difference.

While you are here, don’t forget to sign up for the free 5 day clean eating challenge, you’ll get a grocery list, 5 day meal plan, and daily health tips throughout the 5 days. Sign up now!