Portion Sizes vs. Serving Sizes
One of the questions I am consistently asked is: “What’s a healthy serving of that? (point at food item).” So let me just go ahead and add to the confusion right up front…there is no “right portion” of every food item for every person. We are all built with different genetics, metabolisms and energy requirements, which would make it impossible for me to decide that 1 cup of pasta is a good portion for everyone. However, there is a big difference between a PORTION size and a SERVING size. Armed with this knowledge, you can begin to decide what a “healthy serving” of (point at food item) would be for you.
The term “serving size” is really only listed on nutrition facts labels on packages of food. A serving size is absolutely not the way you should decide how much of that particular item you should eat. The serving size listed on nutrition facts labels are strictly the amount that the company decided to use in order to list the required nutrients on their product. Serving sizes are often manipulated by companies in order to catch people who aren’t paying attention. For instance, go ahead and look at how many servings there are in a Top Ramen package, or in a bottle of coca-cola. Most people look at a nutrition label and their eyes go to the calories, fat grams or maybe sodium, and will make their decision based on those numbers; but if you don’t look at the serving size those numbers were calculated from, looking at the label is pretty much useless. We will talk more about label-reading and what those numbers mean in another post.
So, if a serving size is just something a company uses to calculate nutrients for a label, it’s certainly not something YOU should use to determine how much food goes on your plate. This is where portion size comes in. I want everyone reading this to throw out any knowledge of portion sizes that you’ve taken from fad-diets, your next door neighbor’s, sisters, hair dresser who lost 25 lbs, or any book that has a title line that includes the words “revolution”, “ultimate”, “guaranteed” or anything else remotely close to those. It is NOT true that you should only eat your fist-size worth of food at a time. It is NOT true that you cannot drink liquids while you eat. It is NOT true that your stomach can morph sizes and shapes…I know, it’s ok, take a deep breath and pick your jaw up of the floor. A portion size is the amount of food that we choose to put on our plates, that size needs to be determined by each of us, each meal, each day by listening to our own bodies hunger and fullness cues. Now, understand that these hunger and fullness cues were designed within us as a way to signal the bodies need for fuel – for survival. As babies, we eat when we are hungry and stop when we are full, but over time, time which includes over-eating, using food as comfort, restricting food intake, yo-yo dieting, food addiction, etc, these hunger and fullness cues can disappear. Those of you who laughed out loud when you read the previous sentence “…that size needs to be determined by each of us, each meal, each day by listening to our own bodies hunger and fullness cues”, probably did so because you no longer feel those cues.
For those who have lost hunger and fullness cues, the way to get them back is by treating your body well and giving it consistent nutrition. That means following some basic guidelines until your body trusts you enough to give you back those hormone-driven cues.
Never go longer than 3-4 hours without eating.
Always eat breakfast
Follow the Plate Model for Lunch and Dinner
Drink lots of water – PLAIN WATER. Coffee and tea and pop do not count.
The plate model is a simple way of visualizing portion sizes on a dinner plate. It is a great way to watch your portions while you wait for those hunger and fullness cues to return.
When you look at your plate, visualize it in 4 even sections, as shown here. The letters represent different food groups:
V- Veggies
P - Protein
C – Carbohydrate
Using this visual model, you can rearrange your
plate wherever you are, at home, or even in a
restaurant, to fuel your body with even portions.
Once you’ve treated your body well for a few weeks, or even a few months, those cues will start to come back and your portion sizes will become more tailored to your own physical needs.
As a side note, there are really cute plates called “Slimware” that follow a similar plate model in a sneaky way. For those of you that need the actual design on your plate each meal, they are a great way to remind you of your portions without anyone knowing it. I don’t sell the plates or make any money off of the plates, I just came across them randomly, check them out: http://www.slimware.com/
So, now you understand why people stop asking me questions when we’re at dinner like “So, how much of this (point at food item) is a healthy amount to eat?”
Happy Eating!
Blessings,
Ashley
One of the questions I am consistently asked is: “What’s a healthy serving of that? (point at food item).” So let me just go ahead and add to the confusion right up front…there is no “right portion” of every food item for every person. We are all built with different genetics, metabolisms and energy requirements, which would make it impossible for me to decide that 1 cup of pasta is a good portion for everyone. However, there is a big difference between a PORTION size and a SERVING size. Armed with this knowledge, you can begin to decide what a “healthy serving” of (point at food item) would be for you.
The term “serving size” is really only listed on nutrition facts labels on packages of food. A serving size is absolutely not the way you should decide how much of that particular item you should eat. The serving size listed on nutrition facts labels are strictly the amount that the company decided to use in order to list the required nutrients on their product. Serving sizes are often manipulated by companies in order to catch people who aren’t paying attention. For instance, go ahead and look at how many servings there are in a Top Ramen package, or in a bottle of coca-cola. Most people look at a nutrition label and their eyes go to the calories, fat grams or maybe sodium, and will make their decision based on those numbers; but if you don’t look at the serving size those numbers were calculated from, looking at the label is pretty much useless. We will talk more about label-reading and what those numbers mean in another post.
So, if a serving size is just something a company uses to calculate nutrients for a label, it’s certainly not something YOU should use to determine how much food goes on your plate. This is where portion size comes in. I want everyone reading this to throw out any knowledge of portion sizes that you’ve taken from fad-diets, your next door neighbor’s, sisters, hair dresser who lost 25 lbs, or any book that has a title line that includes the words “revolution”, “ultimate”, “guaranteed” or anything else remotely close to those. It is NOT true that you should only eat your fist-size worth of food at a time. It is NOT true that you cannot drink liquids while you eat. It is NOT true that your stomach can morph sizes and shapes…I know, it’s ok, take a deep breath and pick your jaw up of the floor. A portion size is the amount of food that we choose to put on our plates, that size needs to be determined by each of us, each meal, each day by listening to our own bodies hunger and fullness cues. Now, understand that these hunger and fullness cues were designed within us as a way to signal the bodies need for fuel – for survival. As babies, we eat when we are hungry and stop when we are full, but over time, time which includes over-eating, using food as comfort, restricting food intake, yo-yo dieting, food addiction, etc, these hunger and fullness cues can disappear. Those of you who laughed out loud when you read the previous sentence “…that size needs to be determined by each of us, each meal, each day by listening to our own bodies hunger and fullness cues”, probably did so because you no longer feel those cues.
For those who have lost hunger and fullness cues, the way to get them back is by treating your body well and giving it consistent nutrition. That means following some basic guidelines until your body trusts you enough to give you back those hormone-driven cues.
Never go longer than 3-4 hours without eating.
Always eat breakfast
Follow the Plate Model for Lunch and Dinner
Drink lots of water – PLAIN WATER. Coffee and tea and pop do not count.
The plate model is a simple way of visualizing portion sizes on a dinner plate. It is a great way to watch your portions while you wait for those hunger and fullness cues to return.
When you look at your plate, visualize it in 4 even sections, as shown here. The letters represent different food groups:
V- Veggies
P - Protein
C – Carbohydrate
Using this visual model, you can rearrange yourplate wherever you are, at home, or even in a
restaurant, to fuel your body with even portions.
Once you’ve treated your body well for a few weeks, or even a few months, those cues will start to come back and your portion sizes will become more tailored to your own physical needs.
As a side note, there are really cute plates called “Slimware” that follow a similar plate model in a sneaky way. For those of you that need the actual design on your plate each meal, they are a great way to remind you of your portions without anyone knowing it. I don’t sell the plates or make any money off of the plates, I just came across them randomly, check them out: http://www.slimware.com/
So, now you understand why people stop asking me questions when we’re at dinner like “So, how much of this (point at food item) is a healthy amount to eat?”
Happy Eating!
Blessings,
Ashley
