If you haven’t tried this portion control secret you should: eat off smaller plates. We have found this to be especially effective since our family has gotten larger and I find myself making several different dishes for dinner. There’s something about a table full of food and the daunting task of either throwing food out or coaxing another meal out of leftovers that leads us to filling up our plates again. . .and again. . .and again. But choosing to pile your food up on a small plate (which in turn leads to smaller piles) will lead you to take in less calories.
However, there’s a new research proven twist on the traditional ‘smaller plate’ trick. Dr. Sue Pederson has developed a portion control plate. The plate has markings on it to show you specifically how much of each type of food you can eat.
But Does It Work?
A study done at the University of Calgary, has proven that this strategy is effective in helping obese patients reduce their caloric intake. The study started when researchers noted that people tend to like to clean their plates. This is so true. I either don’t want to deal with putting leftovers away (lazy, I know) or I don’t want to throw the food out.
Amazingly, Dr. Pederson and her team suggest that using the portion control dishes yields the same percentage and rate of weight loss as does medications. But this is better because by simply controlling your portions with the help of the delineated plates, you are avoiding side effects as well as keeping your weight loss cost down.
The group who used the portion control plates, lost an average of approximately 2% of their body fat. Interestingly, the control group, who did not use the portion control plates during the 6 month study, had an increase in the likelihood of them need more diabetes medication.