The Myth of Portion Control in your Diet

One of the big mainstream diet tips is to control your portion sizes. If you simply made your portion sizes smaller, you would lose weight right? - wrong !!! Every woman that I have trained and currently train have not been eating too large of portions. In fact, all of these women have been eating 1-3 times a day with an average of 1 tiny meal (usually breakfast), 1 small to moderate meal (usually lunch) and then 1 big meal (usually dinner with the family). So for the most part, portion sizes are not an issue except at dinner and afterwards. The problem with this standard eating way is that the meals are not the same size, not of the same macronutrient ratio, not consistent, and many times just not healthy.

So how do I relate portion size/control to my nutrition plan for you? My idea of portion size/control is by getting in your 5-6 meals a day, every 2-3 hours, of a pre-determined macronutrient ratio and a standard calorie amount for each meal. This means that you are constantly fueling your body with a standard protein/fat/carb ratio and calorie amount which raises your metabolism, burns fat and builds muscle.

Can you use portion sizes to try to equate your calorie needs without counting? - absolutely. Use the standard fist size of this, 2 fist sizes of that, handful of something else to keep from having to count calories. Or another way is to use the plate method where the biggest portion on the plate is of this (protein), next biggest portion is of that (good fats) and then the remainder is of whatever else (fibrous carbs).

So the bottom line is not to worry about tiny portion sizes to reduce calories. Stick to the meal plan and the nutrition principles to get your 5-6 meals, every 2-3 hours, with your deficit calorie requirements and macronutrient ratio. This, combined with your fitness program will get you the results that you are looking for.

Don't drink the mainstream portion control kool aid.

Eric Dempsey
NASM C.P.T
Dempsey's Resolution Fitness
www.dempseysresolution.com