Why talk about diet portion control?

Well, consider these questions. Do you find yourself sitting down to a large meal when you're not particularly hungry, then eating the lot? Perhaps you were eating at a friend's place and didn't want to insult your host. Or perhaps, when you were a child, your mother insisted you finish everything on your plate and...some old habits die hard.

These days, not only do old habits hang around, but food serving sizes have increased.

The result is ballooning weight, ill fitting clothes, poor health, loss of quality of life, a cringe reaction when we look at ourselves in the mirror. After all, what woman wants arms the size of her partner's thighs?

Why does this happen? Assuming you have no major medical issues lurking in the background, weight gain boils down to a very simple formula: calories consumed in excess of calories expended turn into fat.

So, there are two approaches to losing weight: one is reducing your calorie intake and the other is increasing your calorie expenditure by doing more exercise. You may like to check this hub for more information about exercise.

Read on to discover more about portion control and serving sizes.

The basis of any fat loss program is a healthy eating plan. Healthy eating depends on two components:

• selecting good quality food
• having the appropriate number of portions of each food type each day
• having portions that are of the appropriate serving size

If we do this, we'll be able to eat healthy no matter where we are: at home, in the office, at a party or on the beach.

Healthy food

A healthy diet starts with good food you can buy in the supermarket. Focus on fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grain pastas and cereals, also low fat dairy products and lean meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian equivalents.

Good food provides us with the nutrients we require to remain healthy. These include proteins, carbohydrates, fat and water, also micronutrients like vitamins and minerals. Feel free to check this link to find out more about healthy food.

But exactly how much of these foods should you eat? Good question.  For example, a small chicken breast, a serving of grapes or a medium potato should fit into the palm of your hand. A medium serving of dry spaghetti will fit on a woman's ring set on its side. Check this link to get more ideas about serving sizes.

It's also a good idea to eat regular meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, a small snack in between them and, if need be, another snack just before you go to bed. That way you won't allow yourself to become starving hungry or overfull.

You can help yourself to feel full if you eat all your meals from a lunch plate. This tip is particularly important if you're eating at a restaurant. For some reason, restaurants seem to serve lunches on dinner plates and dinners on serving platters - and we eat the lot because to do otherwise would be wasteful.

If you're eating at home, it's helpful to drink a couple of glasses of water about half an hour before your meal. That will help you to feel more full. It's also useful to serve your meal direct to your plate and put the balance away in the fridge. If you do that, you won't feel tempted to pick at the leftovers.

In summary, a healthy diet is the basis of any good weight loss plan. It is also the basis of a lifetime of good health.

A healthy diet is based on nutritious food served at appropriate times and in appropriate amounts.

Maintaining good portion control will help you to eat the amount you need to be healthy.

Go get started on your healthy diet portion control today. :-)

If you would like to learn more about diet portion control, feel free to check these two programs:

• Strip That Fat - Lose up to 10 lbs in just 2 weeks!
• Fitness Model Program - How to look like a fitness model without being one!