How to Portion Control (How to Lose Weight

with Portion Control)

It’s time to learn how to portion control!
There are all sorts of “tips” and “tricks” out there, but today we’re
going to show you the best method.
What makes me so confident?
For many of our Online Coaching clients, we create portion
control strategies for weight loss that don’t suck. Today, we’ll
share them with you too!
What Are 5 Methods for Portion Control?

The key to sustainable weight loss is getting ourselves to

consume fewer calories in a way that doesn’t make us
miserable. 
Because our brains and bodies are complicated emotional disasters,
there are some tips and tricks we can implement to protect us from…
ourselves:
1. Use smaller plates. Folks will often eat what’s placed in front of
them, so using smaller dinnerware has been shown to help people
eat less.[1]
2. Drink a glass of water before your meal. If you chug a glass
of water 30 minutes before you plan on eating, the H20 will take up
some room in your stomach. This might help you eat less.[2]
3. Take it slow. It can take about 20 minutes for your body to
come around to the fact that it’s full, so slowing down your meals
can help you eat less.[3]
4. Use a food journal. Recording everything you eat and drink is a
great way to become aware of portions, which can help you control
them.[4] In fact, one of the first missions we have Nerd Fitness
Prime members complete is creating a food journal. 
All of these strategies will work to some extent, and they’re good to
keep in mind and also practice.
However, nothing will get more consistent results than actually
learning the number of calories in the food you eat (Portion Control
Tip #5)!
This is our number one recommendation for how to lose weight. 

Study[4] after study[5] after study[6] shows that our bodies obey the laws

of thermodynamics and that in order to lose weight, we need to burn
more calories than we consume regularly.
 When you consume more calories than you burn, your body
tends to store those extra calories as fat (weight gain).
 When you burn more calories than you consume, your body
will pull from fat stores for energy (weight loss).
Determining your exact “calories in” can be a real pain. Not only that,
but many people with certain personality traits can become neurotic
about tracking every single calorie, and worrying if they go 1 calorie
over their daily allotment. 
So, what’s a nerd to do? 
Unless you’re going to weigh out all your food and be militant about
tracking, is it possible to “track” your food with a high level of accuracy
without having it take over your life?
The answer: yes, by getting darn good at estimating! 
Portion Sizes: How to Portion Control (The
Best Method)

You already carry with you the best method for portion control.
Your hands!
We’re going to use them to build a healthy plate, as shown above.
The “Nerd Fitness Healthy Plate” was originally published in
our Guide to Healthy Eating, which was inspired by our friends over
at Precision Nutrition.  
We’re not going to worry about being exact. 
It’s really hard to be precise anyway.[7]
However, using your hands as a tool for portion control provides
a “good enough” strategy that can help your food intake:

As you can see, we’re going to focus our portion control strategy on:
 Protein
 Vegetables (technically carbs, but important enough to deserve
their own category)
 Carbohydrates (think starches and fruit)
 Fat
Each macronutrient will correspond to an area of your hand, to give
you a sense of what a proper portion size should be. 
We’ve learned that using your hand as a guide is the most
helpful strategy for portion control:
 You might not always have access to small plates.
 You might forget to drink water before each meal.
 You might have a short lunch break without the luxury of eating
slowly.
 You might grow tired of logging all your food intake.
However, having an intuitive sense of what foods should be eaten in
what portions will help you level up your healthy eating.
When in doubt, match the food in front of you to your hand and carry
on.
Let’s break this down a little by talking about protein and veggies. 
What is the Correct Portion Size Part 1:
Protein and Vegetables
In it, Coach Lauren and Justin discuss the two most important parts of
every meal: protein and vegetables.
Here’s something that might seem counterintuitive: our #1
recommendation for portion control isn’t about limiting food.
Instead, make sure you get a proper serving of protein and
vegetables every time you sit down to eat. 
In other words, when you begin your healthy eating journey, don’t
even worry about nixing any specific food. Just make sure you are
leaving plenty of room for protein and vegetables.
A serving of protein is about the size and thickness of your palm:
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
 Meat (steak, bison, pork).
 Fowl (chicken, turkey, duck).
 Eggs![8]
 Fish and shellfish (salmon, tuna, shrimp).
 Legumes (black beans, chickpeas).
Not a meat-eater? Read our massive plant-based guide!
A serving of veggies is about the size of your fist:

Here’s a quick, non-complete list of veggies that can fill half your
plate:
 Broccoli
 Broccolini
 Cauliflower
 Spinach
 Kale
 Spaghetti squash
 Brussels sprouts
 Zucchini
 Cucumber
 Carrots
 Onion
 Asparagus
When it comes to learning portion control, start by making sure you
eat enough protein and vegetables.
How much?
When building a plate aim for the following amount of protein:
 Dudes: 1-2 servings (6-8 oz or about 170-228 g): two palms
 Dudettes: 1 serving (3-4 oz or about 85-114 g): 1 palm.
For vegetables, in practice you can probably eat as much as you can
stomach (the fiber will likely slow you down), but aim for about 2 fist
fulls at most meals, or about half your plate.[9] 
Here’s why you should prioritize protein and vegetables if you’re
struggling with portion control:
 Protein. Eating enough protein will assist your health as you
age.[10]Plenty of protein will also help you retain and grow muscle.
[11]
 Plus, prioritizing protein will help you stay full and satiated
between meals.[12]
 Vegetables. Veggies are both high in nutrients and low in
calories, which makes them ideal for a healthy plate. Plus, the fiber
will not only help your health, it’ll also keep your indoor plumbing in
proper order.