The importance of portion sizes and appetite

Added on 02/09/10

Author: Sarah Warman – Reporter

One of the most important issues for anybody who might be looking to lose weight is portion sizes. If we can find the perfect balance between portion size and the nutritional content of our meals, we’re giving ourselves a huge boost in achieving weight loss.

Appetite is an extremely important issue when losing weight. Some diets can leave us feeling hungry and unsatisfied. This could lead to snacking or binge eating, so it important for us all to achieve fullness, healthily.

One important thing to note, for any of our diets, is the daily calorie intake. The recommended intake for men is 2,500 calories, and for women the recommended account is 2,000. This means that often, meals such as barbeques and fast food meals give us  more than our daily recommended amount of calories in just 1 meal.

There are certain tricks that we can use to help our appetites without risking high amounts of calories.

Don’t overindulge!

A recent survey suggested that many of us eat more than we need, regularly. The survey that was conducted by dietary firm ‘Lighter Life’ found that 4 in 5 people admitted to going back for second helpings or an extra dessert even if they felt full. The survey also found that around a third of the participants said that they would choose meal deals from food outlets even if the amount of food was too much for them.

“Portion Distortion is very common. Learning to recognise how much your body needs, and recognising when you’re full is important to successful long term weight loss” advices nutritionist Todd Donnelly.

We can all have tendencies to overindulge, but it important for us to call on our willpower, and try to overcome such urges!

Water!

Recently we brought you an article explaining how water can be a key to weight loss. The study team that researched the effects of water on appetite found that dieters that drank a couple of glasses around the time that they ate were able to lose weight. This happens because water can help to fill us up, without adding any extra calories to our meals.

Cooking tips

There are things that we can try when preparing our meals that can help us reduce our portion sizes.

Cook smaller portions, this reduced the urge for us to go back for seconds! Eat vegetables with every meal, more foods with less calories! Always read food labels, dictate your portions accordingly! Exercise before meals, this is proven to burn calories AND make us feel less hungry!