Portion control is the key to weight loss

Half of a ‘healthy plate’ of food should be filled with non-starchy vegetables, according to dietitians. Matthew Mead / AP

With different plate sizes, different appetites and different cultural habits, there is a lot of confusion over what constitutes a portion size. Head to the United States, the home of everything “supersized”, and the average main meal at a restaurant could easily feed two people. This wasn’t always the case, however. Portion sizes have increased in the past four decades, leading to dramatic weight gain.

But how do you know how much you should be eating?

The Imperial College London Diabetes Centre has a handy guide to portion control and advice on how to structure your dinner plate so you can ensure you’re not overeating.

Fatima Sadek, a registered dietitian and education and awareness specialist at ICLDC, says one of the ­biggest problems with the way people eat is portion sizes, which leads to an increased intake of salt, saturated fats and ­sugars.

“If we get into the habit of eating portions that are too large, then it is inevitable that weight gain will follow,” she says. I

t may seem obvious, but research published in February in the science journal Physiology & Behavior demonstrated how bigger portions lead to increased bite size and faster eating.

“The main thing to watch out for when embracing a ­balanced diet practice is to follow the Healthy Plate Method [below],” Sadek suggests.

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