Half Portions, Double Portions

Back before I was trying to lose weight, I still thought about portions a lot. Except the thinking was, "How big of a portion can I snag" or "How many portions of this can I eat before I am too stuffed?" It was all about getting the biggest, the most. Kinda shameful, actually, now that I think of it. I mean, I would definitely NOT say I was ever a "selfish" kid or person in my life, but somehow when it came to food, I always wanted more.

Cut a pie in eighths, put it in front of me, and as long as "other people" weren't watching, I'd eyeball each piece and take the biggest one.
Walking through the grocery store and picking out a slab of bakery cake (or a whole cake, sometimes), I'd hold each one up to eye level and find the one with the most frosting.
Send me to a potluck, and after my first plate of food, I'd look around and see if anyone else was getting seconds. If *anyone* was, I was, too. Big heaping seconds. And when everyone else was off playing games and socializing, I was sneaking off "to the bathroom" or "to check on the kids" so I could snag another cookie or brownie off the food table.
Put a pizza on the table, and I'd eat as much as I could possibly get into my body, which was often at least 6 pieces.

Even when I started trying to lose weight, I played the portion game. "Oh, one banana has 110 calories? Okay, I will take that HUGE one." As if a HUGE banana had the same amount of calories as a SMALL banana (that is how I treated it, and how I counted it in my calories). Same for any other food. A big piece of cake must have the same calories as a small one. A large apple? Same as a small one. Silly. After I realized I was doing this, I started paying more attention to my choices. Why not pick the SMALL banana? If you're going to count any banana as 110 calories, you still save calories choosing the small one, whether you count it differently or not!

An even more advanced concept is that of half portions. This is something I learned over the past 2 years. Here it is:

Just because a serving is ONE cup of pasta or ONE apple or 13 crackers, you do NOT HAVE TO EAT THAT MUCH!

Whoa. What a concept! You know, it never even occurred to me when I was heavier to eat a HALF serving. I would "limit" myself to one serving, often. But I never realized that I could be fine with even *less* than a serving.

Examples:
Whenever I have crackers now, I give myself a half serving. Usually that is 6-9 crackers. And usually that is plenty!
Whenever I have pasta, I have a HALF cup.
When I have any kind of casserole or fatty side dish, I give myself a HALF helping.
I often make myself a half sandwich for lunch.
When I go to a restaurant, I almost always cut my food in half right away and box half up for another meal.
I order a cup of soup instead of a bowl of soup.
I order a small rather than a medium or large ANYTHING.
And you know what? Half is just as satisfying! Try it! After all, if you have your half serving and find it was not enough, you can always go back for the other half, right?? So you lose nothing!

There is something to be said for learning to be satisfied with less.

Now, there is an exception to this rule. This is something I learned in the past year. This is the rule of DOUBLE Portions:

If it is a vegetable, and not loaded with fat/sauces, take a DOUBLE serving.

Examples:
When I sit down to dinner, I give myself two large helpings of carrots, salad, green beans, broccoli, and/or whatever other veggie is on the table.
When I order any meal out, I ask for extra veggies, no butter/sauces. I might even ask for more veggies instead of rice or pasta.
I get a large salad instead of small (with dressing on the side).

Both rules in action:
Last night's dinner was pot roast, mashed potatoes (made with skim milk), low fat gravy, steamed green beans, and carrots that cooked with the roast. My plate had HALF portions of meat, potatoes, gravy, and DOUBLE portions of green beans and carrots:
2-3oz pot roast, 1/4 c potatoes, drizzle of gravy, cup of carrots, cup of green beans.

Do you think I was hungry afterwards??
No!

I was full on less calories because of using the Half and Double Portions rules.

I made these up as I went along because it works for me. Maybe it will work for you, too! Give it a try next time you eat, and see if you don't feel more satisfied!