If you can’t stop eating on long autumn evenings, here are few ways to help to reduce food portions and avoid overeating:
1) If you love to snack, make yourself one portion-sized bags or cups of food and freeze them. Make sure that they don’t exceed 100 calories. As well as eating the main meal, planning your snacks in advance is appropriate. Healthy portions (and sometimes not such healthy food, such as candy or cookies) can help to reduce the risk of consuming too many calories.
2) Invest in smaller plates, bowls and cups and fill them in as much food as you want to eat when serving. If you put yourself smaller portion than you are accustomed to eat, eat it slower to feel full. If you prepare more food than you are going to eat, take care of it immediately and hide it in the refrigerator or freezer (even before you start eating your dinner) – it will help you to eat only one portion than you may desire.
3) Remember that one serving of packaged food not necessarily is an appropriate portion for you. For example, nutrients written on the package may inform about one tablespoon of mayonnaise which can also be called one serving, but for you one or two teaspoons of mayonnaise may be the same one portion. In addition, just because it is written on the package of cookies that 3 cookies is one serving, it does not mean that you are able to eat all three biscuits (especially if cookies are more than 50 calories each).
4) Before purchasing or using any packaged or processed foods, find out everything about it. Information given on the packaging (including bags, cans, cups, boxes, jars or other containers) will show you how many calories are in one serving of this food or drink and how many servings are in the package. Before you start eating it, ask yourself how many servings of this thing you are going to consume and let yourself quietly calculate whether it suits your daily calorie budget and whether it’s really worth eating it.