Reach your target weight by reducing portion sizes

Many of us have gotten used to eating far more than we need. One reason is that average portion sizes of restaurant and fast-food meals, pastries and other prepared foods have increased dramatically over the last two decades. Some have nearly doubled in size, even in restaurants. We tend to serve more at home too — portions are now up to eight times as large as those recommended.

• Try serving food on smaller plates.
• This can cut the amount of food eaten by as much as 25 per cent, according to psychologists at Cornell University.
• Other studies reveal that people consume 34 per cent fewer liquid calories when they drink out of tall, skinny glasses instead of short, stubby ones.

We have become so used to seeing (and eating) big portion sizes that many of us don't recognize what a moderate-sized serving actually looks like. Here are some examples of moderate servings with illustrative comparisons:

• 90 g (3 oz) of meat: the size of a pack of cards
• 1 baked potato: a clenched fist
• 45 g (1 1/2­­ oz) oatmeal (uncooked): 1/3 of a coffee mug
• 25 g (1 oz) cheese: four stacked playing dice
• Butter or margarine on bread/toast: a nickel
• Nuts or dried fruit: a golf ball
• Pasta, rice, mashed potato: a computer mouse
• 180 ml (6 fl oz) juice: a small yogurt container

Generally, there is no need to limit portion sizes of fruit and vegetables unless they are fried or prepared with cream sauces, fatty dips, cheese or other high-calorie ingredients.

• Most of us love to nibble.
• In fact, we eat an average of three snacks a day.
• While there is nothing wrong with snacking in itself, all too often we fill ourselves up on high-calorie, high-fat snack foods, then either skimp on meals that contain important nutrients or eat normal-sized meals and consume too many calories in total.
• There is a way to snack sensibly, however: Choose nutritious snacks, and think of them as part of your daily food intake rather than as "extras."
• This will satisfy your cravings and help you to meet your nutritional needs.
• Instead of potato chips, try a piece of fruit or a container of low-fat yogurt.