how much on the plate

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:04 pm

I have been stressing about how much or how little to put on a plate. I guess these are the old diet demons rearing their head. I mean you can't really pile it on a still lose weight, but some days I want to pile it on. I have started worrying, I put a portion on a plate and I think: "Is this too much food? Is this a normal serving?" Sometimes I feel i struggle with a deeply entrenched neurosis about food.

Jammin' Jan · Post by **Jammin' Jan** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:40 am

Sometimes I pile. Most times I just pile the low-cal stuff, like steamed veggies, but have reasonable portions of everything else. No matter what, that plate is gonna be FULL!

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 2:30 am

I do the plate divisions method - 1/2 plate veggies (maybe fruit too), 1/4 lean protein, 1/4 whole-grain starch.

If you pile, pile on the veggie side. Then it's good for you.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:32 am

I agree with both Jan and KCCC and do much the same. But I usually use an extra plate/bowl for salad and might have a small bowl of some kind of vegetable-based soup, too (granted, I'd have to be REALLY hungry to have both soup and a salad and then a plate full of other food, but it has happened!). I don't think you can overdo the veggies.

A high intake of broth-based soups and salads have a positive association with not only weight loss, but also with health. Since I happen to really like both soups and salads, I eat a lot of both.

cab54 · Post by **cab54** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:55 pm

What works for me is a 4 corner thing. Picture your plate separated into 1/4 ths. each 1/4 is a corner sort of.

In one corner I put a small amt of protein (meat, PB, lunchmeats, eggs, whatever) and for me , I keep it ot the size of a deck of cards. About 1/2 cup.

Then, a 'starch', or a carb in one corner--potato, rice, cereal in the am ,or oatmeal, bread. I try to eat mainly whole grains.

Next corner, a fruit--1/2 cup, and then the last corner a Vegetable. ( 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup salad or raw veg. ) In the am, I put a few carrots or celery sticks on the plate, or mix veggies in my egg.

Meat, carb, fruit and veg. Simple. I am a short woman, so if you're a big guy, your portions would be bigger, of course. But with this method, I do the No S thing and get all of my fruits and veggies in. Less room on the plate for too much starchy stuff or whatever.

Post by **reinhard** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 8:35 pm

Pile it on until your "mealing" habit is firm and secure. Do not risk habit for calories.

At that point, when you've got this thing down pat, you'll probably have an excellent almost intuitive sense for how much it takes to see you through to the next meal without hunger or excess. If not, you can stress about it then, but my guess is you won't need to. In any case, you don't need to now.

Note: piling on veggies might actually be a good thing. I just read about some study that showed visible volume is actually a major factor in satiety. Since vegetables are healthy and bulky and voluminous, they have serious, disproportionate stopping power.

Reinhard

MerryKat · Post by **MerryKat** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:58 am

Some days I feel hungrier than others and some days I almost panic about been hungry inbetween. On those days I pile my plate (I try and make it the veggies, but sometimes it is everything) and then I eat slowly (a difficult one for me) until I feel full. Then I stop - a very difficult concept for a die-hard ex-clean plate club member. I am learning to listen to my full point and try to live to Reinhard's wonderful statement I have in my signature.