Everyday Systems

Hello everyone...this diet sounds great and is clear as a bell....except...on actual meal size. I've got a healthy appetite and I can put away a sizeable amount....which leads me to question the one plate per meal rule. I know counting calories is not advocated, but I'm sure I could probably get 5-6-700 calories on a plate.

Multiplied by three meals a day, that's still not too much food for me....but I always thought you shouldn't eat more than 500 calories at a time or you'll store the excess right away as fat.

Can anyone provide me with any guidance on meal size? Thank you very much!

As much as you will fit on a standard-sized dinner plate.

It really does even itself out, says the former calorie counter.

No kidding, don't sweat the calories. Just go let the plates be your guide. It won't be immediate, and it won't be fast, but you really will have a slow, gradual and natural sustainable weight loss from the new good habits.

Matty,

I think if you just stick with the one plate rule it becomes clearer as you go ... i.e. how much you actually need to eat,

Blueskighs

i wouldn't worry about the calories if i were you. 500 cal. a meal applies to diets that insist on eating 3 average meals and 2 small ones (or snacks) a day. but that's their rule. a normal average person needs about 2000 calories to sustain weight. if you divide it into 3 meals equally, you get about 700 a meal. so if you do 700 you won't gain weight and if you do less, you'll lose. now that i've just done the counting for you, you won't ever need to worry about that ever again. just forget the maths and enjoy your meals

Thank you all for your responses, very helpful....Matt

Matty996 wrote:...sure I could probably get 5-6-700 calories on a plate.

Multiplied by three meals a day, that's still not too much food for me....

Can anyone provide me with any guidance on meal size? Thank you very much!

There's a great book on Amazon called "The Portion Teller" by Dr. Lisa R. Young:

http://www.amazon.com/Portion-Teller-Sm ... 212&sr=8-1

It's helpful in giving you "visuals" for how much a "portion" is of different things... for example: a single portion of meat is 3 oz. or --the visual-- a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand. Or, one cup of pasta is the size of a baseball.

So, if you can "picture" these items and their size (maybe even keep some of them near the table to remind you?) you can better size-up your portions.

I found it helpful. Some people don't, though. But, I just thought I'd recommend it. ;o)

Jaymiz wrote:

Matty996 wrote:...sure I could probably get 5-6-700 calories on a plate.

Multiplied by three meals a day, that's still not too much food for me....

Can anyone provide me with any guidance on meal size? Thank you very much!

There's a great book on Amazon called "The Portion Teller" by Dr. Lisa R. Young:

http://www.amazon.com/Portion-Teller-Sm ... 212&sr=8-1

It's helpful in giving you "visuals" for how much a "portion" is of different things... for example: a single portion of meat is 3 oz. or --the visual-- a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand. Or, one cup of pasta is the size of a baseball.

So, if you can "picture" these items and their size (maybe even keep some of them near the table to remind you?) you can better size-up your portions.

I found it helpful. Some people don't, though. But, I just thought I'd recommend it. ;o)

I read about this years ago and also in Mindless Eating: visualize your plate. Half should be vegetables, the remaining half should be half protein and half starch. If you're having a casserole with a starch or spaghetti or lasagna, the plate should be half veggies and half main dish. If you can fit bread on the plate, enjoy that, too. Just don't pile food on the plate too high.

A couple of weeks ago I started reading Good Food Tastes Good by Carol Hart Ph.D. She says:

The peoples of traditional Greece, Provence, Italy, and Crete did not have their foods chosen for them by nutritionists or marketers. They ate what was local, affordable and appealing. Perhaps that is the lesson we should draw from their good health. No one told them they should avoid eggs or choose nonfat yogurt or low-fat cheese, if such abominations were even available. They ate rich, traditional local cheeses -- feta, graviera, fontina -- but in the moderation that comes with
modest means.

They also didn't have any experts telling them how much food to put on their plates or what size plates to use. They used what they had and probably put as much on it as they could -- depending on how many people were to be fed as well as how much they could afford.

Don't overthink it. Put food on your plate and enjoy it!

wosnes wrote:I read about this years ago and also in Mindless Eating: visualize your plate. Half should be vegetables, the remaining half should be half protein and half starch. If you're having a casserole with a starch or spaghetti or lasagna, the plate should be half veggies and half main dish. If you can fit bread on the plate, enjoy that, too. Just don't pile food on the plate too high.

Don't overthink it. Put food on your plate and enjoy it!

Yeah, I've seen that model, too (also read "Mindless Eating"), and would've recommended it, as well, but thought ONE recommendation was enough from me. LOL.

You're right, though. Trying to use visuals for portion-control *is* overthinking things a bit much. This whole NoS thing is supposed to be about making things *simple* right? But, I recommended it 'cause sometimes, even though you WANT things to be simplified, you NEED a little extra help.

It's like me with Intuitive Eating -- I believe it works, but I needed a little bit more in the area of "boundaries" for my snacking / sweets-habit. I wasn't able to "control myself" (or so I believed). NoS has given me those extra boundaries so that I feel I can better follow my instincts as far as hunger goes.