Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

to not 'get' portion control

98 replies

thecatneuterer · 03/02/2014 14:44

This is my first ever AIBU so I’m a bit scared.

So I was just eating an enormous bowl of porridge and I got to pondering the subject of portion control. Nearly every time I see discussions of weight loss/control on MN or on TV or wherever, portion control comes up as being essential. And I just don’t get it.

I understand what it is of course, I just don’t really understand the point of it. Surely if you eat a large quantity then it just means that you won’t be hungry again for much longer than if you’d only eaten a small amount, so you will eat less often. So the total quantity of food you eat in a day won’t be any greater.

I understand that eating a huge amount just before going to bed would be a bit silly, as you don’t feel hungry when asleep so you don’t need to ward off hunger for a long time then. And I totally understand that portion control should be exercised in relation to say doughnuts or chocolate cake, but with healthy meals then I don’t get why it really matters. And I can even imagine it would lead to more snacking on potentially unhealthy stuff.

Or is it that when portion control is encouraged the idea is that, even if you are really hungry after your small meal, you still need to wait until your next set mealtime before you eat? So in other words it really means that you should spend a certain number of hours a day being hungry? I can understand that would work. Is that really the aim of it?

So AIBU to think that if you only eat relatively healthy stuff, and you only eat when hungry, then portion control is pointless?

OP posts:

meddie · 03/02/2014 18:17

To me portion control is about size of portions. I have a relative who has been 'dieting' for the 20 odd years I have known her. She complains that diets dont work and insists all her meals are healthy homecooked and contain lots of veg and indeed they do. But I could split the dinner she serves into 3 adult size meals. To me her portion control is her problem.
I dont think a lot of people actually know what a normal portion looks like anymore

Sallystyle · 03/02/2014 18:22

I always laugh when people say your stomach shrinks. I know what they mean and have said it myself, but some people actually do think that your stomach can physically shrink, which it can't without surgery.

I was shocked when I started dieting a few years ago by just how much I was eating. 60g of cooked rice looked like nothing when I first started and I was easily eating double that. It doesn't take long though to get used to eating smaller portions.

hedwiggywiggerson · 03/02/2014 18:22

It's what you're eating in that smaller portion that matters too.

I used to have 2 rounds of white toast with flora and jam for breakfast and I was hungry again by 10.30. Now I'm have 1 round of wholemeal toast with peanut butter, delicious and I'm full till around 1pm and then only fancy something light.

2tiredtocare · 03/02/2014 18:31

I use a portion plate and got used to smaller servings within a few days

WilsonFrickett · 03/02/2014 19:13

I know your stomach doesn't really shrink Sam but it's the best way to describe that feeling isn't it? I was the same as you but with pasta, I geniunely had no idea how much I 'should' eat, then I did ww for a while and while the overall programme didn't really work for me, the one thing I still do is weigh pasta and rice.

WilsonFrickett · 03/02/2014 19:13

^^genuine comment which now sounds snarky typed out, sorry Sam

Artandco · 03/02/2014 19:40

I don't understand it really either. I could never manage on 2 spoons of pasta only, I'm a size 6-8 so I doubt I have a huge stomach either? My 2 year old eats more than that

Maybe portions are fine but people just don't excercise enough. I can't say I've ever really felt hungry so not eating lunch because I wasn't hungry wouldn't work. When I have had super busy days at work/ work travel I have easily gone 2-3 days without food and even then just ate as realised I hadn't for a while. So I usually just make myself eat breakfast, lunch and dinner regardless as would loose weight otherwise

2tiredtocare · 03/02/2014 19:49

Are you naturally slim though Art? I used to work out several times a week and walk for miles each day as I couldnt drive but didnt notice any real change until I changed portion size, everyone's different. I find pasta really bland and wouldnt want any mote than that in any event

2tiredtocare · 03/02/2014 19:51

Plus i'm probably being thick but dont understand how you 'couldnt manage' on just 2 spoons of pasta only to yhen say you could go for days without food and are rarely hungry?

Ragwort · 03/02/2014 19:58

I think a lot of people who are overweight (myself included ) don't really know what it is to feel 'hungry'. I have lost weight very successfully in the past by severely reducing my portion size and exercising - trouble is that I love my food and hate exercise so it all goes back on . I don't eat because I am hungry, I eat because I enjoy food, love cooking, and all those sorts of reasons.

I don't think I have ever missed a meal in my life .

FiscalCliffRocksThisTown · 03/02/2014 20:01

You don't need to eat whenever you are hungry.

The idea that being hungry needs to be remedied immediately is possibly why so many people are overweight.

Portion control, IMO, would be eating a normal ( not huge) bowl of cereal, then... Not eat straight away when hungry again, but maybe learn to wait an hour, if you only ate two hours ago.

Artandco · 03/02/2014 20:02

2tired- I mean I would loose lots of weight on 2 spoons of pasta size portions. I am naturally slim I suppose as never weighed more than 8 stone (9 something pregnant). Although I do as I say just eat 3 decent meals a day ( larger than the packet says I think), and have never really snacked/ ate processed etc so not sure if that's naturally slim or just eating what I use.

Bogeyface · 03/02/2014 20:06

I find that the less I eat the less I want to eat and the less I am capable of eating. I also find that if I do blow out and stuff myself (Xmas Dinner!) then I am hungry much sooner than if I had had a smaller meal. I can only assume that that is because my stomach stretches as I eat more so feels emptier sooner.

Piscivorus · 03/02/2014 20:32

I think readily available, carb heavy processed food is a big part of the problem. We have all got used to eating, as Fiscal said, whenever we are hungry and the foods that are easily available are mostly sugar or carb based which digest fairly quickly and we eat again.

Introducing eggs for breakfast was a revelation for me. Instead of having cereal and/or toast with butter and jam then being starving late morning or at lunchtime so making poor food choices I now have an eggy breakfast and am rarely hungry till later so can eat more sensibly.

lljkk · 03/02/2014 20:37

The trick with portion control is to eat slowly. Really enjoy your food (why wouldn't you want to?). Choose a small portion and of course you can get another portion whenever you like. But If you eat slowly, really taste, then you listen to your body better, and learn that you can feel satisfied with less volume. And try to live your life in the meantime, don't live to eat but eat to live.

Also, when you know the portions are going to be small then you get very fussy about quality. You want every bite to be terrific. Out goes the junk food most of the time.

Or so it seems to work for me.

Bogeyface · 03/02/2014 20:52

I am sure I heard somewhere that it takes your body 20 minutes to register when it is satisfied so you should try to take 20 minutes to eat a normal sized meal, then you are less likely to over eat. Not sure how that would work with pasta, ime if you dont chow it down straight away it goes cold!

laughingeyes2013 · 03/02/2014 21:02

You need portion sizes to show people what is 'normal' - something to aim for if you eat double that amount.

If you're used to eating double the recommended portion sizes, then it would take a while for your body to adjust (stomach to shrink back down etc). But before you know it, you will have become used to the new portion sizes and that's what will satisfy you.

The other thing of course is to drink plenty, as the signals for thirst are similar to hunger and can be easily confused.

If you stop eating after normal portion sizes and have a decent sized drink, you'll be pleasantly surprised that pure not hungry anymore. Remember the object of the exercise is to stop hunger in its tracks rather than to aim for feeling stuffed!

All of this can be achieved with 'normal' potion sizes.

Grumpykins · 03/02/2014 21:26

Fiscal- I agree that you will feel hungry if cutting back to lose weight or maintain. I was hungry before lunch and dinner today. I had a drink and nibbled on a few wholemeal breadsticks.

Prior to this I snacked on biscuits every day. Now chocolate and crisps are a treat.

2tiredtocare · 03/02/2014 21:28

I get you now Art told you I was being thick

northlight · 03/02/2014 21:47

I've cut right down on sugar in the past 6-8 months. As well as losing weight steadily, I seem to be finding it easier to recognise when I have eaten enough. I know it has been suggested that sugar consumption messes up your ability to gauge appetite and I'm beginning to think there is something in this.

FiscalCliffRocksThisTown · 03/02/2014 22:39

Grumpy, yes , I maintain weight by eating well ( nice food, not cutting out carbs or fat) 3 times a day, but try to limit snacking.

My mum cooked lively food, but inbetween meals, if we were hungry she would just say :" nothing wrong with being hungry for a bit! You will enjoy your meal more".

Tis true. And it works for me.

FiscalCliffRocksThisTown · 03/02/2014 22:40

Lovely food, not lively food! Duh

Snowdown · 04/02/2014 06:37

It really wouldn't work for me to stop eating when my hunger disspeared, I can eat a few bits of carrot and a half a glass of water and my hunger would disappear for 15 mins. I don't snack between meals so the meals need to be substantial and therefore eating till I start to feel satisfied/full is a better guide.

Thistledew · 04/02/2014 07:51

Throughout my teens and early to mid 20s, I was naturally slim and could eat what I wanted without thinking about it. A combination of reaching my late 20s, having a sedentary job and moving in with (now) DH meant that I went from a size 10 to a size 12. I have always eaten healthily - I don't have much of a sweet tooth so seldom eat cakes and biscuits - and I have always eaten plenty of veg and whole grains.

I realised that I was putting on weight for the sole reason that my portion control was awry and I was simply eating too much food. I made a conscious effort not to eat so much - two slices of wholemeal toast rather than three for breakfast, cutting out the bag of crisps with my lunch, and making sure that I served myself a smaller portion of food than DH in the evening were the main changes I made.

The better portion control means that I won't be putting on weight and I then took up a lot more sport, which has meant that I have lost the extra weight I was carrying.

I do most days get hungry before lunch and dinner, but for me that is not a problem - I distinguish between that empty feeling in my stomach and the shaky, grumpy, hard to concentrate feeling I get when my blood sugar is really dropping. I will only have a snack between meals when I get the latter and not the former.

I know that I eat enough food each day, and that it is decent nutritious food that will provide all that I need, so I don't have to worry if I feel hunger - it will be dealt with.

I think people confuse the advice "eat only when you are hungry" with "eat the moment you feel hungry, feeling hungry is bad". The latter is really to question whether you need to eat, to have an awareness of your body's needs rather than just eating because the food is there. After all, for the majority of people, we ignore or pass over other signals that our bodies give us - for example, we don't all trot off to bed the second we feel tired during the day, and if we are on a long car journey or otherwise without access to a toilet, we can go for a fair length of time without having to go for a wee, even if we have received the signal that we need to go. I find it peculiar that hunger is treated differently.

JapaneseMargaret · 04/02/2014 07:52

Portion control is just another way of saying 'eat less'.

There's an adjustment period where you feel like you're being a bit deprived, but then your stomach adjusts, and you naturally need less to feel full.

There are all sorts of fancy fan diets out here suggesting you do this, that and the other, cutting out entire food groups, but for people who need to lose weight, the most sure-fire way to do this is 'simply' to eat less.

Flip

1 2 3 4