Are your meals super-sized?

Tackle portion distortion in 3 simple steps

By Rhea Seymour

Updated November 2, 2012

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If you're eating healthy foods but still struggling to shed unwanted pounds, perhaps it's time to do a reality check on the size of your food portions. "People don't realize how much they eat," says Daphne Lordly, assistant professor in applied human nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. "It's important to eat healthy but even too much of a good thing can be a bad thing."

With restaurants serving up colossal plates of food, it's no wonder people have lost sight of what constitutes an appropriate portion size at home. To overcome your super-size mentality, Lordly suggests these three easy steps:

· Keep a food journal
To get a handle on how much you eat and how often, jot down everything you put in your mouth. Make sure to include the emotions you felt while eating, as well as where you ate. Your food diary will increase your awareness of your eating habits and help you modify them. For example, if you discover that you tend to mindlessly munch in front of the TV, you can make a rule to only eat in the kitchen.

· Mix-up your eating style
Studies show that when people were served different-sized plates of food, they ate what they were served, regardless of the amount on their plate. If you're always reaching for seconds, change your serving style. Instead of putting family-sized portions on the table, try dishing out meals from the kitchen. Remember, there is no need to clear you plate when you're already full—you can always save leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

· Get real about serving sizes
Keep in mind that one serving isn't the same size as the container it's packaged in. You may be surprised at how small one serving actually is. For example, one serving of grains is just half a cup of pasta and one serving of protein is a mere three ounces of meat. To learn what constitutes a single food serving of grains, fruit and veggies, dairy products, meat and alternatives and oils, spreads and dressings, read our article on sizing up servings. Then download the Chatelaine daily eating log to ensure that you're getting the number of daily servings recommended in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.