Once upon a time I was a newer dietitian who did presentations with food models to illustrate the “correct” portion of foods that should be consumed. Or I talked about visuals: three ounces of meat is the size of a deck of cards! a half cup of starch is the size of your fist! It’s so easy, just stay within this range! That, and definitely the term “portion control” is all very cringey to me now, and dripping with diet culture, but you live and you learn. These super generalized (and antiquated) recommendations not only infer that food is something that should be “controlled,” they’re missing something that has become so important in the field of dietetics - individualized nutrition and health! All bodies need different portions day in and day out, and portion size recommendations should be tailored to meet individual needs along with mindful and intuitive eating exercises that ultimately teach us how to listen to our bodies to help determine how much to eat and when.
Say what now?
It’s true, our bodies are uniquely programmed to tell us when to eat and how much, but most people stop listening sometime in childhood or adolescence when external cues take over. Diet culture is the biggest and loudest external cue, with rules and restriction that take us the farthest away from listening to our bodies. Getting back in touch with and trusting our bodies, along with throwing those old “portion size” rules out the window, can be daunting. Here are a few tips to (slowly and gently) get started.
Make sure you’re eating enough
I know, I say this all the time. But one of the biggest reasons clients I work with think they have difficulty with portion control is because they are not eating enough in general. This could be intentional or unintentional - for example, you’re using a food tracking app that is underestimating your needs (they all do!) and therefore assume you’re terrible at portion control because it’s so hard to stick to. Or, you’re consciously restricting your diet and having episodes of bingeing, which is due to the body’s physiologic need for more energy and the mental and emotional toll of deprivation (not because you suck at portion control!). If you are thinking about food all the time, not satisfied after meals or persistently hungry, you likely need to eat more food with meals, or add some snacks in between.
Keep a mindful eating journal
I often encourage clients to keep a mindful eating journal to help them start to become more in tuned with hunger and fullness cues, as well as emotional triggers, surrounding mealtimes. This usually includes a rating scale between 1 (extremely hungry) and 10 (Thanksgiving full) to fill out before and after eating, as well as a section to write about emotions and feelings. It can be helpful to see that it is common to eat beyond satisfaction if you get to a meal with a hunger level of 1, or are feeling especially emotional around mealtime. Working with a dietitian to help change these behaviors and become a more mindful eater by eating when you feel moderately hungry and stopping when you feel comfortable can be extremely helpful. Listening to these internal cues can give you more of an innate sense for the proper portions your body needs, without the diet culture-related noise.
Ditch the diet culture
Diet culture is of course one of the biggest reasons people think they have portion control problems. Typical portion recommendations - like the ones I used to give! - are either too small or too general to be used for every individual. Various diets also tend to have strict rules about how much food, what type of food, and when, can be eaten at a given meal, regardless of an individuals hunger or fullness cues or unique energy and nutrient needs. This can create a distorted sense of what an appropriate portion size is for you, and really take away from honoring hunger when it happens and listening to your body. Give yourself permission to eat when you feel hungry, and get curious about what that feels like.
It can’t go without saying that working with a non-diet dietitian can be helpful for guidance here if this sounds overwhelming/impossible/terrifying. For more information on working with me, please visit my website!