There is nothing exciting about portion control. Most people already know that monitoring portion sizes is just common sense if you want to lose weight. Absolutely, it can be tedious to weigh and measure food every day. It can be especially hard to do if you’re really hungry. Just as it is with brushing your teeth, or waiting in line, monitoring portion sizes is a necessary albeit mundane thing.

Why pick this topic? Well, for one thing it’s on my checklist, it’s actually one of the top three habits that I attribute my weight loss success to. Taking the time to weigh and measure does a few important things for me (besides helping me to lose/maintain weight loss):

1. The accuracy of my portion sizes gives me a sense of control.
2. Taking just a minute or two to perform this task honors my goals.
3. It trains my brain to recognize what an accurate portion looks like.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Every Day Health published an article, 10 Easy Portion Control Tricks that was a useful read as I thought about this post. Here are some new strategies I’m planning on trying:

1. Try using smaller dishes
2. Adding milk first before pouring my coffee (that may be hard)
3. Asking for a take home box and halving my dinner portion while eating out

I am starting to think that maybe part of this journey is to find joy in the mundane habits that continue to contribute towards my health and wellness goals. Maybe it’s good to just slow down and find some deep appreciation for the simple things. I wonder if this makes sense to you. No matter what you’re thinking, I wish is that you believe you can do this, know that even if it’s hard, you can do it.

Just for fun…

Have you heard of something called, “Slow TV”? Apparently, this is huge in Norway. It is hours of TV devoted to things like knitting, train rides, and shearing sheep. Check it out I find it strangely compelling: