The less food on the plate, the fewer the chances of overeating

Apr 1, 2009 18:21 GMT  ·  By

Overeating is one of the main causes behind weight gain, therefore, if we’re looking to drop a few pounds, the first thing we should do is learn how to portion-control our meals. In order to avoid the feeling of frustration usually associated with eating less and leaving the table still hungry, experts at FitSugar recommend using smaller tableware.

The idea behind this is as simple as it gets: the smaller the dishes and cutlery we use, the more we deceive ourselves into seeing more food on the table. Of course, that is not to say we should use kiddies’ tableware, but neither are we to head straight for the largest plate we have in the house before sitting down at the table.

Instead, we should use smaller plates and bowls, so as to create the illusion that the small portioned meal we’re about to have is actually bigger.

It’s common knowledge that even a large-sized meal can look pretty small if served on a really large plate. Given this, a regular one can seem almost inexistent if placed on the same kind of plate, therefore we might start feeling frustrated even before eating, health experts add. So, if portion control is really what we’re aiming to do, we should serve food on medium and small plates, with small cutlery items. Thus, we will be able to enjoy our food better, because we’ll only be taking small bites of it.

Speaking of enjoying food and paying a lot of attention to the food in front of us, we were telling you yesterday of psychologist Pavel Somov’s tips for “eating mindfully,” as presented in his latest book, “Eating the Moment.” The basic principle for this is that, in order to develop a healthy relationship with food and to properly enjoy a meal (which, of course, means not gulping it down in less than five minutes because of the hunger that’s been tormenting us for almost the entire day), all distractions must be eliminated.

In this sense, Somov urges us to turn off the TV and clear away all books and magazines that usually keep us company while we’re having dinner. Dedicating a special room to eating alone can also come in handy when establishing an “eating space,” where the only thing we focus on is the food on our plate. In doing so, we should avoid all dangers of overeating, while also learning to savor each bite like we never knew we could, Somov assures us.