Portion sizes are growing. Let’s not grow with them.

For starters, Americans are often unaware of how massive our portion sizes are. Is it really necessary to be given half a plate full of French fries with a pound of burger meat sandwiched between two enormous pieces of white bread? Does anyone really need to drink a Starbucks coffee that’s almost as tall as a ruler?

Upon my first trip to Australia, this was all very new to me. Tiny, miniature sized coffee cups and sandwiches with just a few slices of meat (seriously, one time I “added protein” to a sandwich and they gave me one slice of nearly-see-through-it-was-so-thin deli meat) replaced the over-sized American counterparts. Portion control and the additional calories we eat in American meals are killing us, making us fatter and sicker each year!

It is extremely rare to see someone order a large coffee in Australia, and even if you do, a couple of things are different: one, the large is not very large at all; two, it is much more concentrated, meaning it is of higher quality, providing enough caffeine in one measly little mug-full; thirdly, they are not covered in sugary syrups, fat-laden whipped creams, and processed creamers. One of the most popular coffee choices in Australia is the “flat white” which consists of steamed whole milk and coffee. This surprisingly-satisfying-for-its-small-size elixir of strong coffee and real milk provides the perfect ratio of natural sweetness and satiating fat with just the tight kick of caffeine. Again, not only are you consuming less, but the ingredients are real, which equates to a healthier and slimmer you!

Another huge difference between the amount of calories in a given meal in Australia and the United States, which was very upsetting at first, is that Australian restaurants do not typically give free bread and butter or chips and salsa when you sit down. Egregious offense? Think again. I am an absolute sucker for free stuff, especially food, but when you come to realize how much superfluous food, particularly empty-calorie foods, you consume before you even begin your meal, you start to feel great about the fact that you’re saving hundreds of calories before your first appetizers. Think of this like you think about your makeup: less is often more.

How can we fight the American portion sizes and beat out these unnecessary calories that are simply handed to us? Here are a couple of tips I gathered in my travels:

1. Rather than mindlessly chomping through everything on your plate, solely because it was given to you and it’s there, try this: Eat about half of your plate, take a rest, go to the bathroom, and come back. Do you feel good? Chances are you have eaten more than enough, and if you were to continue to consume those crazy calories that you would feel uncomfortably full in your previously-skinny jeans. Who wants to crawl out of the restaurant, dreaming of lying in fetal position on the couch? Doesn’t sound like a good ending to a meal to me.
2. Let go of short term gratification and instead think how nice it would be to have some leftovers tomorrow for lunch. It saves you the calories, the self-inflicted stomach pains of having eaten too much, and the money and effort it would have taken to prepare another meal tomorrow when you could’ve just eaten the rest of your delicious leftovers.
3. This is one of my new favorite ideas : why don’t we just share meals with someone else at dinner? Portions of pasta dishes in American restaurants are so insanely huge, I wouldn’t doubt if one restaurant pasta bowl held a whole box of pasta from the grocery. That’s over 1600 calories just in the pasta, let alone the creamy sauce and buttery chicken!
4. Finally, my absolute favorite new portion control move : take it slow, eat like the Spaniards’ – tapas style, and choose one meal first to split with those at the table. Then see how you feel and order another if you feel unsettled. Again, chances are you will feel guilty ordering an unnecessary second meal, both for the avoidable damage to your waistline and your wallet. But you can also feel good about your decision to order another dish if you’re stomach is still growling for just a little bit more! Lets slow down, size down, and be healthy

What tips do you have for portion self-control?

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