Portion Control: The "Half-Trick"

Wow, what a great idea.

I do something similar when I go out to eat; when I order my meal I ask that a doggie bag be brought with the food. When it arrives, I immediately put 1/3 of the meal in the doggie bag to take home.

This could work well for those of us who are unable to leave food on our plates.

Brian

Brian - that's a brilliant idea! I'm going to adopt it.

My normal technique is a more traditional one: when I go out to eat, I try to go with someone who likes splitting meals.

Like keeping accounts,it's a good manner,will make you aware of controling your behaviour....

Great idea. It's quite easy to mindlessly put one mouthful after another in but halving it gives you that moment to condier what you're doing!
Thanks

I do that as well these days. It works well for me too, so I'll very likely just go on. After a while, it doesn't even seem weird any more. :D

French women don't get fat because they CHAINSMOKE!

Great idea indeed... It is really always about portions anyway.. I tell you, that you could eat just about anything including chocolate cake, in moderation and stay slender...

Ms. Thickness said:
French women don't get fat because they CHAINSMOKE![...]

Hahaha true. However, everyone here in Brazil chainsmokes too, and except for the people who either exercise or seriously restric intake (I've seen several women eating less than my partner, who had a gastric bypass - I'm talking *that* restricted), they are all fat too. So it can't be just the cigarrettes.

That is a good trick for going out. When I go out, it tends to be to either to places where I'm not going home for hours afterwards and it's not practical to ask for a doggie bag or more upscale places where I just don't feel comfortable asking for leftovers with the main course (besides in those places, you never know if you'll actually get a tiny aka reasonable portion size instead of the typical heaping plate). Definitely going to use this as an alternative.

At home, though I'm sticking to putting anything that looks beyond a reasonable serving into a tupperware and leaving it in the kitchen until I've decided if the first serving was enough.

This is a great approach, and I try to use it whenever I can, both at home and going out to eat.

My downfall is "the eyes are bigger than the stomach" phenomenon, as well as the "entitlement" problem. I sometimes convince myself I'm too hungry for a half portion, or that I somehow "deserve" a full one. I'm almost always wrong about it. And I never regret it when I put half aside and rarely end up going back for it. Just knowing I can is good enough.

(It's sort of like telling myself "just 10 minutes" when I don't feel like working out. I always end up doing the whole thing anyway, but giving myself an out helps to motivate good behavior).

Crabby, you're not alone in the "I deserve it" arena. For YEARS I've been doing it, and my hips have been paying for it... it's a massive battle to fight that mind-set, especially when there's advertising everywhere to reinforce it. But that's a conversation for another day.

Anyway, my dad has done this "halfsies" thing for a long time - as long as I can remember - and, while it's a good tool, it's also become a bit of a family amusement... he takes it to the extreme - not only will he take 'halfsies', all of the food on his plate will have to balance out. That means, if he has one bite of steak left, then he will make sure he has one bite of salad, one bite of veggies, one bite of potatoes, one bite of bread, etc., whatever is served for dinner. It's a hoot to watch him eat.

All joking aside, it works for him... The man's body fat is probably no more than 10%, he is still competing in bike races, shot-put and discus, and he's 76 years old. He's an inspiration to me.

Its a great mind trick. However, I have to say that French women DO get fat, especially outside of Paris. From what I understand, Korea and Norway, to take just two examples, have less fat people that France. Why is it that you never hear about the weight related secrets of Norwegian women? Seriously.

Anne said:

Why is it that you never hear about the weight related secrets of Norwegian women?

I always eat because it's there. I try to avoid it being there.

One thing I do at restaurants (When my SO isn't there-- he HATES it-- but he shouldn't, since he ends up eating the parts of my meal I can't -- because it's there) is ask them to go ahead and put half in a to-go box and bring me the other half.

This is easy enough to do when staying home; going out to eat is a real bitch, though. My wife and I a really into split portions when the restaurant lets us.

This is such a good tip! I also recommend a read from Dr. Blaylock regarding diet.

French Women Don't Get Fat is one of the best diets I've reviewed. Healthy approach to food, plus body mindfulness... one of the few "diet plans" that doesn't encourage disordered eating!

This is a great idea. While I find I can actually wait to eat until I am actually hungry, I often have trouble hearing the signals for 'had enough'. I'll give this one and the book a try.

Anne said:
Why is it that you never hear about the weight related secrets of Norwegian women? Seriously. [...]

When Oprah did a "moms around the world" thing, the Norwegian mom she featured cooked meals for her kids from scratch and said she'd never feed them "sugary cereals or peanut butter like the American kids eat" cause that is "bad for you". So your Norwegian Diet Secret may be right there: cook your food from scratch.

When my husband and I go out for ice cream (it's rare, but it happens), we usually get a pint and split it. Not in half though...he usually pigs out on most of it and I eat maybe 1/2 a cup (if I have a fast spoon, LOL).

Oh, and Jan...my MIL swears by "cooking from scratch". It definitely cuts down on the amount of additives that you get, not to mention added fats and salt. I never buy those meal kits like Hamburger Helper. I'll brown some beef and boil some noodles and make a bechamel sauce or a light gravy and mix it up. You can definitely save calories if you cook from scratch. Do you know how many processed foods add extra sugar in the form of HFCS? It's insane. I actually read in a food processing journal that certain products have added HFCS to "appeal to the sweet-preferring palates of children".

Just as a side note--the first book, "French Women Don't Get Fat" is more advice about lifestyle, while the second one is mostly filled with recipes.

By far, the half-trick was the best thing I took away from it all!

Being active is emphasized just about as much as food portion and food choice.

As a side note, I am absoltely sure there are plenty of "fat" people all over the world.
:)
Mireille Guiliano just did a great job of using her idea to sell a lot of books!

truly,

Sylvia C.

The halfsies thing is a great idea. I usually save half of my food for a homeless person. It is hard to eat something that is designated for someone else who has nothing to eat. I just box it before I eat and ignore it. There is always someone around where we get coffee after dinner that could use a meal.

I love the halfsies thing, personally. I used to eat like crazy so I started doing it and after a while I don't even have to anymore. I'm able to judge how much I should eat.

I'd also like to add that French Women, or at least those in Paris (Anne), ARE really skinny, but you have to remember that most of them smoke and drink coffee all day, plus they get more exercise than anyone in the U.S. everyday just because they WALK everywhere-no one has cars there-and a lot of Parisians seem to be younger.

I use this trick when coming home from the grocery store too. When I buy a 1 pound steak at the grocery store, I cut it into 4 pieces and put them in freezer bags for single serving portions. Chicken breasts are cut in half. Half pound salmon steaks cut in half. Pretty much anything protein base is cut in half because grocery stores only sell large portions.

I do the reverse with veggies. Protein is halved, veggies are doubled. :)

Yes, this is brilliant, this "trick". I've been halving my portions with my friend Nicole whenever we go out. We end up saving a nice chunk of change, NEVER desiring the other half, and use the savings on a bottle of white wine. Win-win-win situation, that one.

>> Why is it that you never hear about the weight related secrets of Norwegian women?

I live in Norway. The secret is eat good food and stay active. Quite boring.

And once again, French women smoke like chimneys.

Jan said:
When Oprah did a "moms around the world" thing, the Norwegian mom she featured cooked meals for her kids from scratch and said she'd never feed them "sugary cereals or peanut butter like the American kids eat" cause that is "bad for you". So your Norwegian Diet Secret may be right there: cook your food from scratch. [...]

That doesn't represent all of Norway. Too many Norwegians eat junk and it's actually an issue politicians take up. There are lots more fat kids and people now than there used to be!

This is a very good tip as I always eat untel everything on my plate is gone.

The halfsies concept is a good idea. And I understand perfectly the compulsion to eat everything on your plate so the suggestion to ask for a to go box up front in restaraunts is a great idea also. When I was growing up my sister and I weren't allowed to leave the table until everything on our plates were gone. We heard alot of "There are children starving in Africa and you're just gonna waste food like that?" I also am very well trained in overeating!

Is this half-portion thing something the French are supposed to do? I asked a French friend about that today, and she just laughed at me. If she eats at all, she eats a lot of junk, and chain smokes. She's rather fat-skinny...

Spectra said:
Oh, and Jan...my MIL swears by "cooking from scratch". It definitely cuts down on the amount of additives that you get, not to mention added fats and salt. I never buy those meal kits like Hamburger Helper. I'll brown some beef and boil some noodles and make a bechamel sauce or a light gravy and mix it up. You can definitely save calories if you cook from scratch. Do you know how many processed foods add extra sugar in the form of HFCS? It's insane. I actually read in a food processing journal that certain products have added HFCS to "appeal to the sweet-preferring palates of children". [...]

I swear by it too, Spectra. Another way to look at it is one day I saw a dietitian who was interviewed in Allure magazine say: "Do you ever see anyone say 'I was so depressed I made and ate a whole lasagna'? No, it is always 'I ate a whole pack of Oreos' or ready-made cookie dough or I ordered and ate a whole pizza". His point was, if you actually have to make it, you are hardly ever gonna eat the whole thing, and it totally works for me. If I know the work that went into making a pizza, you bet I make it last for lunch and dinner for my husband and me, instead of overeating or letting him overeat it, haha. It is 8 small squares, 2 per person per meal, not a bite more.

Powerpuffin, that is sad to know, but what inquiring minds want to know is: even with the fat people in Norway, you are all still thinner on average than French people, right?

Jan, I really don't know. I'm sure there are some statistics out there though. But as we all know, statistics can be very misleading.

Ms. Thickness said:
French women don't get fat because they CHAINSMOKE![...]

Talk about stereotyping. Just because someone is French doesn't mean they chain smoke, much less smoke at all.

Um, have you ever been to France? After returning from trips to France, you really have to scrub yourself to get the smell off.

The French have one of the highest percentage of smokers in Europe.

Isn't it like 32% of people smoke in France? Cause here 21% of people smoke and it already seems like everybody smokes, like I can't go for a walk and make it one block without being intoxicated by someone's smoke. I can only imagine what 50% more of smokers would be like in reality... I'm already a second-hand smoker and I avoid leaving my house and opening the windows as much as I can.

Jan, I think it's around that for the total population but higher for women as a demographic group. You see the same trend in Norway. All demographic groups have quit smoking/smoke less *except for* young women (teens to 30 or something like that). There was actually in increase here!

Norway is one of the countries that has a smoking ban most places (public buildings, restaurants and pubs, etc) and life has been so much better since that ban took place! I rarely experience second-hand smoke here, and I don't go home from a night out smelling like a total skank!

They only banned it here on buses and public buildings, and said restaurants have to have *some* area for non-smokers (but since it is all the same AC, it doesn't help any). Everytime I go out to see live music, I have to wash everything from the coat I checked to my sneakers, cause everyone smokes. I have to come home at 4am and wash my hair so I won't make my bedroom smell. It is awful.

They were saying that all businesses would be forced to ban it, so I'd only be intoxicated in the streets. That would help a bit.

At least I got my assistant to quit smoking. She is working her way through a giant box of sugar-free gum I got her. Today is day 7 for her.