Portion Control Pays Off in Weight Loss

[Dodger]

Portion Control Pays Off in Weight Loss

Controlling Portion Size Helps Promote Lasting Weight Loss

By Jennifer Warner (http://my.webmd.com/content/Biography/7/1756_54621.htm)
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By
Charlotte Grayson, MD (http://my.webmd.com/content/Biography/7/1756_50193.htm)
on Friday, October 15, 2004

Oct. 15, 2004 -- Controlling portion size may be the single most effective thing you can do to promote lasting weight loss, a new study shows.

Researchers found overweight people who spent the most efforts in controlling the portion size of what they ate were more likely to lose weight and keep it off. Although increasing planned exercise also help people shed pounds, researchers found portion control efforts seem to offer the biggest payoff.

"Portion control may be behaviorally easier to change than increasing planned exercise for many obese individuals," says researcher Everett Logue, PhD, of Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, in a news release. "However, other research suggests that planned exercise is an important component of long-term weight management."

The results of the study appear in the Sept. 9 issue of Obesity Research.

Portion Control Promotes Weight Loss

In the study, researchers followed nearly 300 obese and overweight adults as they entered a weight loss program. All of the participants received instruction in five different weight loss strategies, including:



Increasing planned exercise (walking)
Increasing regular physical activity (incidental walking associated with chores or work)
Cutting back on fat in the diet
Eating more fruits and vegetables
Increasing portion control in the diet

After two years of follow up, researchers found those participants who spent the most time actively controlling portion size during their weight loss and maintenance efforts were more likely to lose weight.

The study showed 38% of obese people who consistently spent the two years practicing food portion control lost 5% or more of their body weight during the study.

In contrast, 33% of the participants who did not consistently practice portion control gained 5% or more of their weight during the study.

Practicing the other strategies also increased the likelihood of losing weight, but controlling portion size had the greatest impact.

"The message in the study is that you have to eat fewer calories and/or burn more calories if you want to loss weight," says Logue. "There are no short cuts. However, there are multiple ways of eating fewer calories and/or burning more calories. The trick is to find a way of eating and exercising that works for you that you can maintain for a lifetime."

"You cannot rely on the overeating and sedentary signals that the environment is constantly sending," says Logue. "You cannot follow the crowd, because the crowd is getting more overweight each year."

SOURCES: Logue, E. Obesity Research, September 2004; vol 12: pp 1499-1508. News release, Summa Health System.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/95/103292.htm

[tortoise]

Color me sceptical. Follow those people for FIVE years and I'll be more impressed. A 5% weight loss is probably the very most that can be achieved that long with this method.

[jadefox26]

I don't agree with the bit about cutting back fat, as all of us here are proof that we've been there and tried that! I'd wrather eat fat and lose weight than be on low fat and remain hungry ALL of the time!
BUT I do agree that portion control IS needed - in fact in the atkins book he says just because you can eat more callories on atkins, it does'nt give you the licence to throw food down your kneck willy nilly.
I agree with this as I have terrible problems with my portion control and I know that it is the one thing keeping me from losing weight quicker!

[CindySue48]

I measure almost nothing I eat. When I introduce a new food I do weigh and measure...but usually just once or twice, then I eyeball it from there. If what I have doesn't fill me up, I have more or something additional. As long as I stick with the right foods I'm fine.

I loose in phases....in the past I weighed and measured eveything and my weight loss was the same. I firmly believe it's what you eat, not how much.....within reason.

[potatofree]

Yeah, within reason, but unless you measure occasionally, it's easy for you to lose sight of what a proper serving LOOKS like. I know I was shocked to see how my idea of a serving compared to the serving measured out.

[MsTwacky]

I have problems knowing what a portion size is to!!


However I try and watch portion size too!! The difference is when I'm eating low carb I don't stay hungry as opposed to eating the old way!!!

For me it's easier to control my portion size when I'm not eating things like potatoes,rice, bread and sweets.

[JPaleo]

I've been working on my emotional eating problem with the help of a book. I have found that if I am very calm and quiet when I eat and really savor the food and pay attention to how I feel, I get satiated much quicker and end up eating less (these days I rarely get through half a piece of fruit before I realize that I do not want to eat anymore.

But if I am distracted (watching tv or very anxious) I will just shovel food down and not stop until my stomach is buldging.

I use to stop eating when my body felt full. Now I am learning to stop when I am satiated (which feels like more of a brain thing, like I just realize in my head that I don't want anymore of what I am eating). But it only works when I am very calm and quiet while eating.

Anyway, it is definitely resulting in my portions being smaller but I am not feeling deprived at all.

-J

[Samuel]

Controlling portion size may be the single most effective thing you can do to promote lasting weight loss, a new study shows.
This could be true but it also means that you'll not enjoy your life as you should.

What these people need to know is that obesity is a sickness. It is not just a matter of bad habits. If everything was okey with our bodies, they would regulate are weights properly with no interference from our own.

We have been born with a weight control mechanism. If not malfunctioning, it should keep us at a specific weight regardless to what we eat or how much we try to eat. Our bodies have all the tools necessary to do this job. They can make us feel hungry or stop our hunger whenever they need to, they can pass food without full digestion whenever necessary and they can even make us throw up if they desire to.

Now, what can cause our bodies weight regulation systems to malfunction? And why has this problem gone so bad particularly in the last 3 decades? This is still a mystry. One day we'll know the answer for sure. However, I personally believe that Dr. Atkins have found the answer for them, if they care to listen.

I think the typical advice "To stay healthy eat more carbs and less fats" has caused the obesity problem. A gram of carbs give less than half the calories a gram of fat gives, so eating more carbs and less fat means eating more food in size and weight. This causes the stomach to expand causing a permanent overeating problem which stays with you no matter how many diets you go through. This is of course in addition to the insulin rush problems which we all know.

If you think that even on Atkins diet, you still need portion control, you know now why.

[potatofree]

This could be true but it also means that you'll not enjoy your life as you should.



How would not overdoing portion size mean you won't enjoy life as you should?

[DietSka]

I think Samuel was thinking of "eat until you're satisfied, not stuffed"; if a standard portion size doesn't satisfy you, then you'll be still hungry and there goes the enjoyment of life in general and this WOL in particular. People shouldn't walk around hungry because someone else decided what's the portion size for someone their age or their sex.

And what is this "portion size" anyway? What the Food Pyramid says it is? What the local restaurant says it is? What that skinny coworker had for lunch? I believe portion size is a very individual thing and even then there is variation from day to day depending on what they've eaten before or how much exercise they've had, etc.

[Samuel]

Thanks for your response. I hope you have read my post in full, not just the first paragraph. If you are smart, you probably can enjoy your life while controling the amount of food you eat. This is hard for me to do. Here are two tricks which I use to make it happen naturally:

(1) I go to the Gym everyday and exercise on machines which strengthen the muscles around the abdomin.

(2) When I eat, I stuff myself with high fiber vegetables to fill my stomach up.

However, this was not my point. I'll explain my point this time differently:

(1) You must have a friend who is always at his or her perfect weight without ever doing anything to control the amount of food he or she eats. Think why he or she is different from me you. In fact most people have been the same as your friend just 3 decades ago.

(2) People who get the stomach reduction surgery done on them, lose weight and keep it without doing a thing while 95% of the people who diet by reducing calories gain their weight back.

After you eat a meal, one item your body checks before it stops your hunger is how full your stomach is. This is why if your stomach has been enlarged in size, you tend to overeat.

[K Walt]

In my experience, eating a lot of high-fiber veggies at a meal does indeed fill the stomach, and generate that 'full' feeling. And that does tend to make me stop eating a MEAL, generally earlier than otherwise.

The only problem is, that 'full' feeling is only part of shutting off the hunger switch. For me, that fullness from a high-roughage meal only lasts a short time. I've fooled my body a bit, but stuffing it with indigestible mulch. But an hour later. . . I'm starving again. As if my body figured out that all the veggie fiber passing through my gut really wasn't fuel. I'm prowling for snacks very soon after.

I agree wholeheartedly that portion control can work wonders, even on LC. It was the only way I could drop those last ten pounds. For me, the key to eating less tonnage, was to make the food richer, fuller-flavored, and fatty. And, as someone mentioned above, eat slowly and attentively.

Consider the French, for example. Generally not overweight, because they eat much smaller portions, and snack little if at all. Notice their food, how rich and intense it is. I could easily scarf down a half pound of bland, flavorless American cheese. Can't do that with Roquefort. A little nugget is enough. Or, instead of a big wad of rubber baloney, a few slices of highly peppered, garlicky salami does it.

I agree, too, that it's hard to control portions with carbs. Almost anyone can overeat cake or fries, or chips, or bread. Damn hard to overeat swordfish with wasabi horseradish dressing.

[potatofree]

Yes, Samuel, I read and understand your entire post. I just disagree with that statement about not enjoying life as you should. I'm trying to learn the "eat to live, not live to eat" mindset, though.


(1) You must have a friend who is always at his or her perfect weight without ever doing anything to control the amount of food he or she eats. Think why he or she is different from me you. In fact most people have been the same as your friend just 3 decades ago.

I know skinny people who eat like pigs, they just have a different body type than I do. 3 decades ago, MY family was all pretty plump....


(2) People who get the stomach reduction surgery done on them, lose weight and keep it without doing a thing while 95% of the people who diet by reducing calories gain their weight back

I know plenty of people who had the surgery who gained the weight back because they didn't learn to deal with the reasons WHY they over ate to begin with. Most people who treat ANY diet as a short-term fix without dealing with these issues and making it a lifestyle change will gain it back.

KWalt made some excellent points. If I stuff myself with veggies, I get "Chinese food syndrome"...starving an hour later. If I re-train myself to feel satisfied on smaller amounts without having to eat to the point of feeling stuffed, I learn to tune in to the more subtle signals that I've had enough.

[eve25]

How would not overdoing portion size mean you won't enjoy life as you should?

i think being constantly hungry b/c you only ate a 2 oz piece of chicken for dinner (as my nutritionist friend suggested) could definately affect enjoying your life.

i also wonder why one of the 5 groups wasnt cutting carbs???? do you think they could claim that, "Controlling portion size may be the single most effective thing you can do to promote lasting weight loss," if they included low carb?

[Samuel]

I know plenty of people who had the surgery who gained the weight back because they didn't learn to deal with the reasons WHY they over ate to begin with. Most people who treat ANY diet as a short-term fix without dealing with these issues and making it a lifestyle change will gain it back.

If they repeat what they have done, eating hi carb low fat food until their stomachs grow again, they will obviously return back to square one. I would change my mind only if you can find one who has put himself on a low carb maintenance diet after the sugery and gained his weight back.

[potatofree]

I'm not trying to change your mind. You're entitled to your own opinions. :) I'm just stating my own opinion.

[brobin]

As far as I am concerned, Atkins is portion control.

Eat veggies - Fill you up quick.
Eat Fat/Protein - Keeps you feeling full.

Therefore, you eat less...

Result.

You Lose Weight..

Did you do it with a scale? No, Atkins reinforces your natural portion control mechanisms.

Brobin