To lose weight, maintain health and strengthen your immune system, you need to eat right. A balanced, nutritious diet will help avoid many health and appearance problems.
However, you need to pay attention not only to the composition of the menu, combinations of products, but also to the serving size.
To start eating right and getting rid of excess weight, you need to learn how to determine the amount of food at one time.
This can be done even without a kitchen scale, visually.
This skill will help you control the amount of food so as not to overeat, keep your figure slim and your health strong.
Why is the amount of food important?
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The portion of food should be moderate, since undereating or overeating has a bad effect on a person’s figure, physical and psychological state.
Lack of food can cause the following problems:
- A person is previously tormented by hunger.
- The likelihood of breakdown and overeating of harmful foods increases.
- Concentration and memory decreases, as a person constantly wants to eat.
- Mood worsens.
- A deficiency of nutrients occurs and metabolic processes slow down.
- A person gets tired quickly and performance decreases.
Negative consequences of overeating:
- The functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is disrupted, the body does not absorb most of the nutrients.
- Heartburn, stool disorders, and nausea occur.
- The body spends a lot of energy breaking down foods, especially if they are incompatible.
- Acne and ulcers appear on the skin.
- Brain activity decreases, a person feels drowsiness, laziness, and indifference to everything that happens.
- The work of many organs and systems is disrupted.
- Metabolism and blood flow slow down, and women develop cellulite.
Attention! To determine a single serving, you need to take into account a person’s activity, age, gender, concomitant diseases, etc.
Be sure to check out:
Rules and recipes for a menu with proper nutrition Rules for compiling and a sample menu for a week as part of proper nutrition The meaning and rules for creating a regimen with proper nutrition for a healthy person We create a menu for older people correctly: we take into account the characteristics of the body at 60 and 80 years old
How to determine and select portion sizes: weight, volume, energy value
To lose weight or maintain weight, you need to calculate the optimal size of a single serving of food. It is this indicator that determines the appropriate calorie content of the daily diet.
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On average, men should consume from 2400 to 2500 kcal per 24 hours, and women - from 1500 to 1800 kcal.
Important! The calorie content of the daily menu largely depends on the level of physical activity. If a person regularly engages in sports or heavy physical work, then he needs more calories. With a passive lifestyle, the portion of food should be reduced.
If a person eats 5-6 times a day, then the calorie content of one serving with proper nutrition will be as follows:
- women – from 250 to 300 kcal;
- men - from 400 to 480 kcal.
If a girl regularly engages in strength sports, then the nutritional value of one serving is about 400 kcal; for an active man, this figure increases to 550 kcal.
It is important to consider the ratio of beneficial nutrients in the diet:
- proteins – 30% of the total menu;
- complex carbohydrates – 60%;
- fats – from 5 to 15%.
Read more about BZHU for weight loss for women and men in the article at the link.
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Nutritionists have calculated the average optimal serving size for women – 250 g, for men – 350 g.
To accurately determine food portions, you need to purchase a kitchen scale. They are used to weigh each portion and its components separately.
What should be the portion of salad and first course in the school cafeteria?
According to SanPin, the weight of a portion varies depending on the age of the student.
Salad for children under 11 years of age should not exceed the weight of 100 grams. For older children - 150.
The first dish for children under 11 years old should weigh 200-250 grams. For older students - 200-300 grams. You can find out more about portion sizes in the school nutrition sanpin.
What is the highest calorie dish in the world?
According to my data, the Quad Burger at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas contains the most calories in a single dish. It contains 9,982 calories (even though the average daily value is 2000 calories). Unfortunately, I didn’t try it, but I ate the “Angry Burger” in Boston at the Eagles Deli, and it had 4943 calories. If you don't believe me, here's the photo (on the cover).
Number of meals per day
Most nutritionists advise sticking to five meals a day, which gives you a feeling of fullness and energy. And light snacks with proper nutrition help get rid of the feeling of hunger between main meals.
You need to eat at intervals of 3-3.5 hours, then the body uses energy more efficiently. This style of eating accelerates fat burning, helps maintain muscle mass, and improves body contour.
A person should adhere to the following dietary regimen:
- Breakfast – 8 a.m.
- Afternoon snack – 11 o’clock.
- Lunch – 2 pm.
- Afternoon snack – 17:00.
- Light dinner - at 20:00.
Important! To maintain water-salt balance, you need to drink at least 2 liters of liquid per day. In this case, it is better to drink filtered water 30 minutes before a meal or 1.5 hours after it, so as not to stretch a full stomach.
What is the plate principle in the healthy eating model?
The plate model is a nutritional pattern that was invented by the Finns. It helps you eat right, get rid of extra pounds or stay in shape.
This method works as follows:
- Take a plate whose diameter is 20-24 cm.
- Divide it into 2 equal parts, and then split one of the halves in half. You will get 1 half and 2 quarters.
- Fill half with vegetables, 1 quarter with complex carbohydrates (buckwheat, barley, potatoes, class A pasta), 2 quarter with proteins (meat, fish, seafood, beans, soy products).
The weight of the vegetable half is 500 g. The products can be eaten fresh, boiled, stewed or steamed.
A serving of carbohydrates is 100-150 g (3/4 cup). Consume such products without harmful sauces and dressings.
The weight of protein foods, such as fish or meat, is from 80 to 120 g. Give preference to dietary varieties, remove the skin. Eating the right amount of food will help you maintain vital body functions and lose weight.
The morning is more satisfying than the evening
But the serving size depends not only on the composition of the product. It is necessary to remember the time of day.
- In the evening, portion sizes should be reduced and eat low-calorie foods that the body can easily absorb.
- In the morning, on the contrary, you need to have a hearty breakfast so that you have enough energy to wake up, and on the way to work, and until lunch. For breakfast, you can combine proteins (meat, poultry, fish), carbohydrates (whole grain cereals, vegetables) and healthy vegetable fats (no more than 1 tsp). This will allow you to stay full longer and not indulge in starchy and sweet snacks.
Photo: moscowunivercityclub.ru
Rule of hand
This method allows you to determine the volume of a single serving without using scales:
- A woman's palm is equal to 100 g of chicken fillet or fish.
- A woman's fist is a piece of meat or fish weighing 200 g.
- Thumb tip – 5 g of oil.
- A handful of a girl’s hand – 50 ml of liquid food or 1 serving of vegetable salad, porridge, pasta.
The amount of nutrients in 1 serving can also be calculated using your hand:
- Egg whites – 1 palm.
- Vegetables, fruits - 1 fist.
- Slow carbohydrates – 1 palm.
- Fats – 1 phalanx.
According to this method, a person should consume 2 palms of protein, 1 palm of carbohydrates, 3 fists of vegetables and fruits, 1 palm of fat per day.
You can also measure the amount of liquid food with your hand. A woman's fist is equal to the size of 1 glass - this is approximately 200 g of soup without grounds.
This is interesting! The size of the fist is similar to the volume of the stomach. To avoid overeating, focus on this part of the body when determining your portion size.
Cooking calculator
Calculation of recipes for any number of servings.
Knowing a recipe, it is not always easy to understand how many ingredients are needed to prepare it. We have developed calculators for calculating proportions for salads and other dishes - you enter the weight of the portion and indicate how many people you need to prepare the dish for, and the calculator makes an online calculation of the amount of food.
Salad calculators - proportions of ingredients online:
After the calculation, you will see the recipe according to which the ingredients for the salad were selected, as well as a step-by-step method for preparing this salad.
The quantity of some products is indicated in pieces and grams - this is done for convenience, because... For a small salad weight, it is more convenient to count the ingredients individually, but for a large quantity of salad or for more precise adherence to the recipe, it is more correct to put the ingredients in the salad by weight, rather than individually.
Salad designer:
Didn't find a ready-made salad ingredient calculator? Then use the online salad maker - you can create a salad from the right ingredients and get the right weight of ingredients to prepare the required amount of salad.
Sandwiches:
Calculation of sandwiches with different fillings
First meal:
Online calculation of ingredients for first courses - borscht, soup, beetroot soup, etc.
Salting fish:
Calculation of the proportions of ingredients for salting fish at home.
Pickling and canning vegetables:
Calculation of product proportions for pickling and canning vegetables.
Cutlets:
Calculation of the proportions of products for preparing cutlets.
Dough:
Calculation of proportions for preparing dough products and fillings (for pizza).
Calculation of any dish:
This calculator allows you to calculate the required amount of ingredients for any number of servings based on the original recipe.
Cooking porridge:
Calculation of the amount of water and cooking time for porridge of various viscosities from different cereals.
Sauté and stew:
Calculation of ingredients for preparing sautes and vegetable stews.
Beverages:
Calculation of ingredients when preparing homemade kvass, as well as calculation of the ratio of water to berries and fruits when preparing compote and fruit juice. Calculation of proportions for homemade lemonade.
Sweet table:
Cake baking recipes with selection of ingredients online.
Source
The benefits and harms of fractional nutrition
With five meals a day, a person does not feel hungry, so the body needs less energy, and therefore fewer calories. Then the calorie content of the daily diet is reduced by 15-20%.
Fractional nutrition means that a person eats food often, but in small doses. Then the products are digested faster, and the nutrients from them are better absorbed.
This style of eating relieves the digestive organs and improves the general condition of the body. Therefore, such diets are often used for gastrointestinal diseases (gastritis, colitis, ulcers, etc.).
Small portions of food stabilize the concentration of glucose in the blood. When the level of this substance decreases, a feeling of hunger occurs, and this threatens overeating.
Fractional nutrition helps to get rid of excess fat, maintain shape, and during training, increase muscle mass.
This style of eating has its negative sides:
- Fractional meals are not suitable for people who are emotionally dependent on food because they do not take breaks between meals.
- A person does not always manage to eat on time, especially if he works.
- In case of diseases of the pancreas, insulin resistance may develop on a fractional diet.
As you can see, this style of eating has virtually no drawbacks, except for individual intolerance or incompatibility with lifestyle.
You may also be interested in: Nutrition Pyramid
Recommendations from professionals
Nutritionists and professional trainers say that serving size is the most important indicator that helps to achieve impressive results.
To lose weight and get healthier, you need to completely change your lifestyle, follow the rules, control portion sizes, as well as food compatibility. Skipping a meal is strictly prohibited, even if you have no appetite.
Kovalkov Alexey, nutritionist
Russia's leading nutritionist, author of a weight loss program and numerous publications on weight correction, says that the average size of an adult's stomach is 500 ml.
Food should occupy 2/3 of the total volume. That is, an approximate single serving of food is 350-400 g. This dose does not disrupt the functioning of the stomach and promotes the full production of enzymes and other important substances.
When a person consumes about 400 g of food, he is better able to absorb the necessary nutrients, while the risk of increasing adipose tissue is minimal.
The nutritionist claims that a portion of vegetables on a plate is reduced in the stomach by exactly 2 times after chewing. That is, 300 g of product equals 150 g of fiber inside. Therefore, the doctor advises his clients to eat a lot of vegetables.
A. Kovalkov recommends focusing on carbohydrates in the first half of the day, and then consuming vegetables with healthy fats. You need to have dinner with proteins and vegetables.
Akmal Kadri, fitness trainer
A master of sports in all-around strength training advises adjusting food portions if necessary.
He argues that a person does not know how his body will react, so you need to remain flexible and change the serving size depending on your feelings and goals.
The trainer recommends using the hand rule when determining portions. If a person wants to increase muscle mass, but he can’t do it, then you can add another 1 palm of carbohydrates and 1 knuckle of fat.
To lose weight, it is recommended to remove 1 palm of carbohydrate foods, as well as 1 palm of fat.
Yulia Bastrygina, nutritionist
Candidate of Medical Sciences, author of publications on healthy eating, claims that people often overeat because they do not feel normal. To avoid weight and health problems, you need to use the following tricks:
- When switching to proper nutrition, gradually reduce the portion size.
- Use small plates to trick your brain. The same can be done with glasses.
- Develop the habit of not finishing the entire portion.
- Don't be distracted from eating so that your brain and body have time to process this information.
Do not use express diets to lose weight; along with your diet, you need to completely change your lifestyle. Fractional meals are most suitable for this purpose.
A serving of pasta per day
Pasta: clenched fist
This amount of pasta seems quite small, but the pasta will expand in size as it cooks. This serving contains 75 grams and 219 calories. A serving of uncooked rice should also be the size of your fist.
Carbohydrates, which are important for maintaining energy, and fiber should take up a quarter of your plate (proteins the other quarter and vegetables half the plate).
The sauce will add extra calories.
Main conclusions
As you can see, serving size matters a lot. A man can consume 350 g of food at one time, and a woman – 250 g. Although the amount of food consumed at a time depends on age, physical activity, and body characteristics.
To calculate the serving size, you can use the rule of hand. Remember that a single dose of protein is the size of your palm, vegetarian food is the size of your fist, complex carbohydrates are the size of your palm, and fats are the size of your thumb. By following these rules, you will improve your body's functioning and improve your appearance.
The plate principle: what should be the serving size for proper nutrition
To lose weight, maintain health and strengthen your immune system, you need to eat right. A balanced, nutritious diet will help avoid many health and appearance problems.
However, you need to pay attention not only to the composition of the menu, combinations of products, but also to the serving size.
To get rid of excess weight, you need to learn how to determine the amount of food at one time.
This can be done even without a kitchen scale, visually.
This is a very important skill that will help you control the amount of food so as not to overeat, keep your figure slim and your health strong.
