And This Bowl is Just Right

One way I keep my portion sizes under control is to have different sized bowls for different foods. Finishing an entire bowl of anything is satisfying, even if it's a small bowl, and it's easier to resist going back for seconds. It also makes it easy if my husband is putting together a snack - he knows if I ask for a 'bowlfull' to go for the small bowl. We've gotten most of our small bowls in Chinatown - the stores often have a selection of small rice and condiment bowls for reasonable prices. I find them a good size for cereal and servings of fruit, as they hold about a cup. I'll fill them to the brim with berries, and half full for cereal.

The tiny 'ice cream' bowls are actually teacups, and hold single small scoop of ice cream or pudding. Having a tiny cup makes me eat it slower and reminds me to savor the flavor. It was a bit of an adjustment - and every so often I'll upgrade to a larger size - but it really does help re-enforce moderation in sweets and carb heavy foods.

The big bowls are regular salad/soup bowls, and I try to make sure I'm not using them for anything but veggies.

I do this with glasses as well. The only time I use a large glass is if I'm drinking water, crystal light or some other sugar free beverage.

Anything carb heavy like milk or juice gets a small glass, usually only half filled. We found the small glasses in a six pack at the dollar store, so they were really inexpensive.

I find it really tedious to pull out the scale or the measuring cups every time we eat, so having our serving dishes in the appropriate sizes really helps.

The only thing I don't use smaller things for is plates: For those I just try to make sure half the plate is covered with veggies, though I'm not always successful.