Instant Portion Control

Most weight conscious folks know that our portion sizes have become astronomical over the years! Bowls are larger. Spoons are larger. Plates are larger.

I recently read Brian Wansink's Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. It's a great book, and I highly recommend it! He's done a bunch of studies about the things that cause us to overeat, such as oversized bowls, proximity and scent. It's an awesome read for anyone who thinks they may be affected by "eating" cues. (And believe me... everyone is affected by these cues. Dr. Wansink proves it over and over again.) Anyway, one of the big things he focuses on is how the size and shapes of our dinnerware, serveware and utensils can affect our idea of an appropriate "portion size."

Now some places sell portion controlled plates with little dividers or pictures to show you how much to eat, such as the Relaxor FF8PP Perfect Portion Plate. And I've also seen portion control bowls. But I figured I could get something similar without blowing a huge wad of cash.

So... I tracked down some smaller dinnerware and have replaced my old, super-sized versions with these new, streamlined options:

• 8" plate: The average dinner plate is a whooping 11" in diameter! Just switching to an 8 or 9 inch plate can mean you'll eat significantly less. The plates I purchased (click on link to see them) are supposed to be "luncheon" plates, but I think they work fine as reasonably sized dinner plates, too.

• 12 oz bowl: A one-cup serving is 8 ounces. I purchased 12 oz bowls, assuming I'd never fill them to the brim (to avoid spilling anything). At the max, one of these bowls would contain 1 1/2 cups. To me, that's a great size for a mini-meal of soup or rice & beans.

I kept some of the regular size stuff (which looks gigantic compared to my new, smaller dishes) for things like dinner parties. But in the future, I'm avoiding my old, oversized dinnerware as much as possible.