10 ways to perfect your portion sizes

Master your meal sizes to take control and stay on track.
Published 27 July, 2023

It’s not always easy tracking portion sizes, especially when food labels use different nutrition information or daily limits.

But there are ways you can learn to size up a portion more easily!

Try these tips, whether you’re prepping your food or eating it.

When you’re…preparing your meals

Does your kitchen support your weight loss or work against it? Make sure you:

Use an accurate set of kitchen scales. Get into the routine of weighing things like pasta or rice to learn the Points value.

Keep measuring tools close by to prevent guesswork or cooking too much food.

Track drinks or sauces with a measuring jug to avoid going over Budget.

Use a measuring spoon to manage how much ketchup or dressing you’re adding to dishes.

Split family-sized packs into smaller containers to avoid eating straight from the packet. Now you’ll only eat what you need.

Be mindful of what ‘one serving’ means; a single packet could be two or more.


When you’re…eating your meals

Avoid portion pitfalls by:

Serving your meals on smaller – or side – plates. Surveys show our plates have grown by 36 per cent since the 1960s! A portion of food will look much bigger on a small plate.

Measuring out cereal or pudding before putting it in a bowl. It’s tempting to fill a deep bowl to the brim.

Freeze any leftovers straight after your meal to avoid picking at them later.

Learn what 125ml wine (a small glassful) looks like in each of your glasses as it will look different depending on their size and shape.