Each day as I get older I tend to forget what I actually did/said versus what I thought about doing/saying so I might have have asked this before in the past because it has been a question on my mind for some time now.

My ultimate goal is to get down to 150lbs or some where around that. I want to be at a very healthy weight and have little fat on my waist (that's where I carry most of it). I'm just wondering about what portions of food I should be eating. I realise that my current weight is because I've been eating much larger portions (obviously!). However, trying to eat very small portions (like what is recommended on the "real age" website) leaves me extremely hungry. It's not just imaginary hunger. I actual hear/feel my stomach. I might just need to suck it up and feel a little hunger so my stomach "shrinks" (is that how it really works?).

The question is this:
Isn't it more reasonable for me (268lbs) to eat the portions/calories of a 200lb person instead of jumping in directly to eating the portions/calories of 150lb person ?

Help me out ladies!!

I've wondered about this too. Totally confused.

I go by calories. Counting calories is my verison of portion control. It's the only thing that keeps me in check. Otherwise, I would keep eating and eating and eating. Like I did BEFORE I started counting calories.

When I started my journey at 287 lbs, I started out at about 1800 calories, but quickly took it down (a few weeks in) to 1600. I'm not exactly sure if this is what your question is refering to (how many calories you should consume) but if it is, that is where I would start.

I based that number on how much I weighed, not on my age. I'm really not sure if this was any help to you at all. I'm sorry.

Im confused about this sometimes too.

I do what Robin does, I count calories. For example for lunch I had the whole can of tuna ( 150 calories), 3 servings. Of course this doesn't let me eat 4 cans of it. The only thing sI give myself a bigger hole for eating portions are fruit and veggies. I sometimes eat more than I should, but don't think it is a big problem.
cheryl

My doc has me broken down like this

8AM Breakfast- 1 cup cereal 10 grams or less sugar grams or higher fiber. 1 piece wheat toast. 1 banana.

the rest of the day is like this. a whole sandwich is 3oz and carrots are 3oz apples are red delicious.

10:30AM 1/2 sandwich - apple

12:30PM 1/2 sandwich - apple - carrots

2:00PM 1/2 sandwich - carrots

4:00PM 1/2 sandwich - carrots

6:00PM 1/2 sandwich - 10 almonds

8:30PM 8oz veggies anything other then corn or potatoes and 8oz of meat. I have a bread or noodles I break it down 3oz noodles and 5oz of meat.
Or a cup of soup and I lower veggies.

I keep to 2,100 to 2,500 cals 2,500 is my goal.

When is doubt ask your doctor.

Calories become portions, if you think about it the right way.

Temple, let's say for now you are going to try to stick to 1800 calories/day (note: that's a random number, but it may be a reasonable place for you to start). Let's say further, that you want to divvy up that 1800 calories into 3 meals and 2 snacks. You could have 3 400 calorie meals (for 1200) and 2 300 calorie snacks (for another 600) to get to 1800. Now of course, you can divvy that out any old way you like. Maybe you want a little more for lunch and a little less for breakfast...

but then once you start thinking about how many calories you want at each "sitting" you think about what foods will get you there.

My typical lunch of a turkey sandwich on a pita, with roasted red pepper, along with carrot sticks and cucumber and a piece of fruit might come to a few hundred calories...

It takes some work at first, figuring out these "portions" but once you have a sense in your head of what everything "costs' in terms of calories, and get yourself on a schedule, it gets much easier. I think it also gets easier if you find foods that help fill you up -- a banana for 100 calories might keep my fuller (and have more nutrition) than a 100-calorie package of somethingoranother

I hope that answered the question you were asking. If you aren't getting the answer -- or have more questions -- ask again!

I also found the 1st month hard has all get out. My body is like "um hey where is the food? This is nice and all but enough with the joke feed ME!"

I would eat over what I should aleast once a week sometimes twice.

Now it like once every 2 weeks and most days I don't eat every thing in my lunch box. I normally take home 1 bag of carrots and sandwich. My body just isn't hungry for it all.

The days I do eat over my limit I work out an extra 10 mins to help make up for it. (10 ins for me equals about 150 cal).

Also for me I try not eat more then a pound of food at any one time. Thats 16oz and normally that is dinner.(if your looking for a phyiscal number.

In May I was eatting 2.5lbs or more of food per sitting and I'd eat 4 times a day.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm going to try to just stick to 2,000 calories for the next few weeks and see what happens. I put my weight into a calculator and it says I need about 3,800 to maintain my weight. For 200 lbs it said something like 2800. That still feels like a lot so I'm going to see what I can do with 2,000. If I loose weight I know it is working out and if not then I'll know I need to go lower.

I think part of the problem is that I need a better breakfast. A small Instant oatmeal packet just doesnt cut it.

Hey TempleBody,

Yeah, that oatmeal packet... if I only eat oatmeal for breakfast, I get terribly hungry by about 10 am. It just doesn't sustain me on its own.

Another idea about portions is weighing or measuring your food. You can combine this with a calorie tracker if the tracker tells you calories per ounce, tablespoon, or cup.

For example, it's easy to measure out 1/2 cup of cooked rice, using a dry measure. That's about 110 calories, according to the FitDay tracker.

You can then dump the rice onto your plate and see what it looks like. After you do this sort of thing for awhile, you'll have a better idea about proper portions.

Spaghetti is another food where it's really easy to eat way too much. A cup of spaghetti noodles (no sauce) has about 200 calories, but not many people actually go to the trouble of measuring that out, and they end up eating a lot more than that.

Jay