My 2 Month Portion Control Trial

Exactly 2 months ago, just after I launched my Bariatric Portion Plate, I decided to personally put it to the day to day test. Yes, I’d trialled it umpteen times already with friends, family and professionals to ensure I had got the proportions right…so I knew it worked. But day to day….when challenged with hurried food decisions, off-schedule arrangements, entertaining distractions and the sheer mundane routine of trying to ‘eat right with every bite’? …well not in a sustained and documented way.

So, on the 30th April I jumped on the scales, logged into my fitday account, recorded the details and then got on with my day to day life. My routine is fairly constant in so far as I work virtually every day, take some time off for exercise (although not as much as I should), socialise pretty much like everyone else and cook for myself and my family. Add to that cooking and recipe development for work projects and that pretty much sums up my general routine. My plan was to eat off my plate at every opportunity that supported it (following the guidelines on portion size and food group choice) and see if it made the kind of difference I had been telling others it would.

I think portion distortion and its correction is one of the key factors in weight-loss and control. I know from my past choices that generally my diet was good, healthy and ticked most boxes. Where it fell down and the weight increase came from fell at the feet of food quantity. I could and did frequently eat man-sized portions (and sometimes go back for more!). WLS gave me the opportunity and the tools to address this and thankfully it worked well for me. After a gastric bypass I went on to lose some 92 lbs.

But what about the current trial … how did that work out? Well before I roll the drum I first should clarify that it wasn’t such a routine 2 months. In fact it was a tricky time … I had a recipe book to complete (and a non-bariatric one at that!); a house move to negotiate with my daughter with all the associated stresses and strains; a food delivery service to trial; a website update to plan and execute (more details on that in July….it’s worth waiting for); and so many celebrations to attend (think Food Awards, Christenings, parent’s birthday parties, family ‘special event’ birthdays) where food took centre stage. Temptations came thick, fast and in bucket-loads … but if this was to be a true test then they couldn’t be erased from the agenda.

I didn’t make any major concessions during this time, I just kept to my high protein, low fat and low sugar regime but plated it wherever and whenever possible to check my bariatric portion size. I did kick alcohol into touch (and surprisingly I’ve found I don’t miss it so will continue without) but replaced it with the odd glass of alcohol-free wine or booze and sugar-free drink that had similar calorie values. I still had my occasional treat so never felt that this was an unsustainable way of eating or dare I say the word (generally banned from my vocabulary) DIET.