If you find your waistline growing, you might want to check the size of something else: your portions.

Portion control is an important part of managing weight. And the statistics on portions are staggering.

Why portion control is important

Average Americans consume about 23% more calories each day than they did in 1970. Portions served in restaurants have grown even faster, doubling or even tripling over the past 20 years.

And eating often takes place haphazardly: a bagel in the car on the way to work or a fast-food dinner on the way home from your child’s sports game.

“As a culture, we are focused on productivity and efficiency, which can make feeding ourselves feel like an inconvenience,” said Skylar Weir, a registered dietitian nutritionist at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs. “People are more likely to go for the convenient or easy option that may not be the best for our health or health-related goals.”

All of those extra calories add up: just 100 more calories each day can result in an extra 10 pounds of weight in a year.

How to listen to your body: Try mindful eating

Though supersized meals make it easy to lose track of an actual portion, your body will usually tell you — as long as you take the time to listen.

“The most important part of portion control is understanding your individual dietary needs and matching those with your innate hunger and fullness cues,” Weir said.

Those signals aren’t immediate. As the stomach fills with food, our bodies alert the brain, which then releases hormones that contribute to a feeling of satiety or fullness. But the process can take 20 or 30 minutes. That is why listening to your internal senses and signals — called interoception — is so important.

“Many of us have disconnected from interoception,” Weir said. “We use external cues instead, such as ‘eating with our eyes,’ or mindlessly plating our food without acknowledging how hungry or full we actually are.”

To try mindful eating, here is what Weir suggests: 

Eliminate distractions: Step away from screens during meals when possible. Eating without multitasking helps you tune into the experience of eating: flavor, texture and satisfaction.

Start meals with a body scan: Before eating, pause and ask, “Am I hungry? Where do I feel hungry? What am I truly in the mood for: crunch, warm, sweet?” This helps cultivate awareness and distinguish between physical and emotional hunger.

Practice gratitude: Before eating, consider where the food came from, who helped prepare it or what you’re thankful for. This simple practice can bring more meaning and joy to meals.

Eat with all five senses: Notice the color of your plate, the aroma of your food, the texture of your mouth, the crunch or softness or even the sound. This anchors you in the present moment.

Check in halfway through your meal. Pause midmeal to reflect how full you are. Do you want more? Are you still enjoying it? These pauses help people avoid eating too much and focus instead on how satisfied they are rather than simply cleaning their plates.

Drop the judgment: Mindful eating isn’t about eating perfectly. It’s about consistency. It’s about noticing habits without taking on guilt. Try replacing self-criticism with curiosity. For instance, ask yourself: “Why do I reach for sweets when I’m tired? What else might I need right now?”

Fuel with intention. Mindful eating also means honoring your body’s needs. Ask yourself what will help you feel energized, focused and nourished.

A mindful eating approach can complement any eating pattern: Chew slowly, put your fork down between bites and give your body a chance to catch up. Get out of autopilot mode.

“We are all very out of touch with how food and nutrition make us feel,” Weir said. “We view our meals as another task to check off for the day instead of viewing it as a time to create health, pleasure, joy and connection.”

Another way to encourage mindful eating is to write down what you eat.

Tracking what you eat has many benefits

“More often, people tend to underestimate what they eat,” Weir said. “Some studies suggest that most people underestimate how much they eat by 20-50%, especially when it comes to high calorie foods, portion sizes or meals eaten out.”

Weir said it’s easy to miss “invisible calories” that can add up. These are small things, like cooking oils, dressings, a cracker here or there, or a handful of trail mix between meetings.

Other tips for eating proper portions include using a smaller plate, drinking water instead of calorie-laden beverages and understanding true portion sizes. For instance, a serving of meat should be the size of a deck of cards, a serving of cheese is the size of four dice, and a serving of cooked pasta is about the size of your fist.

When dining out, share an entree or bring home leftovers. And plan ahead when evenings are busy with activities.

“Planning ahead helps reduce decision fatigue, manage busy schedules and support intentional eating instead of reactive or convenience-based choices,” Weir said. “When we wait until we’re overly hungry or rushed to decide what to eat, it’s easy to overeat or grab something that doesn’t truly satisfy or fuel us well.”

It’s also important to eat your fruits and vegetables, even if it means sometimes breaking the “don’t eat in the car ” rule.

“Planning doesn’t mean perfection,” she said. “It means creating structure and flexibility so you’re more likely to follow through with nourishing choices, even when life gets hectic.”

Weir offers some real-life tips to make healthy choices easier:

• Chop veggies, precook grains or proteins or make a batch of soup or overnight oats for the week.
• Pack healthy snacks like a banana, trail mix or yogurt in your bag so you’re not running on empty or hitting the vending machine.
• Look at your calendar and identify busy days so you can prepare grab-and-go meals for those times.
• Grocery shop with a loose meal plan in mind so you have ingredients on hand to build simple, balanced meals.
• Look at a restaurant’s menus in advance. This helps you go in with confidence and a plan that meets your health-related goals.

Avoid ‘eliminating’ or ‘restricting’ your diet, but instead focus on ‘nutrition by addition’

Weir warns that when people put too much focus on eliminating or restricting things from their diet, it can backfire.

“It’s not very sustainable and may increase your craving for the foods you’re restricting,” she said. “Focusing on what you can add to your meal to make it more balanced, flavorful and satisfying promotes a positive, flexible relationship with food and helps build habits that last.”

To do this, she offers a few more tips for focusing on the “nutrition by addition” principle: 

• Add color to your plate at each meal. This helps boost your fiber intake and anti-inflammatory vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
• Include protein at each meal and snack. This supports muscle protein synthesis, blood sugar balance and satiety.
• Sprinkle in healthy fats. Healthy fats help us feel fuller and improve the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
• Swap refined carbs for complex carbs. Complex carbs contain more fiber and provide your body with energy.
• Ingredient swap. Get creative with ingredient swaps, such as using lentil pasta, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, roasted chickpeas instead of croutons in salads, or white rice as a substitute for quinoa or farro.

“Calorie counting doesn’t account for the quality or context of what we’re eating,” Weir said. “A calorie is not just a calorie when it comes to nutrition. Two meals with the same calories can have vastly different nutrient profiles, effects on energy levels, satiety and mood.”

This article first appeared in the Steamboat Pilot & Today.