Cambridge Weight Plan Mexico Logo
Cambridge Weight Plan Mexico Logo
Language
Back to blog
Recipes Copy Cwp

Food portions make you lose weight

The importance of having equivalent food portions is essential to achieve weight loss. Here we give you more information.

Most diets fall into two categories. Or they claim to reveal a previously misunderstood secret of nutrition science that will help you lose weight effortlessly. Or they promise an innovative way to change the way you think about food that will lead to effortless weight loss. But although most nutritionists recommend eating more fruits and vegetables to lose weight. The reality is that you just need to have a balanced diet to achieve this.

Counting calories to lose weight

As a weight loss strategy, portion control has obvious appeal: It is simple and does not depend on new theories of biology. And it’s common sense: Smaller portions mean fewer calories. But it also reveals how much about weight loss and nutrition we don’t really understand. And like serving sizes on food labels, it can deepen that confusion.** Instead of drastically limiting the foods you are “allowed” to eat, control portions to lose weight. We must establish limits on the amount of calories we should consume daily. The Internet has been filled with the latter lately, the trend to control the calories we eat, through food portions. Points are not directly equivalent to calories, but the message is clear: the less food you eat, the better.** Of course, that’s not always true for weight loss. Despite the oft-cited maxim that weight loss is as simple as burning more calories than you consume. A growing body of research suggests that weight loss is much more complex than nutritional information.

The calorie counting method

On food labels it is not as clear as it might seem. “The more we probe, the more we realize that counting calories will do little to help us control our weight. Or even to maintain a healthy diet,” The Economist recently reported. “The seductive simplicity of counting calories in and calories out is dangerously flawed.”** Calories represent stored energy and are calculated based on the amount of heat produced when a food is burned. The human digestive system, however, involves many more variables than an oven. In the US, it is legal for calorie counts on packaging to be up to 20 percent, The Economist explained. What’s more, even when the count is accurate, different bodies process calories in different ways. “The calorie as a scientific measure is not in dispute,” The Economist reported. “But calculating the exact calorie content of foods is much more difficult than the exact numbers on food packages suggest.” In order to calculate your food portions effectively you have to go to a health professional. **If you want more information on nutrition and health topics, or need advice to find the healthiest eating plan to help you lose weight, click here