Are you suffering from the Portion Distortion Syndrome?

A couple years ago I was suffering from a condition that is not too commonly discussed, but does very often appear in many restaurants, parties and homes all over the world. Yes, you too may be suffering from this horrible condition and not even know it. What is this awful affliction? Well it's called: Portion Distortion, and it just may be what is holding you back from reaching your weight loss goals.

I can remember one particular occasion when I saw portion distortion at its very best. I was at a family party at a Spanish restaurant celebrating the Christening of my baby nephew Alex. Here I was chit chatting with guests and catching up with friends and relatives when I see the waiters walk out of the kitchen with what looked like the most insane servings of steaks, lobsters, chicken and salmon on each plate. At first I was thinking they were serving each plate on each table "family style", where the whole table could each enjoy a piece. I was wrong. One plate was for one person and the amount of food on each was downright scary.

I walked back to my table and said to my husband, "Holy smokes! Wait until you see the size of the portions!" My husband replied, "Oh Isabel, you exaggerate. You think one extra grain of rice on the plate is too much. I'm sure it's fine for normal people." There's a good question. Do we even know what a normal portion is anymore? Or a better question to ask ourselves would be, What is a healthy portion?

By the look on my husband's face when a huge mountain of chicken masala was placed in front of him and a lobster larger than my nephew on a 1 pound bed of 1 (I swear. That is no exaggeration) was placed in front of me, I knew he agreed this was not "normal" by any means.

Here's the sad and most unfortunate part. I would say that 75% of the people in the room ate the entire portion that was served to them. I realize each one of us is different, requiring different amounts for our body size and metabolic type, but no one and I mean no one needs 2 pounds of chicken, 20 ounces of steak, or 1 pound of rice in one sitting (sorry to break it to you). Could you eat this much over the course of one day? Of course you could. One meal though? Obviously not a healthy portion by any means.

Restaurants are not the only place where portion distortion creeps into our lives. We often do the same thing at home, serving ourselves one reasonable, healthy portion and then going again for seconds. If you are still hungry, then of course you shouldn't go hungry, but often it is not hunger that draws us back to the kitchen for more. It's the fact that the food just tasted good in the first place or that we ate so fast we didn't even get a chance enjoy the meal.

If you think too much food on your plate may be what's stopping you from seeing the weight come off, here are a few tips to help you battle the Portion Distortion Syndrome:

1. Eat Slowly. Yes, I know, In our fast paced society, it is a bit difficult to make the time to eat slow and enjoy your meal. I am not asking for a 2 hour lunch break here. All it takes is approximately 20 minutes for your brain and your stomach to register that food has arrived and calm your hunger. When we inhale our meal (and boy did I see some inhalers this weekend) in the first 5 minutes that it has been served, we do not give our bodies enough time to register the "I'm not hungry anymore" cue and of course we are left hungry and searching for more food. Give yourself a minimum of 20 minutes to eat before deciding if more food is even necessary. Savor each bite of food and chew it thoroughly (no inhalers, please!) For those of you that suffer from any gastrointestinal distress, you will actually find that this will greatly enhance your digestion just chewing your food more thoroughly and creating more digestive enzymes in your body.

2. When at restaurants or parties, take a good look at what is on your plate before you even pick up the fork. Figure out exactly how much of it would be healthy for you at this particular meal. This is what my husband did with his mountain of chicken and mashed potatoes. He said to me, "If I eat 1 and ½ pieces of chicken (there was 4 huge pieces on his plate) and half of these mashed potatoes, that is probably more than enough right?". Then he proceeded to cut exactly that much and put it over to one side of his plate and ate from there. If you just start attacking your plate the second it shows up in front of you, the whole thing will be gone (hopefully not including the plate itself) before you even realize it! The scary part is you won't even know how much you ate! We have all had those moments of total regret when our stomach is aching and we're asking ourselves "Why did I eat so much? Why didn't I stop sooner?" A better question to ask before this happens is "How much can I eat now and how much can I have again later?" Give yourself just 2 minutes to assess the portion that would be best for you and take the rest home. Not only will you prevent the stomach pains, but you will get to enjoy this delicious meal twice.

3. At home, put exactly what you intend to eat on your plate before you start eating. Take your time enjoying the food you have in front of you and don't make this an eating race with the rest of the table. I am often the last person finished at the table and I don't care. Why should I rush? Unless we have plans or somewhere to be there is no need for me to eat my whole dinner plate in 5 minutes. Not only do I enjoy my meal, but I enjoy talking to my family members during our meal and even put my fork down a few times to digest between bites (imagine that, putting the fork down). I know we are often influenced by the people eating around us and if everyone else is eating fast we have a tendency to follow. Keep at your own pace and have people follow your lead. I know when people eat with me they do have a tendency to eat much slower because I am not inhaling. You will influence others around you to eat healthier without even knowing it.

4. Always remember, there is more where that came from. Chances are none of us are going to suffer from a lack of food, especially when it comes to dining out and being invited to parties. There is no need to eat today like it is the last day that food is being served on this planet. You don't receive a special reward for "cleaning your plate" or finishing your meal the fastest. There is always more food available for your next meal (many times there is just too much food available) and we can always take food home with us or eat again in a few hours if we get hungry.

What did I do with my gigantic lobster and 1 pound mountain of rice? Actually my order was confused and I split my sister's salmon with her (which must have been at least 14 ounces) and we each had a healthy and satisfying piece with green beans and spanish rice on the side. The lobster and rice went home with another relative to serve to her entire family the next day.

Be careful of the Portion Distortion Syndrome. Use the above tips and I know weight loss will come much easier.

My friend Isabel De Los Rios who is a Certified Nutritionist and Certified Exercise Specialist is the author of The Diet Solution Program