I spent the first couple of months on the Sugar Busters diet learning what food was "legal" and what food was not. I also spent a lot of time eating lots and lots of "legal" foods. (Pork rinds, cheese, nuts, meat, no-sugar-added ice cream, etc.)
After an initial round of weight loss, I hit a plateau and the weight loss stopped. That's when I learned about portion control. I was eating too much of the right foods! Please understand, you will probably go through this phenomenon and IT'S OK! Go ahead and eat too many of the right foods for a while. It's important to learn what you like and don't like of things that are "legal". However, once you've figured out HOW and WHAT you're going to be eating for the rest of your life, then you can get in control of HOW MUCH you're eating of these foods.
I started getting in control of my portion size by serving myself half as much of what I would normally eat. If I still wanted more after eating that much, I would get another portion, but half as much as the first portion. So, in this scenario, I would eat about half a portion and then about a quarter portion. That equals about three quarters of a portion. In almost every case I found that three quarters of a portion filled me up just as well as a full portion. In many cases, I never went back for that quarter portion, so I ended up eating half as much!
A couple of other trick's I've learned to improve my portion control:
1. Use small spoons. You take more bites to eat the same amount of food.
2. Use small plates and bowls. I use custard cups for no sugar added ice cream. You're still eating a "bowl of ice cream", but there's less.
I also discovered the next rule: The first bite is the only one that really tastes good.
So, remember: Portion control can make you or break you.
