8 Tips for Controlling Portion Sizes

When you have type 2 diabetes, it's not only the type of food that's important, it's also how much is consumed and when. You need to gauge the portion size correctly, so you can know how many calories and carbohydrates you're taking in and how they will affect your blood sugar.

Learning what a portion size actually is and consuming that amount, however, is tricky. People are notoriously bad at estimating what, say, a cup of breakfast cereal looks like—particularly in a world where cereal bowls are now as big as serving platters.

"Portion control is a continuing battle for me, but I am so much better at this than I was a few years ago, and I hope to be even better a few years from now," says Donna Kay, 40, of Prairie Village, Kan., who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes five years ago.

It's a battle worth fighting. Limiting portion sizes can help control blood sugar, promote weight loss, and ultimately prevent diabetes complications.

In a 2004 study of 329 overweight patients, researchers at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, found that 38% of those who practiced portion control for two years lost 5% or more of body weight, while 33% of participants who did not practice portion control gained 5% or more of body weight.

There are several things you can do to get started.

• Eat in a consistent manner. If you're starving, you're more likely to eat an extra-large portion. For most people the best meal plan is probably three well-designed meals and one snack. "People need to eat a minimum of three times a day, avoiding going longer than five hours without eating. You don't need to get up in the middle of the night, but don't skip meals," says Nadine Uplinger, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and director of the Gutman Diabetes Institute at the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia.