What is the “Diet Plate”

There’s a new idea that I’ve always thought would be good, and I was actually surprised no one had put one to market yet, of course at least not that I knew of. But now someone has, and it might just catch on. Except they didn’t originate in America, the diet obsessed land, they put it out in Britain. It’s called the Diet Plate, and for about forty bucks (yikes!), you can purchase the Diet Plate and you get a free diet bowl to go with it. What are they, and how can they help you lose weight?

Well, all the Diet Plate is, is a tool to help you control your portions and take the guesswork out of your portion sizes for various food groups. For example, it has drawn the sizes of protein servings, veggie servings (which happen to be unlimited, so long as they are not in a buttery or creamy sauce of some kind) and last but not least (and unfortunately usually the most fun to eat of the groups, and also the smallest allowance as we all know too well), the carbohydrate group. This last group could be some sort of pasta, a baked potato, or bread of some sort, and of course for diet purposes it’s the smaller portion of the three.

Now, for the free bowl that comes with the Diet Plate, that is used for breakfast cereals, to show you what kind of portion of cereal constitutes a good amount of calories for your breakfast. I’m not sure how many people would actually use that since a lot of people prefer to have things like yogurt, meats and fruits and maybe english muffins or something of the sort for breakfast, but there you have it, and it’s free, so who can complain!

This whole portion control thing is really the key to losing weight, but also I believe that eating the right combinations of foods and what types of starches, veggies, fruits and meats you eat really matters as well, so hopefully the plan and directions that come with explains that some foods may be better choices, regardless of portions, just from a nutritional value and filling value to keep you fuller longer and keep you on your diet.

I always like the unlimited veggies part, but too many times people think that this means they can eat things like creamed spinach or veggies in butter sauces, and that’s not the case. So while portion control is an important part of weight loss and healthy weight maintenance, I think that the types of foods you choose will keep you healthier and on a diet longer because it kicks in your natural appetite suppressants, or on a good eating plan for the rest of your life, whereas low quality foods will just make you hungrier.

Oh, and portion control doesn’t just apply for meals, it of course applies also for snacking throughout the day, which is often forgotten if one is practicing portion control with meals.