How a Simple Dinner Plate Can Make You Fat

I hope you are using the right plate when you eat!

You may be thinking “What in the world?” Well, let me elaborate. When it comes to being healthy, there’s more to it than just what you eat and how you exercise. There are small habits that add up to helping you achieve your health goals- choosing the right dinner plate being one of them!

How does a plate help me make healthy decisions?

Your plate should:

1. Be smaller than a typical dinner plate.
When you eat, eat off of a smaller plate! The smaller the plate, the less food that fits on it, right? Using this rule especially helps me if I’m eating at a dinner party. I always opt for the smaller plate when I’m not sure what ingredients were used to make a delicious meal- there could be extra butter I have no idea about. Using a smaller plate also makes you think before you go back for seconds. Are you really hungry enough for round 2?

2. NOT match the color of the food you are eating.
Studies show that people who eat food off of a plate the same color as what they are eating, eat more food! This means don’t put alfredo in a white bowl, put it in a red one. Don’t put spaghetti in a red bowl, put it in a white one! When the food matches the plate, we overestimate how much food we need because the food blends right in to the plate’s color.

These tips may be silly, but give them a try. Using a smaller plate makes me think twice about being a piggy and piling round 2 onto my plate. Using a colored plate creates a contrast between your food and the plate, helping you better judge how much food you are serving yourself.

Plate up!