What’s Really Keeping You From Losing Weight? 5 Tips To Help

News alert: there is no magic secret to weight loss. No pill, waist trainer, or 3-day diet will help you reach your goal of lasting weight loss. The only way to lose weight when it comes down to it is to consume fewer calories than you currently do each day.

Well, what about exercise?

With moderate activity, about 30 minutes of activity a day, you can easily burn some of the calories you’ve consumed. But, the main thing keeping you from your weight loss goals might be your food portions.

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Read on to learn how to reign in your out-of-whack portion sizes so that you can make your weight loss happen for real.

1. Get Familiar With Portions

One of the main reasons that people overeat is because they are grossly misjudging what a real portion size is. When you learn what a portion should look like, it will be clear why those extra pounds aren’t coming off. You might be eating way more calories than you thought. To help you better gauge your portions here is a simple guide for the portion sizes:

• Vegetables and Salads: A fist-sized portion for women and two fist-sized portions for men (although you can’t really have too many veggies!)
• High-Proteins (Meat, Fish, Nuts): A palm-sized portion for women and two palms for men
• High-Carb Foods: One cupped-hand portion for women and two for men — such as whole grains and starchy vegetables
• High-Fat Foods (Butter, Oils, Nuts): One thumb-sized portion for women and two for men

RELATED: Stop Doing These 5 Things If You’re Trying To Lose Weight

2. Don’t Eat From The Container

The easiest way to eat more than you planned and stall your weight loss goals is to eat anything directly from its original container (unless it’s fruit). Pour the chips, cookies, popcorn, whatever, into a small bowl so that you only have the amount you need.

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Finishing off family-sized chip bags and pints of ice cream is not the way to get to your goals. We all know this, but you can’t have too many reminders. For these types of munchies, typically whatever fits into the palm of your hand is the right portion.

The same goes for meals like Chipotle’s burrito bowls or even the fries from your favorite fast-food spot. When transferred to an actual human-sized plate, these meals become huge and you can see that you can easily be satisfied with half, or maybe even less. This one change will be a game-changer to your diet and help you get over that hump once and for all.

3. Use Smaller Plates

It turns out that your dishes can have a big effect on how much you eat. We won’t even go into the role that colors can