About the Book

Click here to get the Portion Perfection book, plate and bowl

Generally people assume one serving is the amount of food or drink packaged or served and are unaware of what is a ‘correct’ serving size for them. Clever marketing and eating too much have left us dazed and confused about how much we actually need to consume.

The fact is a meal ideally contains 300-550 calories and a snack 100-200 calories, depending on your gender, age and weight loss goals.

The book was designed around the need to eat little and often for best use of metabolism by dividing foods evenly over the day into three meals and three snacks, each two and a half hours apart.

The ‘Food Guide’ section of the book splits foods into occasional and everyday choices, based on their nutritional value, glycemic index (GI), and levels of sugar and saturated fat. Pages that feature everyday choices are marked with a green border and occasional choices with a purple border.

Diabetes sufferers can benefit from following the eating plan in the book. It is also ideal for diabetes prevention because it is based on lower GI foods, regular meals and losing weight.

Pictures show what to eat for each meal, based on recommended daily calorie intakes separated into four categories for women and inactive teens, and men and active teens, who want to either lose weight or maintain weight. The plan can be personalised by a dietitian to achieve specific goals.

Daily calorie intakes are divided into ideal calories to be consumed for three meals and three snacks at breakfast, morning, lunch, afternoon, dinner and supper.

A guide to reading food labels is included that shows how to interpret nutrition information panels.

To use the ‘Food Guide’, readers simply:

1. Identify which calorie intake is right for them

2. Refer to the section for their meal of choice

3. Choose a menu option and turn to that page

4. Note the appropriate portion serve

Recipe tips are included in the book and the appendix lists additional resources for recipe books also available online at the author’s website www.greatideas.net.au 

Calories are used throughout the book because the numbers are smaller, rounder and easier to add and multiply. A calories to kilojoules conversion table is shown.

 

A Portion Perfection plate and bowl have been developed by the author to accompany the book as self-monitoring tools to encourage healthy eating and weight control. These tools address portion size, nutritional balance and eating awareness. The plate holds 350 calories when just the base is filled to a depth of 2cm. When filled to the edge at the same depth it holds 450 calories. The plate is divided into segments which show the ideal proportion of protein foods to carbohydrate foods and vegetables for a balanced meal.

 

The Portion Perfection book retails for $34.99, the melamine plate $17.95, porcelain plate $24.95, and melamine bowl $9.95 – all available at www.greatideas.net.au and selected bookstores.

Click here to get the Portion Perfection book, plate and bowl