Eating healthily is about eating the right amount of food for your energy needs. In US, most adults are either overweight or obese. This means many of us are eating more than we need, and should eat and drink fewer calories in order to lose weight.

Diets, dieting and weight control has reached such endemic proportions that people have been considering any viable options to help them stay fit. In fact, every time our earning improves, our lifestyle undergoes a significant change - for the worse. Our progress often ends up with our health being worse off than at the start of our career. The addition of various natural and artificial additives to the food we consume has resulted in the food becoming tastier and the quantities we eat, larger. Restaurants and diners too have upsized the serving portions. Today an average meal plate at any dinner is sufficient for two adults. Little wonder then, that most of us are fighting a losing battle against the bulging belly. Nutritionists, physicians and ordinary folks have recognized the problem and have been looking for ways and means to control the meal plate.

One of the excellent ideas that cropped up was the notion of controlled meal plate. The controlled meal plate is a well-designed attempt to control the quantity of food we eat and the quality of the food we eat. The idea was to create a visual tool that takes out the guesswork as to what we should be eating and how much we should eat. Early meal plates were typically 11-inches in diameter, with gaudy designs and printed matter. People did not like this meal portion control plate and adults because:

• They were made from low grade plastic • They had gaudy illustrations of fish, ham, fruits etc. on the plate itself. • The prints were of poor quality • The meal plate design clashed with existing cutlery • The text on the meal plates made the user feel like it was more suited for a little child

Clearly, the idea was good but the implementation of the meal plate could have been more carefully considered. Enter meal plates designed by Precise Portions. Instead of low-grade plastic, high-grade porcelain china was used. The design too underwent a radical change - one that ensured the new meal plates were more in line with the designs on existing crockery without taking away the functionality of the meal plate. Simultaneously, the size of the meal plate was reduced to ten inches. The reduction in size of the meal plate was a stroke of genius because it meant that when food was placed on the plate, it gave the appearance of being full. This was vital since obese people always love a full plate.

The food serving plates by Precise Portions was elegantly divided into three parts each for proteins, vegetables and fruits. The new meal plates were dishwasher and microwave safe and did not include text on the plate itself. This made it much easier to use the plates even when there were guests at the table.

Simultaneously, the meal plate also included 10oz glasses and 16oz bowls that ensured liquids and soups were not over consumed.

While on the one hand nutritionist and physicians worked out activities (exercises) that helped us utilize the calories we consumed, the new meal plate designs ensured that we not only did not over eat, but also that we eat the right food in the right quantities.

Check out also for Healthy weight management programs