Weight loss, winning at the portion control game

Portion control is one of the biggest keys to losing weight and keeping it off. You don't need a lot of equipment to be successful at it.

Are you like many Americans who resolved to eat better and lose weight for 2013?

How is that working out for you, as we get ready to close out the month of February?

Portion control can be difficult using the customary size plates and bowls we all have in our kitchen cabinets.

Sometimes it seems that we are doomed to purchasing and having at the ready all manner of measuring bowls, spoons and food scales.

While there is nothing wrong with that approach and it may not be difficult for some, many of us want a more streamlined way to follow the new U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines food groups and portion sizes.

In 2012, the well known USDA Food Pyramid was replaced with the concept called My Plate, which demonstrated the portion size of food groups on one typical dinner plate.

While the Food Pyramid graphic was helpful, portion-challenged folks, me included, tend to estimate on the high side when guessing if a portion of meat is 4 ounces.

Entrepreneurial spirit was ready to fill that gap and two particular product lines get my gold star for helping us along.

Slimware, whose tagline is "Portion consciousness...disguised in the design", provides a simple way to look at what you are putting on your plate.

The clever and colorful designs map out the portion sizes using flowered prints, moon shapes and lava lamp-like images.

Fruits and/or vegetables belong in the largest part of the plate, followed by carbohydrate or other side dishes in the medium size image and lastly the protein portion of your meal in the smallest.

The Slimware website assists in guiding you towards the proper placement of the food, the plates themselves don't contain printed instructions or identify what belongs in what part of your dinnerware.

It helps disguise your portion control efforts from others eating along with you, if that is important to you.

Measure Up Bowls are another product that can assist in making your New Year's resolution come true.

The company founder, Heather Harvey explains her ideas and the practical application on a video place on the landing page of their website.

Bowls meant for soup, chili, cereal, pasta and other foods you enjoy have been made portion control-proof.

Lines on the inside of the bowls indicate appropriate portion sizes for many of your favorite foods. There is no way to mess up, if you truly want to play fair at the game of weight loss and control.

The site has a section entitled Menus, with three weeks of printable menus for Low Sugar/Heart Healthy eating plans as well as Weight Management.

The other tab of interest on the site is called What Is A Portion Of...and has information about a variety of foods and the correct portion size for each.

Slimware plates and Measure Up Bowls are sold on major Internet shopping sites such as Amazon.com and major retailers around the country. The Measure Up Bowl site sells its products off the site and pairs them up with Slimware plates to give customers a chance to win at the portion control game, no matter what type of food they are eating.

Both companies have Facebook pages and are on Twitter. Connect and start learning how to win at the portion control game.