This has gone on for a long time. I am struggling myself with portion control and have been for years. It's so ingrained in me that, for years, I snickered at people who ate truly normal portions as if they were "wimps." I routinely assume that what the Nutrition Facts label describes as one serving won't be enough and plan to eat 2. Truth is, I'm so used to it that one serving is in fact not enough, and I still feel hungry afterwards. I have lost some weight, by controlling portions and making better choices, but for so long, as a society we've become accustomed to cheap, unhealthy food in very large quantities, that we are simply used to it.
One of the first things we did this year (we homeschool) is to explain basic nutrition, including proper portion sizes. My daughter was completely shocked as to how little food she ‘should’ take in through the day. We’ve measured and used household objects to eyeball proper sizes (a serving of cheese is about the size of a 9V battery, and a serving of pasta about the size of a baseball). Our grocery bills have plummeted, and we’re all healthier. We were all hungry at first (except for my teenage son, who can pretty much not eat enough to keep his engine running), but you adjust. My best trick was to drink LOTS of water — including a full 8 oz before every meal, and after if I still felt hungry. Good luck and keep up the good work.
I remember the first week of Paris Island where all of us in my platoon just could not eat the slop that we were served at each meal. Most of it was hitting the garbage cans and we could not believe the older recruits standing at the garbage cans grabbing untouched food off of our trays as we went through. The food looked mighty unappetizing but by the second week we were eating all we could get. Exercise and pushing your body to limits you never thought of will do that to your body and your appetite. SOS for breakfast sure turned out to be damn good!
If you are struggling with portion control, simply give up all foods made with grains. Also all foods made with sugar. You won’t have that problem any more. Plus you can eat all you want from meat, veggies, and healthy fats. Just dump all the breads. You will lose weight and you will not struggle with portion control. The only foods that make you eat too much of them are grain or bean based foods. Don’t touch them.
I usually eat until I feel full, it doesn’t matter the portions, then I stop. I’m 50 something, 5’10” and weigh about 180/185 and wear a 32” waist jean.
I don’t eat at Micky D’s (okay, about 3 times a year), or a lot of other crap. I won’t say I’m a hardcore eat healthy type of person, but I don’t eat a whole lot of processed foods either.
I used to be fairly active, but that’s changed the past few years, and my food intake has seemed to adjust accordingly.
I wish you well on the food front.
I should add that I’m mostly a meat and potatoes kinda guy. Midwesterner here. Not that a plate full of brownies and a gallon of whole milk wouldn’t get my attention ,mind you.