Sad, perhaps, but true. Women need less energy to run their bodies than men do, and therefore need to eat less than men, even of the same weight, height, age etc etc etc. So it follows that if you eat the same as your man, unless he is really teeny weeny, then either he will shrivel away to nothing or the woman will put on weight.

Women 's portions need to be smaller than men's. How can we achieve this?

The easiest way is to use a smaller plate yourself. This will make it easier for you to estimate a healthier portion. Large plates give us a subliminal message that large portions are okay.

When you have got used to using a smaller plate (it takes a weekend), you no longer have to think about food all the time. Your plate size does it for you.

Eating a large portion does not make you feel more satisfied than eating a small one. That's good news isn't it? So when you eat a smaller portion, you don't physically feel any less content. This research was carried out at Penn State University. So it means that if you serve yourself a smaller portion, you will feel fine. The easiest way to do this is to use a smaller plate. That way you can deceive your eyes about the size of the portion. When your eyes see a full plate, all of you feels that you are not being short-changed.

They also show that people eat more when they are given a larger portion. Indeed, most of us will eat whatever is put in front of us. We do it on an aeroplane, and we do it at home as well!

Saving just 150 calories a day is all you need to do to lose weight. This is an easy way to do it.