https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/how-much-to-eat-at-each-meal

One of the simplest and most effective methods for controlling your calorie intake is portion control. Often, we eat what is on our plate rather than what our body needs. By deciding beforehand how much we need and what goes on our plate, we are a lot more likely to succeed in controlling our diet and calorie intake.

Here’s a scenario: You’ve identified that your recommended daily calorie intake is 2,200 kcal. It’s now time for dinner, and you’ve already consumed 1,500 kcal throughout the day. That leaves you with an allowance of 700 kcal for dinner. You should then portion what goes onto your dinner plate accordingly to keep those extra pounds away.

A range of dishes on your dining table to choose from:

• Brown rice — 137 kcal (½ bowl)
• Deep-fried lemon chicken — 347 kcal (100 g)
• Sambal egg — 67 kcal (1 egg)
• Beef rendang — 201 kcal (90 g)
• Fishball soup — 53 kcal (½ bowl)
• Stir-fried spinach — 163 kcal (100 g)
• Ice cream— 136 kcal (1 scoop)

To achieve your target of 700 kcal, you can only pick, for example, the brown rice (137 kcal) + beef rendang (201 kcal) + sambal egg (67 kcal) + fish ball soup (53 kcal) + spinach (163 kcal), which would add up to 621 kcal. If you wanted the scoop of ice cream, you would have to forgo another item such as the sambal egg.

Depending on your physical output for the day, you might also want to adjust your food intake accordingly. For example, if it’s the weekend and you did nothing but sit in front of the TV all day, you could consider adjusting your portion downwards.

Why Is It Important to Watch Our Daily Calorie Intake?

Consuming too many calories which we do not use up will lead to weight gain. Studies show that when our body weight is at an unhealthy range, we are at a higher risk of health problems such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, among other chronic diseases.