I have an older set of Mikasa Garden Harvest plates. The plates and bowls are HUGE. I have read that getting a smaller dining plate set is essential to change our nation's portion distortion. And, as a bander, we really need smaller plates so our limited food does not look so barren on the plate.

Anyway, I have looked and looked.... No wonder obesity is the fastest growing medical condition. I thought my stuff was big. At costco they have this set of dishes and the bowl is as round as my current bowls but twice as deep.

Has anyone looked into smaller dishes or have any recommendations of where to find smaller dishes?

I have not found smaller dishes anywhere. I just use the desert plates for my dinner plate.

I found the best small bowls and plates at ikea. They have a large selection and most are really beautiful. I got clear glass. I dont know if you have one near you but its worth a trip.

However, if you dont, you should try an Asian market. The rice bowls are small usually about a cup. But the dipping bowls are smaller from 1 cup to ounces. Plus they are REALLY beautiful and many come in beautifully boxed sets. That way you get a pretty box to hold and carry your gorgeous dishes. They make great gifts too.

I take my Ikea bowl out with me. Especailly when I go to eat at a friend's house, they cant fathom bandster portions. It fits in my purse nicely.

I hope this helped a little.

I eat off of my Southern Living At Home Plates - I guess they are desert plates, but not sure. They are small - but not tiny and they have beautiful scalloped edges. Makes dinner a little bit more special when you eat on pretty plates :-)

I'm not banded yet but I was in hospital last year through june to august and having the food there definetly helped me loose weight, when I came home instead of using our normal plates for dinner I made everyone change to the bread & butter plates, that's in aus to so I'd say there about the size of (how to explain it? lol) maybe ok this will sound strange but like 2 80gb ipods (classic model) next to each other and thats the kind of sized plate we use, it's pretty good as we 6/7 nights a week we have salad or vegetables, most of the time I fill up my plate with vegetables or salad and I never have room for meat, you just have to look around, or what you could do and what would be cheaper than replacing an entire crockery set you could get the paper plates for like parties, the small ones, they would definetly work

have any recommendations of where to find smaller dishes?

Just after Halloween last year I picked up number of snack plates just because they were on special. These are plates that are only meant to hold nuts or candy, but I looked at them and thought "hm, that's about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup". So I ended up buying half a dozen of them. They may not be the most elegant set of plates I own, and they don't go with anything else, but for now their function is to help me control my portions. They do that perfectly.

I've even considered buying plate sets designed for babies and toddlers because they were a better size. Whatever works, right? :biggrin2: I'll never be accused of being a fashion guru, so it doesn't bother me that my plates aren't as grown-up or matching as everything else in my cupboards. SpongeBob doesn't seem to mind either. :thumbup:

when I came home instead of using our normal plates for dinner I made everyone change to the bread & butter plates, that's in aus to so I'd say there about the size of (how to explain it? lol)

They're more commonly known as salad plates here. :thumbup:

I bought some sets of child's/toddler's plates with matching fork and spoon sets. There are some nice ones that aren't characters or baby imagery if you look hard enough. Or I just use our saucers. My DH still eats off our regular dishes of course.

You can also go anywhere that sells "open stock" dishes and buy dessert plates. I bought mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond, but even WalMart carries open stock dishes.

Funny, DH and I just bought several salad plates to use as our dinner plates last week. For Breakfast, we've been using what I think are saucers without the indentation for the cup (correlware?). Maybe they are really for another purpose. LOL

Whatever, it does make a difference in the head game. Somehow we feel cheated when our food is on a regular plate.

That's a great idea! I never would have thought to use a smaller dish!

In the 30s and 40s dinner plates were made smaller...I got a set of beautiful vintage dishes, even the bowls are smaller...check out your antique stores for amazine patterns...I love mine, very art nouveau style...so cool!:smile2:

We love using our salad plates...

Everything is supersized, and I like the IKEA idea a lot. Another idea is to visit a Salvation Army or thrift store and get some antique china someone has donated and purchase that. The older stuff is much smaller in size...

I went to the baby department at walmart and purchased some cute little bowls and dishes, and even sippy cups, kids thought i was going overboard when i even picked up the spoon and fork for myself. BUT HEY, it will help right?

When I bought baby silverware and plates before my surgery my daughter thought she was gonna be a big sister.....I set her straight on that one very quickly....lol

I eat my dinner (at home) on the divided toddler plates, largest section for protien and the smaller compartments for veggie and carb (if I eat one, which i usually do). It really helps with feeling satisfied when you have a full plate of food in front of you.

Every like trick helps!!