Size Does Matter - Control Portion Size to Prevent Over-eating

When planning portion sizes for the various food groups keep in mind these servings, which are taken primarily from the food guide Pyramid:

Grain foods – bread, cereal, rice and pasta:
The recommended of daily serving for foods in this category is 6 to 11 a day. Serving is considered just 1 slice of bread;½ of cooked cereal; rice or pasta; 1 once of dry cereal; ½ English muffin; hot dog or hamburger roll or bagel; 3 graham cracker squares; 5 slices of melba toast.

Vegetables and fruits:
Try to have at least 5 serving a day. A serving of cooked vegetables or nonleafy row vegetable is considered ½ cup; for leafy row vegetables, serving is 1 cup. A serving of fruit is considered 1 medium whole fruit, ½ cup canned or cut-up fresh fruit or ¾ cup juice.

Milk products:
Your goal should be to try to have 2 to 3 serving a day. A portion is considered 1 cup of milk, 8 ounces of yogurt, or 1 ½ to 2 ounces of cheese. (preferably none fat, no sugar added versions of these food)

Meat Fish and poultry:
Nutrition experts recommend that portion not exceed 2 to 3 ounces, cooked. Three ounces is about the size of a deck of cards or average-sized woman`s palm.

Fats, oils and sweets:
There are no recommended amounts for these food, other then to use sparingly. A tablespoon of most fats has about 100 calories; a tablespoon of sugar has 45 calories. Label reading can help you figure out weather these items are worth the calories.

Measuring all your food constantly, however, is not only tedious but impractical. The good news is that you will stop measuring once you get hung of judging proper portion size.

Some research suggests that obese individuals are particularly likely to report eating less food than they’ve actually had. For example, not an uncommon kind of mistake is a figuring a 12-ounce steak to weigh 6 ounces (this mistake leads to a 600-calories underestimate).

Take the following quiz to see whether you are kidding yourself on portion size:

1. An ounce and a half of hard cheese looks most like: one domino; two dominoes; three dominoes;	2. Half a cup of cooked pasta fits into: an ice cream scoop; a ball the size of a medium grapefruit; cereal bowl;	3. A portion of diced fruit fills half a cup. If the fruit is green grapes, a half-cup would be filled by about: 10; 25; 20;	4. A medium potato is about the size of: a computer mouse; a matchbox car; a light bulb;
5. For a portion of Brussels sprouts, which would come to half a cup, you would need: 4; 8; 12;	6. Two tablespoons of olive oil would more or less fill: a short glass; a thimble; a Dixie Cup;	7. Two tablespoons of peanut butter could make a ball the size of: a marble; a tennis ball; a ping pong ball;	8. A medium apple or orange is about the size of: a soft ball; a tennis ball; a large waffle ball;

Answers: 1c, 2a, 3b, 4a, 5a, 6a, 7c, 8b

Adapted from Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Diet