MAKING SENSE OF PORTION SIZES
Many of us tend to underestimate the amount of food we eat and tend to overestimate the recommended portion sizes for many foods.
For example, try pouring out your usual portion of pasta and measure it! Then, compare it to the label portion size. Chances are, you're eating two, three, four or more times the amount on the label.
If you are confused when reading a food label, try relating the portion size of a serving to everyday items. It is an easy way to visualize what a true portion size looks like.
Woman's fist or baseball—a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist
A rounded handful—about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta – this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels
Deck of cards—a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) – for example, one chicken breast, ¼ pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop
Golf ball or large egg—one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts
Computer mouse—about the size of a small baked potato
Thumb tip—about one teaspoon of peanut butter
Six dice—a serving of cheese
Check book—a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)
Eyeball it! Take a look at the recommended serving sizes on the new USDA MyPyramid Food Guidance System. Get out a measuring cup or a food scale and practice measuring some of your favorite foods onto a plate, so that you can see how much (or how little!) a ½ cup or 3-ounce serving is. This will help you "eyeball" a reasonable serving!
1 comment:
Hi everyone, well thats me and byron at the mo lol. Very helpful post. I would just like to say its also important to consider what types of fruit and vegetables you are consuming when trying to loose body fat or stay lean and strong. As not all of these are ideal. Alot of fruit containing products are sometimes extremely high in carb and sweetners with very little actual fruit. Im sure in one of your further blogs you can give some tips on good fruit and veg but they are all better than a mc donalds lol :)))
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