Downsize your portion sizes.
Size up your portions
You can enjoy all foods without overdoing it. The amount for each food listed below equals about one serving from the Food Guide Pyramid.
- ½ cup cut-up fresh, frozen or canned fruit or vegetables, cooked cereal, pasta or rice = a small fist
- 1 medium-sized piece of fruit or vegetable or 1 cup = tennis ball
- 1 cup of salad greens
- ¼ cup of dried fruit
- 6 oz. or ¾ cup of 100% fruit juice
- 1 ½ oz. of cheese = six dice
- 3 oz. cooked meat, poultry, fish = a deck of cards
- 1 tortilla = a small salad plate (7 in.)
- ½ bagel = the width of a large coffee to go lid
- 1 pancake or waffle - a CD
- 1 muffin = a large egg
- 1 tsp. of margarine or butter = a thumb tip
- 2 tablespoons of butter = a golf ball
- 4 small cookies = 4 vanilla wafer sized cookies
(Source : Compiled by the Toledo Lucas County Health Department 4 Your Heart Coalition.)
Helpful Hints
- How much you eat is as important as when you eat.
- Split an entrée with a friend at a restaurant and order two grilled or steamed vegetable side dishes.
- Meat servings should be about the size of a deck of cards.
- Check the serving sizes on packages and pay attention to how many servings are in a container.
- Measure things like a tablespoon of salad dressing, instead of guessing.
- If you do eat junk food, eat it in smaller portions and less often.
(Information is an excerpt from a "Leading the Way to Weight Control" brochure from Produce for Better Health Foundation.)
Live Well. Advice for Today PDF
Seven Ways to Size up Your Servings PDF
|
|
