Food Serving Sizes: Portion Rules of Thumb

Limiting your food serving sizes is a simple way to control calorie intake and lose more weight. Below, I'll give you some rules of thumb to help you remember appropriate portion sizes for different types of food.

By "portion size," I mean how much of the food is on your plate, regardless of the type of food. Even with healthy foods, you can overeat on calories by eating portions that are too large.

I've described the serving sizes below using familiar objects rather than standard units of measure. Take a moment now to memorize these.

That way you can quickly check your portion sizes from now on without the need to use measuring cups, scales, etc.

To lose weight faster, control your portion sizes
using the guidelines below.

Most Useful Portion-Size Rules

• Meat, fish, poultry (1 serving, 3 oz) - size of your palm

• Potato, yam (1 serving) - size of your fist

• Beans, peas, brown rice, pasta (1 serving) - size of your fist

• Fruit or vegetables (1 serving) - size of your fist

Other Useful Portion Sizes

• Dried fruit or nuts (1/4 cup) - size of a large egg

• Chips or pretzels (snack serving) - a rounded handful

• Milk, yogurt (1 serving) - size of your fist

• Whole-grain bread (1 serving) - one slice of bread

• Ice cream (1/2 cup) - tennis ball

• Pancake, waffle - size of a CD

• Peanut butter (1 tsp) - tip of your thumb

• Olive oil (1 tsp) - tip of your thumb

• Cheese (1 serving) - size of your whole thumb

• 1 oz of meat, fish, poultry - size of a matchbox

• 1 cup lettuce - four leaves

In the United States and other countries, the average food serving size is much larger than it used to be. At restaurants and in homes, people simply have too much food on their plates.

Whether eating out or cooking for yourself, use the handy rules-of-thumb above to verify your portion sizes are appropriate.

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