Twenty years ago, a typical portion of spaghetti and meatballs was 1 cup with three small meatballs. Today, it’s 2 cups with three large meatballs — that’s 500 calories versus 1,025! To burn off the extra 525 calories, you’d have to clean your house vigorously for 2½ hours or run (pretty fast) for nearly an hour. Although we’ve lost sight of real portion sizes, we can downsize our bodies without giving up the foods we love if we just refocus. Here’s your visual cheat sheet:
1 serving of fruit or vegetables = 1 cup, or the size of a tennis ball
1 serving of chicken, fish, or meat = 3 ounces, or the size of a woman’s palm or a deck of cards
1 serving of whole grains = 1/2 cup of cooked grains or 1 slice of 100% whole grain bread
1 serving of pancakes = 1 4-inch pancake, about the size of a CD
1 serving of pasta or rice = 1 cup of cooked pasta, or the size of a woman’s fist
1 serving of dressing = 1 tablespoon, or the size of your thumb, tip to the top joint (1 teaspoon is about the size of your thumbnail)
1 serving of potatoes = 1 small (3-ounce) baked potato or ½ cup mashed potatoes, about the size of a small computer mouse
1 serving of cheese = 1 ounce, or about 4 dice stacked on top of each other
1 serving of nuts = 1 ounce, or the size of child’s handful
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Portion control has definitely helped me lose weight when I've stuck to it! I feel so much better after a meal when I eat just enough and I take my time chewing my food. It's the difference between a food coma and food bliss.
Totally agree!!! Great strategy and an important one!!
Post a Comment