Portion Control: Use Visual Cues to Remember Serving Sizes

It's easy to eat too much, even of healthy foods, but if you keep in mind these visual comparisons, portion control will be much easier.
apple serving size

When it comes to estimating portions, visual cues really help. Keep your serving sizes in check and make sure you enjoy enough of the good stuff, like fruits and vegetables, lean meats and dairy and whole grains.

When you're filling your plate, picture these items to help remind you of proper serving sizes:

Protein (meat, fish, poultry, shellfish): 3 ounces

Smartphone
Palm of your hand (no fingers)
Baseball
Grains (pasta, rice, cereal): 1 cup
Fist (with fingers tucked in)
Orange
Whole-Grain Bread, Rolls and Muffins: 1 ounce
Bread: CD/DVD case
Rolls/muffins: Racquetball
1/2 bagel: Hockey puck
Whole Medium Fruit or Cut-Up Fresh Fruit: 1 cup
Tennis ball
Dried Fruit: 1/4 cup
Ping pong ball
Large egg
Vegetables: 1 cup cooked, 2 cups raw
Cooked: Baseball
Raw: 2 Baseballs
Low-Fat Dairy (milk, yogurt): 1 cup
Coffee cup (not mug)
Cheese: 1 ounce
Matchbox
Tic Tacs container
Nuts: 1 ounce
Shot glass
Altoids box
Nut Butter: 2 tablespoons
Golf ball
Wine cork
Beans and Legumes: 1/2 cup
Computer mouse
Fats (oil, butter, mayonnaise): 2 teaspoons
2 dice
Pinky finger

Next Up

Portion Control: a Primer

Looking to lose weight? Portion control is key to success.

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