Portion Control

To reach or maintain a healthy weight, you have to watch what you eat — literally. That’s because your brain can trick you into thinking you’re eating less than you actually are. Here’s how to keep your portion sizes reasonable.

Sizing Things Up

The serving size on a nutrition label is not a recommended amount of food to eat, but a quick way of letting you know the calories and nutrients in a certain amount of food. As you read nutrition labels, you may be surprised to learn how many servings are actually in a food package. The sample label below indicates that the can contains two servings that are 250 calories each.

Source: NHLBI

A portion indicates how much of a food you choose to eat at one time. While most of us try to limit our portion sizes to a single serving, we’re not always successful. Learning to eyeball a reasonable portion size in relation to everyday items is one strategy that can help.

Serving	Size to Eyeball
4 oz portion of meat	Your palm (minus your fingers)or a deck of cards
1 oz portion of cheese or meat	Your thumb (tip to base) or 6 dice
About ½ cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta	Your fist or a baseball
2 tablespoons peanut butter	A ping pong ball
¼ cup of dried fruits or nuts	A golf ball or large egg

You can also measure portion size using a food scale or other device and the guidelines below.

Food Group	Number of Servings	Healthy Portion
Lean meat, poultry, fish, and dry beans	< 6 ounces per day	6 ounces maximum per day lean meat, poultry and fish ½ cup cooked dry peas or beans ½ cup tofu
Eggs	< 4 yolks a week*	Two egg whites are equal to one whole egg in recipes Egg whites or egg substitute, unlimited
Lowfat milk, yogurt and cheese	2-3	1 cup fat free milk or 1% milk 1 cup nonfat or lowfat yogurt 1 ounce of lowfat or fat free cheese that has 3 grams of fat or less in a serving.
Fats and oils	< 6-8*	1 teaspoon soft margarine or vegetable oil 1 tablespoon salad dressing 1 ounce nuts
Fruits	2-4	1 piece fruit ½ cup diced fruit ¾ cup juice
Vegetables	3-5	1 cup leafy or raw ½ cup cooked ¾ cup juice
Breads, cereals, pasta, rice and other grains	6-11	1 slice bread ½ bun, bagel, muffin 1 ounce dry cereal ½ cup cooked cereal, potatoes, pasta, rice, or other grains
Sweets and snacks	Now and then

10 Steps to Portion Control

Portion control can be tricky, so try these simple strategies for keeping your portion sizes in check.

Get smart about nutrition labels. In addition to serving size, make sure to read the servings per container information to understand how many servings a food package contains.
Measure your food. Invest in measuring cups and measuring spoons until you are comfortable eyeballing reasonable portions.
Use smaller plates and bowls. Food portions look bigger and more appetizing when served in smaller dishes.
Wait before you take seconds. It takes about 20 minutes for your body to register that it’s full. If you’re still hungry after 20 minutes, try a small second helping.
Keep serving plates in the kitchen. You are more likely to give yourself reasonable portions and skip extra helpings if serving dishes don’t join you at the table.
Break between bites. Put your folk down between bites to ensure you eat slowly and feel yourself getting full.
Don’t eat straight from the package. It’s easy to overeat when you’re reaching into a food bag. Instead, measure your portion into a dish before eating.
Divide your plate into four sections. Fill half your plate with vegetables, one-quarter with a lean meat such as grilled chicken breast, and one-quarter with a whole grain such as brown rice or whole wheat pasta.
Follow restaurant rules. To help keep restaurant portions reasonable, ask your waiter to pack up half your entrée before you start to eat. Or, order an appetizer as your entrée.
Write every bite. Keeping a food journal of what you eat throughout the day will help you to eat responsibly.