Keeping an eye on portion sizes

Portion distortion

Having trouble figuring out serving sizes? You're not alone. It's not easy to know what three ounces of chicken, a cup of vegetables or a serving of pretzels looks like. For most of us, it's simply not practical to measure each and every meal using a food scale, measuring cup and spoons.

But health professionals say over the past few decades, portion sizes have become "supersized" - two or three times bigger than they used to be.

It's easy to visualize your serving size

That's why it's so important to learn what a healthy portion size is. Here are some easy visual guides using everyday objects to help you make good choices - you might want to print this helpful "cheat sheet" and keep it wherever it's handy, such as on your fridge, or in your office.






When you fill up your plate, the serving portions should follow this rough rule of thumb:

• 1/2 plate filled with vegetables and/or fruit

• 1/4 plate with whole grains

• 1/4 plate with lean protein

Other things on your plate

Portion sizes are not the only thing being supersized. Dinner plates are also much larger than they used to be. And because we automatically seem to want to fill our plates with food, a bigger plate also leads us to eat more.

Want a quick tip? Try eating your meals off a lunch or salad plate - with less plate to fill up, you'll notice an immediate decrease in your portions.