Small Changes For Health

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As the portion size of foods in restaurants and delis has increased, so have American waist lines. Over the last 40 years, the portion sizes for foods and beverages have increased tremendously. Bagels, for example, used to be 2 to 3 ounces but have increased to 5 to 6 ounces creating a 200 calorie increase from the original size.

Studies show that the larger the portion is, the more people tend to consume. With this in mind, it is important to monitor your portion sizes. One way to do this is to learn what a true portion is by reading the serving size on the nutrition facts label. Measuring portions of food prepared at home with measuring cups and spoons will help you see what a true portion looks like.

A deeper look into portion size

You have probably noticed the increase in portion sizes of food and beverages over the last few years.  Although portion sizes have increased, serving sizes have not.  To better understand, let’s take a look at the difference between a “portion” and a “serving”. A “portion” is the amount of food you are served or that you choose to eat.  A “serving” is an amount generally set by the U.S. Government (with the exception of some cookbooks and diet plans who have their own serving sizes).

People tend to consume more when they are served larger portions. Take a 12oz bottle of juice for example: although the servings per container are listed as “2″, most people consume the entire amount. This means they are getting double the amount of all nutrients, including calories that are listed on the nutrition facts label.

Consistently consuming larger amounts of food than our body needs to stay healthy provides our bodies with excess calories leading to unhealthy weight gain.

Follow the tips below to help ensure that you are not eating larger portions than your body needs:

• Read the nutrition facts label on packaged food to find the “serving size” and “servings per container”. Knowing this information will allow you properly calculate just how many calories and other nutrients you are receiving from your portion of food.
• Instead of eating out of the bag or box place a serving onto a plate to consume.
• When preparing your plate, measure out the standard serving with measuring cups and spoons.  Then sit down and eat.  Allow for 20 minutes to pass before you get up for seconds, and ask yourself, “Was this amount of food enough? Am I still hungry?” If yes, then you probably need to allow yourself to have slightly larger portion sizes.  After you do this for a few days or weeks, you will have an understanding of what the proper portion of food is for you and will probably be able to eyeball it without using any kind of measuring cups.

Shortcuts for measuring serving size:

• 1 cup cooked vegetables = the size of a fist
• 1 piece of fruit = size of a baseball or tennis ball
• 2 Tbsp of peanut butter = size of a golf ball
• 1 oz bagel = size of a hockey puck
• 1 oz cheese = 4 stacked dice
• 1 oz of bread = size of a compact disc
• ½ cup of ice cream = size of tennis ball
• 1 tsp of butter = tip of your thumb
• 1 oz of nuts = one cupped handful

For more information about serving sizes, visit MyPyramid.gov – the “Inside the Pyramid” section is dedicated to each of the different food groups and more information about standard serving sizes within each of those different food groups.

How did you apply this week’s tip to your life? Let us know by leaving a comment!