7 Things You Need to Know About Serving Sizes

Posted in: Nutrition, Weight Loss | 1 comment

When you’re looking to lose weight, one of the most important things you can do is measure calories in and calories out. But it’s not as easy as looking at labels and making an educated guess about how much you’re putting on your plate. Serving sizes are an exact science and there are seven tips you can use to help you pinpoint the number of calories you’re putting in your mouth.

Quick Guide - Serving Sizes

Grains: 1 slice of bread, 1/2 a pit, 1/2 cup of cooked pasta or rice, 1/2 muffin.

Fruits & Vegetables: 1 medium fruit or half a cup of vegetables (or 1 cup leafy vegetables)

Meat & Alternatives: 3oz or 1/2 cup of lean meat, 2 eggs, 3/4 cup cooked beans or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.

Fats & Oils: Don’t forget, your body needs healthy fats as well! Include 2 to 3 tablespoons a day of healthy fats like olive oil or flaxseed.

1.) Different foods have different serving sizes. Generally, meat or proteins will be about 3 ounces and nuts will be a single ounce. Fruits and vegetables are often one piece, or one-half a cup if you’re talking about a fruit such as watermelon or a vegetable like brussel sprouts.

2.) Create visual aids to help you eyeball serving sizes with ease. Even if you know that a serving size of meat is 3 ounces, it may be difficult to visualize that. Learn to connect the food to something about the same size. The 3-ounce serving of meat is similar to the size of a deck of cards. Your 1 ounce cheese blocks could be like having 4 dice laid out end to end.

3.) Read your labels. You have to be careful whenever you’re reading a label to check how many servings are in the container. A small bag of chips may actually be four servings, while you assumed it was just one single portion. That small Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is enough for four servings – and you might be used to downing the entire thing in one sitting!

4.) Use measuring tools to help you with serving sizes. Don’t be ashamed to whip out the measuring cups, scales and tablespoons. Using tools like this help you record your caloric intake more exactly, which results in increased weight loss.

5.) Know the right amount of servings for your gender. Men and women have different nutritional needs, as do children and adults. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, kids six and over need just six servings, while teenagers and women need seven. Men, on the other hand, need a whopping nine servings per day!

6.) Improvise if you don’t have the right serving size tools. One cupped hand generally holds just 2 tablespoons of a liquid such as vanilla. While it’s always best to be exact, it’s still better to make a guess than to ignore serving sizes completely and put your diet at risk.

7.) Smaller plates give your serving sizes more mileage. If you start measuring your food and it’s much smaller than you’re used to, switch to a smaller plate! It will appear as if you’re still “filling up your plate” but in reality, you’ll be eating the right amount your body needs to shed pounds and become healthier.

To lose weight and instill lifetime healthy habits, learn to monitor and control your servings sizes in a world that promotes and often insists upon super sizing everything – including your waist!