As I often tell my clients, if you happen to be cooking and eating at home (which most of us are doing these days), it is a great idea to measure your food on occasion, as a way to gauge how much food you actually eat. (Most of us think we eat less—often much less—than we actually eat.) Another option which is useful is to use everyday objects to visualize healthy portions; this is very helpful if you happen to be eating away from home. It certainly beats calorie counting which is far too tedious!
To help you eyeball some standard serving sizes, here are some simple visuals from my books Finally Full, Finally Slim and The Portion Teller Plan. I developed a set of useful images of real life objects, like baseballs and golf balls, and yes, a shot glass (!), as dimensional indicators for standard serving sizes of commonly consumed foods. Because most of us can visualize these objects, it’s a great way to keep food portions in check. It makes you think about how much food you’re piling on your plate.
These common objects often make the best measuring tools! They are great to reference whether you’re eating out or cooking at home. Feel free to share this post with your friends!
- Salad dressing or olive oil, 2 tablespoons = shot glass
- Nuts, 1/4 cup = golf ball
- Pasta or rice, 1 cup = baseball
- Hummus, tomato sauce, ½ cup = hockey puck
- Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons = walnut in a shell
- Ice cream, ½ cup = ½ baseball
- Cheese, 1 oz or 1 slice = 4 dice
- Oil, 1 teaspoon = water-bottle cap
- Meat, fish, or poultry, 3 ounces = deck of cards
- Bread, 1 ounce slice = CD case
- Chocolate, 1 oz = dental floss
- Wine, 5 oz = teacup
Sizing up servings makes you mindful of how much you’re eating. This will help you develop your own “internal” portion-size awareness that you can take with you wherever you go. Eating healthy portions is not an exact science. It doesn’t matter whether you eat 3 1/2 or 4 ounces of meat, for example. You just need to recognize when you have a 16-ounce steak on your plate so you can choose to scale back.
** If you feel you need additional help with portion control, meal planning, weight loss, optimizing your immune health, food shopping tips, or creating a healthy structure, I’m happy to help. I currently have a few openings for VIRTUAL NUTRITION COUNSELING SESSIONS. I can reached HERE to discuss your unique needs and set up a free 15-minute discovery call.
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