DIET GRADER: Nutrition Solution

Portion Sizes of Meals

There are several factors that combine to encourage and sustain the ever swelling American waistline.  The failure to appropriately determine portion size of meals is one of the primary culprits.

Portion sizes, whether delivered from the finest restaurant, the cheapest fast food joint, or from our own kitchens tend to be far beyond the portion size needs for healthful energized living.

Determining the portion sizes of meals can seem difficult, but with a few common sense comparison tricks you can improve your caloric intake efforts. Check out the following tips from exrx.net

• 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
  • about the size of the top half of your thumb
• 1 ounce (28 g)
  • approximately inch cube of cheese
  • volume of four stacked dice
  • slice of cheese is about the size of a 3 1/2 inch computer disk
  • chunk of cheese is about as thick as 2 dominoes
  • 1 handful (palm) of nuts
• 2 ounces (57 g)
  • 1 small chicken leg or thigh
  • 1/2 cup of cottage cheese or tuna

• 3 ounces (85 g)
  • serving of meat is about the size of a deck of playing cards (3 exchanges)
  • 1/2 of whole chicken breast
  • 1 medium pork chop
  • 1 small hamburger
  • unbreaded fish fillet
• 1/2 cup (118 ml)
  • fruit or vegetables can fit in the palm of your hand
  • about the volume of a tennis ball
• 1 cup (236 ml)
  • about the size of a woman’s fist
  • breakfast cereal goes halfway up the side of a standard cereal bowl
  • broccoli is about the size of a light bulb
• 1 medium apple = A tennis ball

Use the ques to ensure your portion sizes and this Diet Grader tool to provide your body the essential nutrition it needs for activity without the excess calories that will be stored as fat.