Knowing the proper serving sizes for your favorite foods can prevent overeating and aid in weight loss and weight management. But serving sizes can be difficult to remember. By matching the proper serving sizes to easily remembered visual cues, you can keep your portions properly under control and still indulge in some of your favorite treats and foods without undoing your entire diet.
Fruits
One of the best parts about snacking on fruits is that they often come packaged in the appropriate serving size. Each small banana, small apple and medium orange feature one fruit serving size, which is around 60 calories, according MayoClinic.com. In general, look for fruit that will match the size of a baseball. Then shoot for two to four servings of fruit each day, suggests the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fruits make for an ideal snack on the go since you don't need to measure beforehand.
Vegetables
Vegetables are so nutritionally dense and low in calories that it is difficult to overindulge in them, but you still may want to know what constitutes a healthy serving size. Use a regular light bulb as your guide to getting a half cup of vegetables, suggests the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability from the University of Illinois at Chicago. You'll need to eat three to five servings of vegetables each day to stay healthy, so look for ways to incorporate vegetables in your diet with salads, smoothies and snacks throughout the day.
Whole Grains
Whole grains, which are the unrefined carbohydrates found in foods like brown bread and pasta, healthy cereals and brown rice, should make up a large portion of your diet. The USDA suggests six to 11 servings of grains throughout the day, but overestimating what a serving size is will lead to overindulgence. For example, if you eat a sandwich and think you've just had one serving of bread, guess again. The USDA advises that one slice equals one serving. Choose the most unrefined version of the grain, so you can stay healthy while eating a rounded handful or computer mouse-sized amount of grains, which is a half cup, notes the Meals Matter website.
Meats
Lean meats and fish help give your body protein, but the huge steaks you may see at the steakhouse are often too large for a single serving. Keep your meat intake in check by imagining a deck of cards when you choose your serving. This makes up one serving, or 2 to 3 ozs. of meat. Measure the meat against the palm of your hand to ensure that you aren't eating too much. You should be eating two to three servings of meat each day, but remember that eggs and nuts are in the same food group and can be a healthy alternative to meat.
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