Portion Distortion

rd4health.com

As many of you already know, our dining halls are all-you-care-to-eat.  This is great when you want to get your money's worth but maybe not so great on your waistline.  It's important to know that when it comes to food, size does matter!  Sometimes portion sizes can be confusing, and who wants to walk around with measuring cups and spoons in order to know how much you should eat?  Did you know that you can help yourself to better understand portions by relating various sizes to every day objects?  Let's take a look...

The serving size for cereal, soup, salad greens, a medium size fruit or glass of milk is 1 cup or about the size of a baseball.



The serving size for meat, poultry or fish is 3 ounces or about the size of a deck of cards.

The serving size for cooked pasta or rice; fresh, frozen or canned fruit; a glass of 100% fruit or vegetable juice; raw or cooked vegetables; sorbet or ice cream is 1/2 cup or about the size of a lightbulb.

The serving size of nuts or dried fruit is 1/4 cup or about the size of a golf ball.

The serving size of peanut butter, hummus, seeds or salad dressing is 2 tablespoons or about the size of a ping pong ball.



The serving size of cheese is 1 ounce or about the size of 4 dice.



The serving size of oils, sugar, syrups, and spreads such as margarine, butter, mayonnaise, jelly, jam or honey is 1 tablespoon or about the size of a poker chip.

Portion sizes are an important part of healthy eating.  You can make room for all foods, just eat more of certain foods and less of others.  A lot of times, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs so being aware of correct portions sizes can also help you to maintain a healthy weight!  There is no need to eat like there's no tomorrow.  Our bodies naturally get hungry every 2-4 hours (metabolism), so there's really no reason to pack everything into one meal at one time.  Our dining halls follow a 4-week menu cycle so if you miss out on something, don't worry!  I promise we'll serve it again and you'll get a chance to try it later!  You'll be happy to know that CDS educates our employees on portion sizes and routinely emphasizes serving appropriate amounts.

To learn how to visualize more portion sizes, click here.  Also, be sure to visit ChooseMyPlate.gov to find out how many servings you need of each of the different food groups.