Portion Control: Your Guide to Healthy Portions

If your goal is either weight maintenance or weight loss, portion control can be a valuable tool to help you eat healthy. Super-sized menu options, king-sized packaging and buying in bulk are common choices when purchasing foods. It can be daunting figuring out how much of an item makes up a healthy portion. 

Portion Size Vs. Serving Size

The best way to exercise portion control is to understand serving sizes. The portion size and serving size of a food or drink are two completely different things. The serving size is the recommended measured amount, while a portion size is what you actually eat. Portion sizes can be more or less than the serving size. Knowing what the recommended serving size of the foods you are enjoying can help you decide on how much of it to eat. 

A healthy serving size is different for all food groups and types of foods. Many foods and drinks have food labels that state what the serving size is, as well as how many servings are in the amount packaged. There are also countless databases available to help you find foods without labels, mixed foods or even options ordered from restaurants. 

Serving Sizes

The guide below is information from the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics that can help you learn about serving sizes:

• Grains: 1 slice of bread. ½ bagel. ½ cup of pasta.
• Vegetables: ½ cup cooked or canned vegetables. 1 cup raw, leafy greens.
• Fruits: ½ cup canned fruit. 1 medium fruit. ¼ cup dried fruit.
• Meat and Other Protein Sources: 3-4 oz meat, poultry, or fish. ¼ cup cooked beans. 1 egg. ¼ cup nuts or seeds. 1 Tbsp nut butter. ¼ cup tofu or tempeh. 2 Tbsp hummus.
• Dairy: An individual container of yogurt (6–8 oz). 1 piece of cheese (1 oz). 1 cup (8 oz) milk or milk alternative. ½ cup ice cream.
• Fat: A piece the size of one dice. 1 tsp soft margarine. 1 Tbsp mayonnaise. 1 tsp vegetable oil. 1 Tbsp regular salad dressing. 2 Tbsp low-fat salad dressing.

How Many Servings of Each Food Group?

Estimating how many servings of the different food varieties you should eat in a day is another helpful part of eating healthy. Making sure your daily diet consists of the recommended amount of servings from each food group provides your body with the nutrition it needs to function, grow and heal adequately. Another great way to plan your day is by trying to meet these recommendations before adding in any empty or discretionary calories, which are calories you get from foods with lower nutritional value. Snack foods or “junk” foods, candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food and similar items are considered discretionary calories and should make up 10% or less of your daily calorie intake. Recommendations for the amount of serving per day are:

• Grains: 6–8 servings. Try to have half of your grains from whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, corn tortillas, oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and bulgur.
• Vegetables: At least 2½–3 servings.
• Fruit: 2 servings.
• Meat and Other Protein Foods: 5–6 servings. Aim to have lean proteins, such as chicken, turkey, fish, beans, or tofu.
• Dairy: 3 servings. Low-fat or nonfat are leaner options.
• Fat: 2–3 servings.

Tips To Learn Healthy Serving Sizes

1. Check food labels for serving sizes. Many foods that come as a single portion actually contain multiple servings.
2. Determine the serving size of foods you regularly eat and compare that to the portion that you normally consume.
3. Measure the servings that can be held by the bowls, glasses, cups, and plates you typically use. For example, measure a serving of cereal, then pour it into the bowl that you typically eat from. A normal bowl can hold 2 or more servings of cereal.
4. Measure the serving sizes of all the foods you eat. After a few times, you will be able to estimate proper serving sizes better. 
5. Practice estimating serving sizes and determining how big your portions should be.
6. Familiarize yourself with items that are typically compared to serving sizes. 
   1. A serving of meat is equivalent to a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand.
   2. A fresh fruit about the size of your closed fist equals about 1 cup.
   3. The length of your thumb is about 2 tablespoons, the serving size of low-fat dressing.
   4. The fingers of your closed fist are about equivalent to a serving of rice or pasta, ½ cup.