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Tips For Getting Portions 'Just Right'

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 8, 2008

Shoppers struggling to lose weight or eat healthier often have a problem with portion control, says Barbara Roberts, a nutritionist with the Hillsborough County Healthy Department. From fruits and veggies to packaged foods, supersized portions are everywhere. Americans tend to ignore the nutritional information on the package and instead let their eyes decide how much is "just right." Don't believe us? Look at these examples:

Fruit: Massive red delicious apples are tantalizing on the produce shelf, but they're often larger than a tennis ball - the size of one portion of fruit. Bagged fruit tends to run more proportionate.

Potatoes: A baked potato is a common side dish, but too often gargantuan spuds are added to a plate. Know what a computer mouse looks like? That's more in tune with the appropriate-sized potato.

Ice Cream: Ben & Jerry's is world famous for its pints of Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey. But despite what you might think, that pint consists of four - yes four - half-cup servings. The "Shorties" containers now available at local supermarkets are a legitimate single serving.

Here are some other simple portion equations:

One serving of meat or poultry = a deck of cards
One serving of fruit = a tennis ball
One serving of raw leafy vegetables = a baseball

One serving of chopped vegetables = half a baseball

One serving of dried fruit = a golf ball

One serving of nuts = a handful

One serving of cheese = four playing dice

Source: Hillsborough County Health Department, American Institute for Cancer Research

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