Tweak of the Week: Portion Distortion

Do you know what a serving of meat looks like? No, it’s not the 22-ounce T-bone at your local steakhouse. A proper portion of meat is 3 ounces. Do you know what that looks like?

That’s one of the major problems of weight loss: understanding portion size. You can eat all the right foods, but if you eat them in over-sized portions, you’ll still be consuming too many calories. In a country where bigger is better and “all-you-can-eat” is the mantra, it’s no wonder we have a serious weight problem.

Several well-controlled, laboratory-based studies have shown that serving larger portions leads to eating more food. Even when eating more, people don’t report being more satisfied. Most people underestimate the amount of food they eat — and overestimate the amount of exercise they do. This is a recipe for disaster.

Knowing what a proper portion looks like doesn’t have to be difficult — you don’t need a food scale (although it wouldn’t hurt). To give you visual comparisons for suitable serving sizes, eDiets Nutrition Specialist Renee Brunetti, LD/N, gives you these food cues to properly pick your portions.

Visual examples of different food portions:

–1 medium fruit — tennis ball or tight fist
–1/2 cup of fruit, veggie, cooked cereal, rice or pasta — cupcake or tight fist
–1 cup of raw salad — the amount you can hold in two hands cupped together.
–1 medium baked potato — computer mouse
–1 cup of cold cereal — large handful or tight fist
–1-ounce bagel — a yo-yo
–3 ounces of meat, poultry or fish — palm of a woman’s hand or deck of cards
–1 ounce of cheese — 4 dice or the top half of your thumb
–3 1/2 ounces of tofu — 4 ice cubes
–1 ounce of meat, fish, chicken or poultry — 1 egg
–1 teaspoon — the tip of a medium-framed woman’s thumb (also, 3 teaspoons is equal to 1 Tablespoon)

Note: The following items expand after cooking.

–1 ounce of pasta will cook up to about 2 ounces, which is equivalent to 1/4 cup. Pasta doubles in volume.
–2 tablespoons of rice cook up to about 6 tablespoons, or about 1/3 cup. Rice triples in volume.

A recent study in the journal Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism confirmed that use of packaged entrees as part of a weight-loss diet is an effective means of achieving portion control and enhancing losses of weight and fat mass in overweight men.

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