What is an appropriate portion size? How do you know? How can you tell? Do you need to bust out the measuring cups every time you grab a snack? Just a little bit more than the recommended portion size can really add up in extra calories. Here are some tips and tricks for mastering portion sizes – and how to estimate them!
Mastering Portion Sizes
Estimating portion sizes has always been tough for me. Then I married a 6’4″ guy who eats 6’4″-guy-sized portions, and it got even harder. I’m not as tall, I don’t weigh as much, and I certainly don’t need to eat as much as he does!
According to an article from the Journal of the American Medical Assocation in 2010, eating 370 extra calories per day for 28 years (without increasing exercise) can result in a weight gain of 35 pounds. That’s just 3 extra teaspoons of oil when you’re cooking. Or a medium popcorn at the movie theater. Or 9 Thin Mints in Girl Scout Cookie season. Or one more 32-ounce regular soda with lunch. Or 2 cups of cooked pasta. Or just a little more food on that too-big plate at every meal. It can add up fast. So monitoring your portion sizes is pretty important.
Eating At Home
When you’re at home, and not pressed for time, measuring portions can be easier. It’s a good way to practice estimating portion sizes so you can do it when you’re eating at a restaurant.
First and foremost, check the nutrition label to see what the portion size actually is. Next, get out your measuring cup so you know what that portion looks like. You might be surprised what 1 cup of cereal looks like in your favorite bowl, or how “small” 1 cup of pasta looks on those giant dinner plates.
Yep, that’s one cup of noodles on a 7.5-inch plate (left) and one cup of noodles on a 10-inch plate (right).
It seems like such a simple thing, but simply using different size plates and bowls can “trick” us into thinking we’re eating more (or less) than we think we are.
My favorite series of cookbooks list how many servings each dish makes, but not how big those servings are. Sometimes you can roughly divide a dish up into 6 or 8 servings. (It’s pretty easy to divvy up a lasagna into 8 pieces.) But things like soups and skillet meals can be a lot harder. So I weighed the pots and pans I use to cook the most. I know that the ceramic insert for my slow cooker weighs just a smidge over 6 pounds. When I make a meal in the slow cooker, we can weigh it afterwards, then do some math to figure out how much is in one serving.
If the full slow cooker weighs 8 pounds, I know the food weighs 2 pounds (because the empty slow cooker weighs 6 pounds). If that is 8 servings, we weigh out 1/4 pound (4 ounces) as 1 serving.
A good-quality kitchen scale is really important, if you’re going to do it this way. We use this scale, and love it!
You can also measure how much your favorite serving spoons hold. Fill them with water, then pour the water into a measuring cup. This ladle holds 1/2 cup. Knowing how much you’re dishing out in each scoop makes measuring soups, chili, and sauces so much easier!
Good Estimates
Are you ready to graduate from measuring cups and a scale for everything? Here are some “handy” visual estimates you can use to estimate your portion sizes.
Your fist = 1 cup or 1 medium-sized piece of fruit
Your thumb, from tip to base = 1 ounce of meat or cheese
Your thumb, from tip to first joint = 1 Tablespoon
Your index finger, from tip to first joint = 1 teaspoon
The palm of your hand = 3 ounces of meat, poultry, or fish
Of course, everyone’s hands are a different size. Just look at me and my 6’4″ husband! These estimates are based on the average hand. Try it out – measure out some foods, and compare them to your hands and fingers. Find some good estimates that work for you – and that you will remember!
Eating Out
Eating at restaurants can be tough. Portion sizes have increased so much in the last 20 years. And many foods cooked at restaurants have more calories than if you were to cook a similar dish at home. Here are some great tips for monitoring your portion sizes at restaurants:
- Share a meal.
- Order from the appetizer menu or the kids menu. These often have similar foods, but in smaller sizes.
- Ask your server to bring you a to-go box when he brings out the food. Estimate your portion sizes (use your hands!) for this meal (using the tips above), and box up the rest for another time.
What is your biggest challenge when it comes to measuring portion sizes? Share your tips with us here!
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It’s a challenge when using the self-serve option of the cafeteria style restaurants. For example, how many cups in a standard cafeteria serving spoon, which would be used to serve rice, or stew, Indian food, etc?
Unfortunately, it all depends on the size of the spoon. Every buffet I go to has different size serving spoons, so this estimating guide can be helpful.