What is Portion Control?

Portion control is understanding
how much a serving size is
and how many calories a serving contains.

Portion control is important for weight management
since a person’s weight is determined by their total calorie intake.

Healthy eating, (using Aristotle's philosophy)
is the desirable middle between
the extremes of excess and deficiency (over-eating and not eating enough).

A "serving size" according to a package
may bear little resemblance to the amount of the food
which most people eat at a time.

First-time dieters can find the process of calculating serving sizes
and calorie counting confusing;.
and because there are so many varieties of supermarket products,
serving sizes are commonly inaccurate.

Portion sizes can be estimated by using objects as a point of reference.
One way of determining portion size is to compare hand size.

For example a healthy serving of protein should not be larger
than a palm size piece of meat.

Carbohydrate servings such as pasta can be measured by fistfuls.
A healthy serving of pasta should be one fistful.

A great many people don’t understand that
a standard “serving size” is NOT the amount of food
that their parents, family, friends, or restaurant places on a plate
and serves to them.

Here are some examples of standard serving sizes.
If you only have half, you’re having one-half a serving;
and if you have more,
consider the fact that you’re having extra servings.

One serving of grain:
one cup of whole grain cereal, one fourth of a bagel, one cup of pasta.

One serving of vegetables:
five cherry tomatoes, five sticks of celery, one whole carrot.

One serving of fruit:
a medium apple, fifteen large grapes, half a banana.

One serving of dairy:
one cup of milk, three cheese cubes, half cup of low fat cottage cheese.

One serving of meat:
1/4 chicken breast, daily guide line: one fist full per meal.

Fats and Sugars:
as little as possible, dairy and meat contain plenty of necessary fat,
while fruits contain enough natural sugars.