Portion Distortion: How Much Are You Really Eating?

I found an interesting website(shoppinglifestyle) with all those tips in life... be it fashion, food, diet and fitness, health, etc. You can check them out here. One of it I find useful for those who wants to diet. From the portion proposed, I think that's quite hard itself already. LOL.

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Plus: Painless ways to cut sneaky calories and lose weight.

Portion distortion

A lot of times, we underestimate how much we're really eating because it's so difficult to intuitively gauge what an appropriate portion of food is.

"Most people think of a bagel or two slices of bread that enclose our sandwich as being one serving," says Margaret Kocsis, M.D., author of Savvy Eating for the Whole Family. "However, they are two servings." A large, white sub roll can be four servings of nutritionally empty calories.

You may automatically assume that the restaurant steak would constitute a serving. "However, steaks are often two, three, or even four three-ounce servings," Kocsis points out.

Be portion-savvy

To have an idea of the portion size, it's helpful to use what Kocsis calls "the rule of hand":

• In general, a portion of lean beef, pork or poultry should be about the size and thickness of your palm. Eat lean meats up to twice a day,
• A portion of fish is about the size and thickness of your whole hand. Eat two to three times a week.
• A portion of eggs will fit into the palm of your cupped hand -- that's about 2 eggs. Eat up to seven whole eggs a week.
• A serving of nuts is about half the size of your palm.

Remember, these are only a guideline. Your portion size is affected by your age and activity level, so you'll need more if you're very active or still growing, and less if you're sedentary.

Eyeball your food

Using visual cues help you be more aware of reasonable portion sizes.

Food	Portion Size	Visual Cues
Bagel	1 small	Hockey puck
Beans	1/2 cup	Rounded handful
Bread	1 slice	2 CD cases
Butter	1 teaspoon	Your fingertip
Cheese	1 ounce	Your thumb
Chocolate	1 ounce	Pack of dental floss
Chopped raw vegetables	1 cup	Baseball
Dry cereal	1 cup	Tennis ball
Fish	3 ounces	Checkbook
Mayonnaise	1 tablespoon	Your thumb tip
Meat and poultry	3 ounces	Deck of cards
Milk	8 ounces	1 cup
Nuts	1 ounce	2 full shot glasses
Pasta	1/2 cup	Rounded handful
Peanut butter	1 tablespoon	Your thumb tip
Potato	1 small	Computer mouse
Raisins	1/4 cup	Golf ball
Salad dressing	1 tablespoon	Your thumb tip

More tips for portion control

• Don't buy large quantities of "trigger" foods that you have difficulty resisting. "If you have a desire for cookies, buy a single-serving package instead of a whole box," says Michael Sena, health and fitness expert and author of Lean Mom, Fit Family.
• See something you love on the dessert menu? Allow yourself the occasional treat, but order the smallest size or split it with a friend.
• It takes 20 minutes for your brain to receive the signal that you're full, so take the time to enjoy your meal and really taste the food.
• Avoid eating in front of the TV or computer -- your plate might be clean before you realise you've eaten a meal.
• Eat from a smaller plate. "Visually, it will seem as if you're eating more," adds Sena.