Portion Sizes For Weight Loss | How To Lose Weight With Proper Food Portion Sizes | IntroWellness
Portion Sizes For Weight Loss
You may be looking to lose a few pounds and don’t know where to start. Or, perhaps you are in the process of making dietary lifestyle changes and want to know how to take your progress to the next level. Regardless, for both of these scenarios, I highly recommend portion control! Eating the proper serving size of healthy foods is a great first step towards portion control for moderate weight loss and to achieve a balanced diet. The good news is, you do not have to count calories, carry around measuring cups or weigh your portion sizes in grams to know the correct serving size.
Getting the Portion Sizes Correct for a Weight-Loss Diet Plan
Instead, you can use your hands or common objects to estimate your portions! I’ll show you how! You would be amazed how easy it is to eat a low calorie nutritious diet without using scales, or guides full of weight loss tips. For fruits most men and women need to consume 2 servings per day. A serving is one cup of fresh fruit, one medium whole fruit, or ½ cup dried fruit. 1 cup is about the size of your fist and ½ cup is what would fit in the palm of your hand. One medium piece of whole fruit, like an apple or an orange, is the size of a baseball.
For vegetables most men need 3 servings and most women need 2 and ½ servings per day. A serving is 1 cup vegetables cooked or raw, or 2 cups leafy greens like spinach or lettuce. 2 cups is what would fit in 2 handfuls or
2 fists. A serving of a whole vegetable, like a tomato or potato, is the size of a tennis ball. For grains most men need 7-8 ounce equivalents and most women need 6 ounce equivalents. An ounce equivalent is 1 slice of bread, 1 cup
ready-to-eat cereal, or ½ cup of cooked rice, pasta, or cooked cereal like oatmeal or cream
of wheat. A slice of bread is about the size of your flat hand, or the size of a CD case. ½ cup of cooked grains is what would fit in a cupcake wrapper. For proteins most men need 6-6 ½ ounce equivalents and most women need 5-5 ½ ounce equivalents. An ounce equivalent is 1 egg, ½ cup cooked beans or lentils, ¼ cup of nuts or seeds, or 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish.
Portion Sizes for Weight Loss for Adults
1/4 cup of nuts or seeds is the size of a golf ball. 1 tablespoon of peanut butter is about the size of your thumb. 3 ounces of meat, fish, or poultry is about the size of your palm or a deck of cards. For dairy products most men and women need 3 servings per day. A serving is 1 cup of milk, 1 cup yogurt, or 1 ½ ounces of cheese. 1 ½ ounces of cheese is the size of 4 dice or about the size of your pointer finger. Now you are ready for your next meal or snack to make sure you are getting the proper serving size! When you employ these food portion tips, you don’t have to concern yourself with low fat or fat free recipes. I recommend that you consult your nutritionist (not the media) for more information for serving sizes and exactly how much food you should put on your plate. If you get more than 30 minutes of physical activity per day or if you have specific medical conditions, meet with your registered dietitian for a more specific meal plan that fits your lifestyle..
