Serving Sizes?
American’s love to get deals with their money. We naturally want more ‘ bank for our buck!’ It’s why buffets and large portion meals do so well here. Portion control is something I’ve always tried to enforce in my own diet and I’ve found that I never need as much food as I think.
One helpful tip that I use is using smaller plates and bowls. Sometimes we feel like we aren’t full or finished eating until all of the food on our plate is gone. This may be from parents enforcing the “clean everything on your plate, before you play” rule, or you eat everything so you won’t have to throw it away (being wasteful) or deal with it later when you are doing dishes.
A way I keep myself from eating junk or snack foods is to ‘hide’ the foods so that they are out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Because I am only 5’2”, I need to use the stool or jump on the counter to reach items on the top shelf. I try to limit purchasing junk food anyway, but when I do, they are always up on the top shelf. When baked goods, or chips are left on the counter it’s easy to say “ooh that looks good!” and grab a handful whether you are hungry or not.
Here are the suggested serving amounts from the food pyramid –
Either way, I thought that it would be helpful for everyone to have a quick tutorial of potion sizes. This registered dietician gives a quick video showing different food group “serving sizes”.
Managing A Healthy Diet: Judging Portion Control
Some last things to remember:
There’s a difference between portion size and and serving size!
“Portion size is the amount of a single food item served in a single eating occasion, normally a meal or a snack. People often confuse portion size with serving size, which is a standard unit of measuring foods (a cup or an ounce are good examples). Portion size is the amount offered in the packaging of prepared foods, or the amount a person chooses to put on his or her plate. 
For example, bagels or muffins are often sold in sizes that constitute at least 2 servings, but consumers often eat the whole thing, thinking that they have eaten 1 serving. They do not realize that they have selected a large portion size that was more than 1 serving. Portion sizes have increased over time, so make sure you check the serving size on the label”.
Beware of LARGE packaging!
The larger the package, the more people consume without realizing it.
- Portion out your snack on a plate, not from the bag, to stay aware of how much you’re eating.
- Divide up the contents of one large package into several smaller containers to help avoid over-consumption.
http://www.smallstep.gov/portion_control.html
Healthful Eating Tips 
When I first lived in France, I got all chub-matic because I was eating large, American-sized portions like I was used to. After a year or so, I trained myself to eat smaller portions and I lost everything I had gained in a matter of a few months. It was awesome, I didn’t even change what I ate, really.
Luke
March 28, 2011
I am from Jordan and we eat different foods therefore we eat different portions but the blogs that our class did on how to eat healthy are great … i mean i have a couple of years to graduate and i need eat healthier so that i don’t cause any damage to my body :S
masarweh
March 29, 2011
YES! I believe how much you eat is just as important as what you eat. I read a funny story of a guy that only ate little-debbie snacks for a while, but he limited himself to 8/day. He lost weight pretty fast and he got healthier, believe it or not.
purposerecipes
April 5, 2011
This is so true! I personally prefer quality over quantity, especially when i am going out to eat. But my boyfriend always wants larger quantities for cheap. That is one thing we disagree about, but i am teaching him to eat smaller portions and enjoy the quality of food.
reganmclain
April 8, 2011
Great post! You bring up some very good points. For me, i always seem to finish the food on my plate, even if I’m full. I think a lot of us tend to mindlessly eat instead of eating when we are actually hungry.
natalieluna
April 9, 2011