Eating sensible food portions (portion control) is essential to weight loss as well as to maintaining a healthy weight. Unfortunately, the importance of portion control is often underestimated. In fact, the trend toward larger food portions gets much of the blame for the growing number of overweight people.

You may think one portion of food is the same as one serving, but that's rarely correct. A serving is a standardized amount of food with specific calorie and nutrient content. Servings usually are defined by common measurements such as cups, ounces or pieces. On the other hand, a portion is the amount of food you choose to eat and is often greater than one serving size. Understanding this distinction can help you learn how to eat the right amount of food. Sizing up your servings


The first step in portion control is to understand serving sizes, which may be smaller than you think. Use these visualizations to estimate appropriate serving sizes:

* A medium apple or orange is the size of a tennis ball.

* A medium potato is the size of a computer mouse.

* An average bagel is the size of a hockey puck.

* A cup of fruit is the size of a baseball.

* Three ounces of meat is the size of a deck of cards.

* Three ounces of grilled fish is the size of your checkbook.

* One ounce of cheese is the size of four dice.

* One teaspoon of peanut butter is the size of the tip of your thumb.

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