Shortcuts to Portion Sizes

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Day Twenty-One: Three weeks already!

We’ve been talking about making small changes and forming good habits, and in order for something to become a habit, it has to be intuitive. You could get into the habit of weighing and measuring all of your food so that you’re sure to eat a reasonable portion at each meal, but you probably won’t. Instead, you might start off weighing and measuring, just to see if your idea of a portion size is in line with reality, and eventually you’ll get used to seeing what a portion looks like and use that mental note to guide you in the future.

Associating a new idea with an old, familiar one is a great memory aid, so in addition to whatever you’re doing already, remember these guidelines from the April 2010 issue of Glamour magazine:

• A serving of carbs like whole wheat pasta or brown rice should be about the size of your fist.
• Lean meat, fish or tofu should be about the size of an iPhone (or a deck of cards).
• A tablespoon of a condiment (like peanut butter) should be no bigger than a Ping-Ping ball.
• A serving of ice cream should look like half a tennis ball.

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