Nutrition-Estimating portion size

So here today I just wanted to share a little about what I am learning in class. We are talking about our daily intake of food. How we need to eat a variety of foods to get all the vitamins and everything we need for our body. About dietary reference intakes and Portion sizes.

Right now i just want to tell you about what I have learn about understanding portion sizes.

So you know that there are 5 major food groups and you are supposed to have a certain about of each day. But it's hard to tell how much 6 servings of that or 3 servings of that is. So I would like to help you understand how much a serving actually is.

I'm going to base off of these on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Grains :
You are supposed to eat 6 ounces of gains each day with at least half of those being whole grains.

That would be three dense Yo-Yo's.
On mini bagel is a little over that(2 ounces).

So you need to eat 3 Yo-Yo's worth of grain. Each Yo-Yo would be worth about 2 ounces of grains. So to get your grains for the day you could have:

1 Cup cereal (for breakfast)--(1/2 cup cooked cereal)
1 Slice of whole wheat toast (for breakfast)
2 slices of bread (a sandwich at lunch)
1 ounce whole wheat crackers (snack)
1/2 Cup cooked pasta ( for dinner)

Vegetables:
You are supposed to eat 2 1/2 cups of veggies every day. Hoping there is a wide variety in there. Like Dark greens, and orange. Try going more frozen and steamed then canned or boiled.

1 Base ball is considered a serving (1 cup) so would be

1 good size handful of baby carrot

The best part about a bowl of salad is that is like a double whammy because you just have to put other items in there that will count for either more servings of veggies or fruit. Salads are great ways to get your fruit and vegetables in throughout the day.

So you need to eat about 2 and 1/2 baseballs to meet your daily servings. So to get your daily intake of veggies you would need to eat

1 Cup steamed Carrots (with your Sandwich)
1 Cup Broccoli ( with dinner)
1/2 cup Cucumber (for a afternoon snack)
OR
2 Cups raw leafy greens (lettuce, spinach) fully loaded with other vegetables like carrot, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, and others.

Fruit:

With fruit you are supposed to eat 2 cups each day. Fruits are pretty easy to get a variety of. You can go canned, frozen, dried, and fresh. So 1 serving of fruit would be about the size of a Tennis Ball. So you would have to eat about 4 tennis balls worth of fruit. 1 tennis ball of fruit is equal to:

Or

To get your daily serving of fruits all you would need to eat is:

1/2 Cup strawberry (eat with your bowl of cereal in the morning)
1 medium to small Banana (For an morning snack)
1/2 Cup dried fruit (For a afternoon snack)
1/2 Cup Mango, grapes, pineapple ( for a fruit salad at dinner)

Oils:

Did you know this was a category? Well you are allotted about an ounce a day. Which would be about the size of 1 Golf ball.

1 teaspoon(tsp) would be considered a servings (which is one-third of the guided lines on the package(1TBS))

So 1 golf ball would be equal to:

2 TBS Mayo (for your sandwich at lunch)
Or
2 TBS Salad dressing ( at dinner)

Milk:
Milk to me is surprisingly easy to get because we have 2 cup glasses(well if you like milk). But we are supposed to get 3 cups every day. Try going for the lower in fat dairy items like low-fat milk or fat free yogurt.

1 ounce of dairy is equal to:

4 Dice. Or 1 package of String cheese
And 1 glass of milk is almost never exactly 8 ounces it is almost 12 or even 16 ounces

So to get your daily intake of dairy you would need to consume:

1/1 Cup Milk ( with your cereal)
1 1/2 Cup Milk( with your dinner)
1/2 cup milk ( with your dessert)
Or
1/2 Cup Milk (on your cereal)
2 ounces of cheese ( with your apple for a morning snack)
2 ounces (8 dices) of cheese on your sandwich)
1 (8 ounce) container of Yogurt with your lunch)
1 Cup Milk with Dinner

*** If you can't consume dairy products you need to make sure you are finding fortified foods that are high in calcium.
Meats & Beans:
So with meat and beans we need to get 5 1/2 ounces of them every day. This was surprising to me. 1 serving of meat is 3 ounces which would be equal to:

A deck of cards.

So here are two hot dogs. But the great part is you only have to eat 1 and1/2 to get your serving on meat. And that's just the cheep kind of hot dog. (1 1/2 hot dogs=3 ounces)
The funny thing is, is have you ever seen a 3 ounce steak on a menu (tells you something about the portion sizes at a restaurant).

So you need to eat almost 2 deck of cards to get you protein for the day.
That would be equal to:

2 1/2 ounces of Ham (on your sandwich at lunch)
1 Chicken tender (at dinner which generally they are actually 4 ounces) so you would be a little over.

And that would fulfill your meat category.
So in a summary of what you have eaten for this whole day would be:
Breakfast:
1 Cup Cereal With 1/2 cup low-fat milk and 1/2 Cup strawberries and a slice of toast.
Snack:
1 medium Banana and a string Cheese stick
Lunch:
Sandwich( 2 slices of bread, mayo, meat, cheese) with a yogurt and a fruit salad
Snack:
1/2 Cup dried Apples with some whole wheat crackers
Dinner:
Baked Chicken and pasta with a leafy green salad fully loaded with veggies on there and some salad dressing. A glass of milk.

It is amazing at how easy that was to get.


AND THE BEAUTIFUL PART ABOUT IT IS: THERE IS SUCH THING AS DISCRETIONARY CALORIES THAT YOU CAN BLOW ON WHAT EVER YOU WANT STILL. LIKE 1 CANDY BAR OR 1 SMALL DIPPED ICE CREAM CONE.
So that is what i have been learning in class. I hope that this can help each of you implement this in your eating habits. I know that it sure as put perspective on how much on things I am eating. If you want to learn more or want to know how you are eating go to www.Mypyramid.gov and cheek it out. It blew me away what I was eating. They have a food tracker, tips for eating healthier, and even a menu planner. Its great.