Are Your Portion Sizes Too Big?

Have you looked at the amount of food on your plate and wondered whether your portion sizes are too big?

Often these measurements are incredibly subjective and based on the individual’s notions of what is enough and what is too much. It can play a pivotal role in the desire for weight loss, with calorie intake a crucial factor in any healthy diet.

But we are often eating far more than we need. An article from the Guardian quoted the Food Standards Agency when putting together a list of recommended amounts of food and what they might look like.

Which one of these do you eat more of than you perhaps should?

Recommended portion examples

• A serving of 180g of potatoes is equivalent, in size, to a computer mouse
• A 30g serving of cheese is the size of a matchbox
• 25g of crisps should fill a regular sized mug.

You won’t be the only one to have more than the recommended amount on a plate at meal-time. BUPA has published a handy article on portion sizes for different types of food.

Whatever goes on your plate, or in your bowl, on a daily basis, you should also try to make room for your five a day. The NHS website helps to specify how much of different sized fruit you would need to constitute a portion:

• Small-sized fresh fruit: A portion is two or more small fruits, such as plums, satsumas, kiwi fruit, seven strawberries or 14 cherries.
• Medium-sized fresh fruit: A portion is one piece of fruit, such as an apple, banana, pear, orange or nectarine.
• Large fresh fruit: A portion is half a grapefruit, or one slice of papaya or melon, for example.

In terms of vegetables:

• Green veg: A portion is two broccoli spears.
• Cooked veg: A portion is three heaped tablespoons of veg like carrots, peas or sweetcorn.
• Salad veg: A portion can include a 5cm piece of cucumber, one medium tomato or seven cherry tomatoes.

Make sure you get a variety of food types into your weekly intake and watch those portion sizes so you are filling your stomach and not just filling up the plate.