A good guideline to help understand portion sizes is to translate the abstract information represented by the serving size into something visual that is easily remembered. Simply compare the serving sizes of particular foods to familiar objects.
Examples of a single serving include:
- Vegetables or fruit are about the size of your fist.
- Pasta is about the size of a tennis ball.
- Meat, fish, or poultry is the size of a deck of cards.
- Snacks (pretzels, popcorn) are about the size of a cupped handful.
- Apples are about the size of a baseball.
- Potatoes are the size of a computer mouse.
- Bagels are the size of a hockey puck.
- Pancakes are the size of a computer disc.
- Cheese is the size of a pair of dice.