Estimating Serving Size At A Glance

September 25, 2012 - By Nautilus Plus

Temps de lecture 2 minutes

Estimating serving size is a skill mastered through time and practice. For beginners in the art of controlling servings, always having to use the scale and measuring cup to follow a nutrition plan or Canada’s Food Guide can be a hassle.

Here are some objects you can use as references to estimate serving size without having to actually measure it:

Serving	Food	Reference
250 ml (1 cup)	Most vegetables and fruit, Bran Flakes®, Cheerios®, Rice Krispies®, Honey Comb®, Corn Flakes®, milk, soya beverage	The size of a fist or a baseball
175 ml (¾ cup)	Mini-Wheats®, Shreddies®, Frosted Flakes®, All Bran®, Raisin Bran®, gruel, quinoa, croutons, yogurt, tofu, soft drink	The size of a tennis ball
125 ml (½ cup)	Harvest Crunch®, Muslix®, pasta, rice, couscous, potatoes, legumes, cottage cheese	The size of a computer mouse
60 ml (¼ cup)	Dried fruit, light feta cheese, ice cream, pudding	The size of a golf ball
45 ml (3 tablespoons)	Nuts and seeds, avocado	What can be contained in a closed fist
30 ml (2 tablespoons)	Cream 15 % M.F., sour cream, cream cheese, light mayonnaise, dip	The size of a ping-pong ball
10 à 15 ml (2 à 3 teaspoons)	Butter, margarine, oil, regular mayonnaise, peanut butter, salad dressing, caramel, brown sugar, sugar, honey, molasses, jam	The tip of your thumb
120 g (4 oz)	Fresh fish, crab, shrimps, clams	The palm of your hand including your fingers
90 g (3 oz)	Meat, poultry, deli meat, canned fish	The palm of your hand without your fingers, or the size of a deck of cards
60 g (2 oz)	Firm cheese with 20 % M.F. or less	The size of 3 stacked dominos
30 g (1 oz)	Firm cheese with more than 20 % M.F.	The size of your whole thumb

Measuring the containers you use often can also be useful. For example, if you always drink milk in the same glass, measure the quantity of liquid it can contain and compare it to the reference serving. On the other hand, you can associate each container with a serving size. For example, find a bowl that can contain 175 ml, and use it every time you eat gruel or yogurt. Counting your servings will therefore become much easier!

And don’t forget that at the end of the week, these small details are what makes the difference between maintaining your weight, and losing weight!

Estimating Serving Size At A Glance is a post from Nautilus Plus. The Nautilus Plus blog aims to help people in their journey to fitness through articles on training, nutrition, motivation, exercise and healthy recipes.
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