How
Much Are You Eating?
Dietary Guidelines for
Americans
Center for Nutrition Policy and
Promotion United States Department of Agriculture
Putting the
Guidlines into Practice March 2002
"Make
that mega-sized."
"I'll have the
gigantic-gulp."
"I don't believe I ate the
whole thing!"
Many
people feel that the bigger the portion, the better. But is that so? Not if
you're trying to manage your weight. One key to getting or keeping your weight
in a healthy range is to eat sensible portions. That's easy to say-but not
always so easy to do! This brochure gives tips to help you decide what sensible
portions are for you, and to help you stick to those reasonable portion sizes.
How much do you
eat?
Suppose you had dinner at an Italian
restaurant last night. You ordered spaghetti with meatballs. While you were
waiting for your order, you ate 2 slices of garlic bread. How can you tell if
this dinner is too much food for you? You need to estimate how much you ate,
and then compare that to Food Guide Pyramid recommendations.
Think about your plateful of spaghetti and
meatballs. Estimate the amounts of spaghetti, sauce, and meat. You may decide,
for example, that the spaghetti portion was about 2 cups, the tomato sauce
looked like about 1 cup, and the meatballs were about 6 ounces. With the 2
slices of garlic bread, you now have an idea about how much you ate for dinner.
But how do your portions translate into standard servings? Chart 1 lists the serving sizes for each Food Guide Pyramid
food group. According to the Pyramid, your portions equal the following number
of servings:
Spaghetti
Dinner:
Food |
Your portion |
One Pyramid
serving |
Pyramid Food
Group |
Number of Pyramid Serving you
ate |
Spaghetti |
2 cups |
½ cup |
Grains |
4 |
Garlic
bread |
2
slices |
1
slice |
Grains |
2 |
Tomato Sauce |
1 cup |
½ cup |
Vegetables |
2 |
Meatballs
|
6
oz. |
2-3 oz. |
Meat and beans |
2-3 |
Pyramid
recommendations
To figure out if your spaghetti dinner was the
right amount of food for you, use the Pyramid. Chart 1
also lists the number of servings recommended for each Pyramid food group,
based on your calorie needs. Over a day, you should plan on eating the number
of servings recommended from each group.
The number of servings from each food
group recommended by the Pyramid depends on your calorie needs.
- Children ages 2 to 6 years, many
inactive women, and some older adults may need about 1,600 calories per day.
- Most children over 6, teen girls,
active women, and many inactive men may need about 2,200 calories per day.
- Teen boys and active men may need
about 2,800 calories per day.
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For example, if you need about 1,600 calories
a day, the Pyramid recommends 6 daily servings from the Grains (Bread, Cereal,
Rice & Pasta) group. How does this compare to your spaghetti dinner? Your
dinner had 6 servingsthe total daily recommendation for someone with your
calorie needs. If you had counted your portions of spaghetti and bread as only
1 serving each, you might think you had only eaten 2 servings from the Grains
group. But, you actually ate 6! By comparing the portion you ate with a
standard Pyramid serving, you can judge whether your daily intake is right for
you.
Pyramid serving sizes and the recommended
number of servings from each group are guides to help determine your daily
intake. Your portions do not have to match the standard serving size-they can
be larger or smaller. But, the amount you eat over the day should match the
total amount of a food that is recommended. Often, the food portions of grains
and meats that people choose are larger than the Pyramid serving size. Be
especially careful when counting servings from these groups to figure out how
many Pyramid servings are in your portions.
Food Guide
Pyramid
A Guide to Daily Food
Choices
Portions and
servings - What's the difference?
A portion is the amount of food
you choose to eat. There is no standard portion size and no single right or
wrong portion size.
A serving is a standard amount
used to help give advice about how much to eat, or to identify how many
calories and nutrients are in a food.
For example:
You eat a sandwich with 2 slices of
bread.
The Food Guide Pyramid serving
size for bread is 1 slice.
Your portion is 2 slices, which
equals 2 servings from the Pyramid Grains group.
Your 2 servings are one-third of the
Pyramid recommendation of 6 servings for people needing 1,600 calories per day.
(See Chart 1.) |
Chart 1. How to use the Food Guide Pyramid
How many servings do you
need each day?
What counts
as a serving? |
Children ages 2
to 6,women, someolder adults(1,600 calories) |
Older
children,teen girls, activewomen, most men(2,200 calories) |
Teen boys
andactive men(2,800 calories) |
Grains Group (Bread, Cereal,
Rice, and Pasta) especially whole grain
- 1 slice of bread
- About 1 cup of ready-to-eat
cereal
- ½ cup of cooked
cereal, rice, or pasta
|
6 |
9 |
11 |
Vegetable
Group
- 1 cup of raw leafy
vegetables
- ½ cup of other
vegetables-cooked or raw
- ¾ cup of vegetable
juice
|
3 |
4 |
5 |
Fruit Group
- 1 medium apple, banana,
orange, pear
- ½ cup of chopped,
cooked, or canned fruit
- ¾ cup of fruit
juice
|
2 |
3 |
4 |
Milk,
Yogurt, and Cheese Group - preferably fat free or low fat
- 1 cup of milk** or yogurt
- 1 ½ ounces of
natural cheese (such as Cheddar)
- 2 ounces of processed
cheese (such as American)
|
2 or 3* |
2 or 3* |
2 or 3* |
Meat and Beans Group (Meat,
Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts) preferably lean or low fat
- 2-3 ounces of cooked lean
meat, poultry, or fish
These count as 1 ounce of meat:
- ½ cup of cooked dry
beans or tofu
- 2 ½ ounce soyburger
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons of peanut
butter
- 1/3 cup of nuts
|
2, for a
total of 5 ounces |
2, for a
total of 6 ounces |
2, for a
total of 7 ounces |
* Older children
and teens ages 9 to 18 years and adults over age 50 need 3 servings daily,
others need 2 servings daily.
** This includes lactose-free and
lactose-reduced milk products. Soy-based beverages with added calcium are an
option for those who prefer a non-dairy source of calcium. |
Chart 2. Sample food portions larger than 1 Pyramid serving
This list shows the size of a portion you may
choose or be served. They are not recommendations. This chart compares these
portions to Pyramid servings, so that you can judge how they might fit into
your overall daily eating plan.
Food |
Sample portion you
receive |
Compare to Pyramid serving
size |
Approximate Pyramid servings in this
portion |
Grains Group
Bagel |
1 bagel 4 ½" in diameter(4
ounces) |
½ bagel 3" in diameter(1 ounce) |
4 |
Muffin
|
1 muffin 3
½" in diameter(4 ounces) |
1 muffin 2
½" in diameter(1½ ounces) |
3 |
English
muffin |
1 whole
muffin |
½
muffin |
2 |
Sweet roll
or cinnamon bun |
1 large
from bakery (6 ounces) |
1 small (1
½ ounces) |
4 |
Pancakes
|
4 pancakes
5" in diameter(10 ounces) |
1 pancake
4" in diameter(1 ½ ounces) |
6 |
Burrito-sized flour tortilla |
1 tortilla
9" in diameter(2 ounces) |
1 tortilla
7" in diameter(1 ounce) |
2 |
Individual
bag of tortilla chips |
1 ¾
ounces |
12
tortilla chips (¾ ounce) |
2 |
Popcorn
|
16 cups
(movie theatre, medium) |
2 cups
|
8 |
Hamburger
bun |
1 bun
|
½
bun |
2 |
Spaghetti
|
2 cups
(cooked) |
½
cup (cooked) |
4 |
Rice
|
1 cup
(cooked) |
½
cup (cooked) |
2 |
Vegetable
Group
Baked potato |
1 large (7
ounces) |
1 small (2
¼ ounces) |
3 |
French fries
|
1 medium order (4 ounces)
|
½ cup, 10 French
fries(1 ounce) |
4 |
Meat and Beans Group
Broiled chicken breast
|
6 ounces |
2 to 3 ounces |
2 |
Fried
chicken |
3 pieces
(7 to 8 ounces) |
2 to 3
ounces |
3 |
Broiled
fish |
6 to 9
ounces |
2 to 3
ounces |
3 |
Sirloin
steak |
8 ounces
(cooked, trimmed) |
2 to 3
ounces |
3 |
Porterhouse steak or prime rib |
13 ounces
(cooked, trimmed) |
2 to 3
ounces |
5 |
Ham or
roast beef(in deli sandwich) |
5
ounces |
2 to 3
ounces |
2 |
Tuna salad
(in deli sandwich) |
6
ounces |
2 to 3
ounces |
2 |
How can you follow
Pyramid recommendations?
Let's go back to the spaghetti dinner. In this
example, you know that you should have 6 daily servings from the Grains group.
Before dinner, you estimate that you have already had 3 Grains group servings.
So, only 3 more servings would meet your recommended intake. To keep to 3
servings, you eat only one slice of garlic bread. When you see the large plate
of spaghetti, you set aside half on your plate and ask for a "doggie bag" to
take it home. Then, the following would have been your choices from the Grains
group over the day:
Meal |
Grains Group portions |
|
3 Pyramid Grains Group servings |
Breakfast |
½ cup
of oatmeal |
= |
1
serving |
Lunch |
1 hamburger bun |
= |
2 servings |
Dinner
|
1 slice of
garlic bread |
= |
1
serving |
Dinner |
1 cup of spaghetti |
= |
2 servings |
TOTALS
|
4
portions |
= |
6
servings |
In 4 sensible portions, you have consumed your
recommended 6 servings of grains. Note that an active man may need about 2,800
calories each day. Checking chart 1, this man's Grains
group recommendation would be 11 servings per day. The full spaghetti dinner
might fit easily within his recommended food choices for the day.
One key to making wise food choices is
knowing how much you are eating, as well as how much you should
eat. This is especially important if you are trying to lose weight or
manage your weight.
Tips to help
you choose sensible portions
When eating out:
- Choose a "small" or "medium" portion.
This includes main dishes, side dishes, and beverages as well. Remember that
water is always a good option for quenching your thirst.
- If main dish portions are larger
than you want, order an appetizer or side dish instead, or share a main dish
with a friend.
- Resign from the "clean your plate
club"-when you've eaten enough, leave the rest. If you can chill the extra food
right away, take it home in a "doggie bag."
- Ask for salad dressing to be served
"on the side" so you can add only as much as you want.
- Order an item from the menu instead
of the "all-you-can-eat" buffet.
At home:
- Once or twice, measure your typical
portion of foods you eat often. Use standard measuring cups. This will help you
estimate the portion size of these foods and similar foods.
- Be especially careful to limit
portions of foods high in calories, such as cookies, cakes, other sweets, and
fats, oils, and spreads.
- Try using a smaller plate for your
meal.
- Put sensible portions on your plate
at the beginning of the meal, and don't take "seconds."
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Don't be fooled by
large portions
Many items sold as single portions actually
provide 2 or more Pyramid servings. For example, a large bagel may actually be
equal to 3 or 4 servings from the Grains group. A restaurant portion of steak
maybe more than the recommended amount for the whole day. Chart 2 lists other common examples of foods that are often
sold or prepared in portions larger than 1 Pyramid serving.
Nutrition
Facts label serving sizes
The serving sizes listed on the
Nutrition Facts label may be different from Food Guide Pyramid
serving sizes. Many Pyramid serving sizes are smaller than those on the
Nutrition Facts label. For example, 1 serving of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta
is 1 cup for the label but only ½ cup for the Pyramid.
Use the Nutrition Facts label to make
nutritional comparisons of similar products. The label serving size is not
meant to tell you how much to eat, but to help identify nutrients in a food and
to make product comparisons easier. To compare the calories and nutrients
in two foods, first check the serving size and the number of servings in the
package. Serving sizes are provided in familiar units, such as cups or pieces.
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The Bottom Line
Choosing sensible portions is a key to
controlling calorie intake and getting or keeping your weight in a healthy
range. What is sensible for you?
- Each day, choose the recommended amount
from the five Pyramid food groups-depending on your calorie needs.
- A Pyramid serving may not be the same as
the portion you choose to eat-compare to find out how many servings are in your
portion.
- Keep sensible portions in mind at
restaurants as well as at home.
Dietary
Guidelines for Americans
The Dietary Guidelines
offer sound advice that will help to promote your health and reduce your risk
for chronic diseases such as heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, stroke,
and osteoporosis. The 10 Guidelines are grouped into the ABC's of nutrition:
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A: Aim for
fitness
- Aim for a healthy
weight.
- Be physically active
each day.
B: Build a
healthy base
- Let the Pyramid guide
your food choices.
- Choose a variety of
grains daily, especially whole grains.
- Choose a variety of
fruits and vegetables daily.
- Keep food safe to eat.
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C: Choose
sensibly
- Choose a diet that is
low in saturated fat and cholesterol and moderate in total fat.
- Choose beverages and
foods to moderate your intake of sugars.
- Choose and prepare
foods with less salt.
- If you drink alcoholic
beverages, do so in moderation.
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To order Dietary Guidelines
publications, call 888-878-3256. Ask for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
(40-page bulletin, $4.75 per copy) or Using the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans (5-panel brochure, $.50 per copy). You can also find out more about
the Guidelines and download these publications by visiting USDA's Center for
Nutrition Policy and Promotion website at www.cnpp.usda.gov.
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