Too much of anything is really to much. Unfortunately you can over eat even the healthiest of things! I think it’s important to know what the correct portion sizes are because sometimes I think people think they are making a healthy choice- and then the foil their efforts without even knowing it just by eating too much.  

1. Unless your eating fresh produce, almost everything you eat will come with labels. It is very important to read and follow the serving sizes on the label. Pay close attention to how much a serving size is, and how many servings are in the box. Sometimes you will buy a muffin and assume that it’s one serving. I mean, why would it be otherwise?! But chances are that muffin is 2 or even 4 servings. All the information you will need to figure this out will be on the label.

• Pour your morning bowl of cereal into a measuring cup before you pour it into your bowl. Look at your labels. They are there for a reason, I swear!

• If you want ice cream, have it. One serving of ice cream (½ cup) never hurt anyone.

Take time to learn what your portions look like on your plates and in your bowls at home.

Pasta and Grains:

For Pasta – normally you’re looking at about three-fourths of a cup or two ounces. But check the label of the brand you buy. Measure it out a couple of times so you can see how many noodles you get to eat in relation to your bowl at home. Then fill out your pasta with veggies and protein! The bowl gets pretty full, pretty quickly.

For Grains- Things like Rice, Quinoa and Barley are generally 1/2 a cup per serving.

Protein: One serving of protein is 3-4 ounces. I recommend:

• 3-4 ounces for women
• 6 ounces for men
• I measure my protein on a kitchen scale once it’s been cooked. A cheap scale at your local kitchen store should run you $10-15. It’s a worthwhile investment that you should make if you can.

Fruit: They say compare your apple to a baseball—kind of tough to do. All apples look like the size of baseballs to me! This is where your scale comes into play. But if you don’t have a scale on hand:

• Typically, round fruit is approximately 2-3 inches in diameter per serving.
• Bananas should be no more than 6 inches long or 3.5 ounces per serving.
• Grapefruit                       ½ of the fruit
• Berries                            ½ cup – 1 cup
• Dried Fruit                      ¼ cup
• Avocado                         1 ounce (3 slices)

Vegetables: I personally (although, would some would disagree) don’t think you can have too many green vegetables, especially if you’re someone who likes a big plate of food. Have as many servings of green vegetables as you like (as long as they are not covered in butter!).

When the color is not green, have a closer look at your serving size.

• Sweet Potato                          ½ cup mashed
• Squash                                    ½ cup
• Potato                                     ½ cup (normally half a potato)
• Corn                                        An ear 5-6 inches long/1/3 cup niblets

Nuts: 1 ounce

Approximately  – 23 almonds/ 18 Cashew Nuts /  7 Brazil Nuts / 7 walnuts