Serving vs. Portion Sizes

Most of us are aware that restaurants and food manufacturers have adopted the bad habit of supersizing meals, drinks, and snacks. What may surprise you is this: We're doing the same thing at our dinner tables. Food package, dishware, and even recipes have evolved to encourage us to eat more than we need. And it turns out that we are not good at pushing the extra portions away: Studies show that the more food we're given, the more we eat.

So how do you know how much is enough?

A portion is the amount of food you choose to eat. There is no standard portion and no single right or wrong portion size.

A serving, however, is a standard amount set by the U.S. government to provide advice about how much to eat or to identify how many calories and nutrients are needed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's nutrition labels and MyPyramid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are good sources for serving sizes.

For example, a portion for you might be a sandwich made with two slices of bread and some meat. According to MyPyramid, that portion would equal two servings from the grain group and two servings from the meat group.

Tip: If you don't follow serving sizes, and instead make your own portions try trading in your 11-inch plates for 9-inch ones and you'll eat 18% percent few calories.