Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Tips for portion sizes... on the go!

You can use your hand to estimate proper portion sizes when you are in places or situations when you cannot (or it is not socially acceptable to pull out measuring cups)...

Of course, some people have larger hands than others... and some have tiny kid hands like myself... but you get the idea...

  • the size of the palm of your hand (minus your fingers of course!) is about 3 ounces of meats/seafoods
  • one ounce of cheese is about the size of your thumb
  • if you ball your hand and make a fist it will be close to 1 cup (rice, vegetables, soups, etc)
  • make your hand into a cup shape, this equals about 1 ounce of chips or pretzels
Snack Food Tip: Popcorn is a filling and yummy snack food. The great thing about popcorn is that you can eat a lot of it, for a little calories, that is, if you know what you're buying or making. You can use an air popper or a microwave popper to pop regular kernals without oil. You can also buy mini-bags in a number of flavors ranging from light butter, fat free popcorn, kettle corn, salt and pepper and lime and salt. You can also go the old fashioned stove-top method and pop kernals with canola or vegetable oil - a little goes a long way.

My favorite store bought popcorn is Orville Redenbacher's Naturals Salt & Pepper Mini-bags - only160 calories - and it's full flavor. Completely addictive!

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