What Serving Sizes Look Like

What Does a Serving Size Look Like?

November 18, 2011

When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, there is so much talk about portion size. Since we're living in the age of Super Size Me, bottomless this, and all-you-can-eat that, we've really lost sight of what an actual serving size is.

Keep on reading to see a chart showing what a serving size of most foods looks like.

Food	One Serving Equals . . .
Breads, pasta, cereal, cooked grain, etc.	One slice of bread (size of CD case) Half a bagel (size of a hockey puck) One-cup cereal (two hands cupped together) Half-cup cooked grain or pasta (one cupped palm)
Fruits	One piece of fruit (size of a tennis ball) Half-cup cut-up fruit, raw, cooked, frozen, or canned (size of seven cotton balls) One-quarter cup dried fruit Three quarters cup 100 percent fruit juice
Veggies	Half cup cut up veggie, raw, cooked, frozen, or canned (looks like the bulb part of a lightbulb) Half-cup cooked, canned or frozen legumes One-cup leafy greens Three quarters cup 100 percent vegetable juice
Meat, chicken, or fish	Three ounces (deck of cards or checkbook) One egg
Dairy	One ounce of cheese (two nine-volt batteries) Half-cup ice cream, cottage cheese, or pudding One-cup milk or yogurt
Nuts	One-third cup (small handful) One-tablespoon nut butter (size of both your thumbs)

Source: Thinkstock

26 Comments

SaraNoH 1 year 19 weeks

I agree with what the few sensible people have said here: this chart does not mean: eat ONE, and only ONE, serving of each. Of course not! That's ridiculous! would you only eat 1 cup of leafies for a salad and call it a day on veggies? No way! It's ok to eat more than one serving of something at a time (hello, sandwiches?)

2 years 13 weeks

WOW @ Disturbed. You are starving. only 500 calories a day is not healthy. Please seek professional help before giving advice to anyone. Thank you!

2 years 38 weeks

seriously, I don't agree with half of the people I read. There is no way that you can starve to death when you are eating. I mostly only eat vegies and the odd piece of fruit. I also drink green tea as well as coffee and diet coke. As for calories I count em I can have a whole pot of my vegie soup in a day and if I am still hungry I will have 2 wheet biscuits with water I also dont eat sugar at all its awful. I havent starved to death. AND MY BODY LOOKS AND FEELS GREAT. ON 5OO CALORIES A DAY

2 years 49 weeks

"The Italian Jem", still excited about that bozo?

3 years 43 weeks

When they say a handful is a serving they mean that you would eat more than one serving and, If you only eat vegetables then you will not grow right and live a healthy lifestyle. Probably shouldn't just eat vegetables because you will be in the bathroom all day and, you will be pooping green. that's all for now see ya later. BBFN TTFN TTYL :-) :-)

The Italian Jem 4 years 17 weeks

I know this is an old post, but I have to correct "nobama" cravinsugar. Grams are a measurement of weight, cup is a measure of size (volume). A cup of marshmallows and a cup of nuts do not have the same weight, or grams. P.S. I'm so excited for the Inauguration!

JGinAZ 4 years 20 weeks

The idea is not to eat one serving of pasta and that's your meal - it's a guideline so that you maybe eat two servings of pasta for lunch or dinner, but you know that you are consuming two servings. The problem is that many Americans have distorted ideas about what is considered a portion. The food guide pyramid is designed to give people plenty of calories (I believe it is based on 2,000 calories a day). You just have to learn to understand what you are eating. If you think that a plateful of pasta is a serving, you probably are consuming way more carbs than you need. The food pyramid allows for plenty of servings, and the assumption is not that you only eat one serving per meal. You could eat a two-serving dish of pasta with tomato sauce (probably around one serving of vegetables, maybe half a serving or so of protein if you add meat), a green salad with light or non-creamy dressing (easily two servings of veggies), a piece of bread (one serving of carbs) and a glass of milk (one of dairy) and you have a balanced dinner. With somewhere around 10-12 servings of carbs to work with, that leaves plenty for breakfast, lunch, and snacks! The key is eating the right combination of foods -- that is where serving sizes come in. And if you're like me and LOVE things like pasta, just eat whole-grain pasta and it is a lot better for you - not empty calories, but good calories!

Dezarea 4 years 31 weeks

if i ate like this i would starv to death in less than a week.

cravinsugar 5 years 28 weeks

Alytta: Check out this link http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/gram_calc.htm there are 229.92 grams in a cup! :-)

Allytta 5 years 28 weeks

how many gr is a cup? i've been asking that for ages... or oz or whatever mesurement. i combed this whole site and didn't find the answer.

Glittersniffer 5 years 28 weeks

Well, there's a difference between a serving in the caloric sense and a serving in the meal sense. I think this has more to do with equating a portion size to the numbers you see on the side of the package.

EllaBella 5 years 28 weeks

I meant to write "as much veggies as you want as long as"

EllaBella 5 years 28 weeks

You can eat as much veggies as they are cooked natural (steamed, boiled, braised or grilled)and without fatty sauces. Fruits are ok but they do contain sugar so you shouldn't eat more fruit than veggies.

ohmondieu 5 years 28 weeks

You'd have to have seriously large hands to eat according to this list!nThere is no way I could eat a meal consisting of a handful of pasta. Else i might have the definition of serving size wrong...

tabloidprincess 5 years 28 weeks

I heard that too baby chloe.

Babychloe 5 years 28 weeks

I'd always heard that a serving size of meat should be no bigger than your fist. Of course that would be different for everyone.

kiddylnd 5 years 28 weeks

I'm with cravin! Can't I just eat my heart out on veggies?

marygrace 5 years 28 weeks

i agree with aimeeb. just keep your diet relatively healthy, eating when you are hungry until you are satisfied, and you'll be fine. trying to incorporate these specific serving measurements into my diet would make me feel sort of neurotic.

jkat 5 years 28 weeks

Is it just me, or is a checkbook way bigger than a deck of cards? How can they both be a meat serving size? Does it include the same thickness as these items? That would make sense then...

aimeeb 5 years 28 weeks

Great information. I think as long as you're eating healthy and not over indulging I don't think measuring exact serving sizes are nessesary.

nikodarling 5 years 28 weeks

Cravinsugar - I think that veggies would be an indulgence. I think most time the charts give you serving sizes of veggies because most people don't eat enough. If you want to fill up on fat free, salt free veggies indulge away.

EllasMom 5 years 28 weeks

Yeah, cravinsugar. If you are eating raw fruits and vegetables without any extras, should you limit yourself?

cravinsugar 5 years 28 weeks

I have a question! IS it important to follow serving sizes of veggies? If they don't have the added fats from butter, or added salt, shouldn't that be a total indulgence?