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Confused About Standard Servings? Get Out The Cards

Karin A. Welzel The Columbus Dispatch

Trying to lose weight? Have you considered tennis balls, cassette tapes, playing cards, nail polish or hockey pucks?

While they aren’t exactly tasty, these common items are being touted to dieters to use as visualization tools for controlling food portions. Measuring cups and spoons and a food scale are more precise, but many people find them cumbersome.

Learning standard serving sizes allows a wider range of food choices, according to registered dietitian Doris Derelian, former president of the American Dietetic Association.

Mastering portion control, however, takes practice. The portions Americans are used to eating often are three, four or five times a standard serving size, Derelian said.

Examples: A standard 3-ounce serving of cooked meat - the size of a deck of cards - is less than one-third that of a restaurant portion.

A “large” order of fries - the most popular portion size in fastfood restaurants - has nearly four times as many fries as a standard serving.

Other examples of portion control-gone-crazy are bakery muffins, gourmet cookies, huge baked potatoes at restaurants, pizzas with double and triple “everything,” “super size” soft drinks at convenience stores, and designer bagels, some weighing in at 400 calories each.

All is not gloom and doom, however. Even a 1,600-calorie-a-day diet - recommended for older and sedentary women by the U.S. Department of Agriculture - includes six servings from the bread group, two servings from the meat group, three servings from the vegetable group, two servings from the fruit group and two or three servings from the milk group.

So, just how big is a standard serving?

1 ounce of meat: a small matchbox.

3 ounces of meat: a deck of cards or bar of soap.

8 ounces of meat: a thin paperback book.

1/2 cup chopped raw or cooked vegetables: a tennis ball.

1 ounce cheese: four dice.

1 cup fruit: a baseball.

1/2 cup pasta or rice: two flashlight (“D”) batteries, or a standard ice-cream scoop.

1/2 cup ready-to-eat cereal: a yoyo.

1 tablespoon salad dressing: one bottle nail polish.

2 tablespoons peanut butter: a Ping-Pong ball.