Do you have to measure or weigh everything you eat? Not really. Some people find it helps to measure things carefully at first, but once you get used to your new eating plan, strict measuring probably won’t be necessary. But, what exactly is a serving? And is that different from a portion?
The word "serving" can have different meanings depending on how it is used. A Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Plan  serving is how much of each food you should eat to meet the plan’s daily recommendation. (See below to learn more about serving sizes on the Nutrition Facts label ).
The term "portion" means how much of a single food is actually on your dish—a portion size can vary from meal to meal. For example, one restaurant might serve larger portions than another.
Here are some pictures to help you understand about how much you are eating.
|Two tablespoons cream cheese = golf ball||Three ounces meat or poultry = deck of cards||1 to 1½ ounces cheese = four dice|
|Three ounces grilled/baked fish = checkbook||One cup cooked vegetables, salad, baked potato = baseball||Three ounces of meat or poultry = palm of hand|
Snacks are okay, as long as they are smart food choices. If you want an afternoon pick-me-up or after-dinner snack, have a piece of fruit , or spread peanut butter or low-fat cream cheese on whole wheat toast. Don’t forget to include snacks in your daily food count. For example, one tablespoon of peanut butter spread on a slice of whole wheat toast counts toward the grains group and the protein foods group . Some ideas for healthy snacking include:
Here are some more pictures to help you understand how much you are eating:
|Half cup fruit, beans, rice, noodles, or ice cream = cupcake wrapper, half of a baseball||One teaspoon margarine or oil = tip of first finger|
|One pancake or tortilla = compact disc or DVD||Quarter cup raisins = large egg|
What's On Your Plate? is based on the nutrition recommendations for older adults in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010  from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).