One of the biggest obstacles to weight loss or maintaining a healthy body composition is portion control. Undoubtedly this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, and yet, so many continue to struggle with it. Most think they know what a “serving” is, but we are notorious for under-reporting our food intake [1]. So, for this post I decided to share some pictures of common foods easy to under-estimate servings with—cheese, crackers, and nuts. Hopefully this helps you see how easy it is to under-estimate portions; if you’ve been struggling with weight gain or the seeming inability to reach body composition goals, seeing appropriate servings may help you make better choices and gain a better picture of your actual food intake.
Cheese: A serving of cheese is about one ounce, or ¼ cup of shredded cheese. This equates
to about 110 calories depending on the type of cheese. For our purposes, we’ll look at cheddar cheese. You can see why a slice of pizza can contain so many calories (for example, a slice of Costco cheese pizza contains a whopping 700 calories, which for the average woman could be anywhere from a third to half her needed calories for a day—and who eats only one piece of pizza?!). So, if your goal is weight loss and you don’t seem to be making the progress you’d like, measure your cheese for awhile and see if maybe some extra calories are sneaking in.
Nuts: Nuts, full of important vitamins and minerals, are a healthy part of any balanced diet,
but nuts are calorically dense and extraordinarily easy to overeat. A serving, one ounce, is approximately 18 nuts and 190 calories. It’s not difficult to eat two or three ounces (or more) at once, again, adding extra calories we may not be aware of. Just because a food is “healthy” doesn’t mean it won’t derail our weight loss/body composition goals if over-consumed. You may think you’ve just had a healthy snack, but you just consumed the same number of calories you’d eat in a typical meal. So, the next time you reach for a handful off almonds, count them out as you place them in your hand so you can get used to what a serving looks like.
Crackers: If weight loss is your goal, hopefully you’re already paying more attention to the
amount of processed foods you’re eating. Even so, crackers can be a part of a healthy, balanced diet. I, for one, love these cauliflower crackers, but I still portion them to avoid eating an entire box (no joke). Most crackers are full of salt or fat, or both, which is why they taste so darn good! Unfortunately, it’s another food that’s easy to misjudge the portions with (along with other processed snack foods like chips and cookies). Most crackers like Ritz or Club Crackers have a serving size of 5 crackers. A typical serving of chips is around 10-14 chips (some even fewer—one of my favorite chips has a serving size of only seven chips!). You can see how easy it would be to eat two or three servings of crackers or chips at a time. Worse yet, because these foods are not nutritionally dense, you most likely won’t experience much satiation (the feeling of fullness) after you eat, so you’ll continue to eat other things or even more chips and crackers until you feel “satisfied”.
You don’t need to measure your food forever or go crazy with it, but it’s something to consider if you’ve been trying to lose weight (or noticed the weight creeping on) and can’t seem to pinpoint why. Accurate food intake is key if you’re looking to achieve specific goals (whether that’s weight loss, muscle building, or weight-maintenance). So, the next time you reach for your favorite snack food, check out the nutrition label and see what the recommended serving is, then compare that with what you typically eat. In this you may be able to identify ways you have been self-sabotaging your weight loss or body composition goals.
Article of interest:
Rebecca was a Precision Nutrition Certified Nutrition Coach, an A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer, an A.C.E.Fitness Nutrition Specialist, an A.C.E. Sports Conditioning Specialist, and an A.C.E. Youth Fitness Specialist. She first earned her Personal Training certification with A.C.E. (American Council on Exercise) in 2002. She has been in and out of the "Health & Fitness" industry for nearly two decades. She also spent two years as a dietetic student at ASU & EMCC. She now blogs about her experiences with the health and fitness industry, eating disorders, lifestyle modification, weight loss, and nutrition for chronic disease, wellness, and longevity.
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