Recipes & Healthier Choices Tips

Ladies I will be posting Low fat recipes and tips on how to cook and eat better here. Let me know if you have any special requests or questions. My First tip on making Healthier Choices will be about portions. I actually shed a few pounds by changing my portion sizes. Read this informative article and see below for some of personal tips to measure portion sizes.


You have been watching what you are eating. You are eating healthy but you are still slowly gaining weight. What could be the problem?

It could be several things, but more than likely you are just eating more than regular portions. You are overeating! We live in a time when everything has been "super-sized". Your ideas of what normal portions are have been skewed. When you go to a restaurant, you are not served on a dinner plate, but a PLATTER. And people eat it all and wonder why they feel "stuffed" and have trouble even getting up from the table. At home, when you sit down to dinner, how many "seconds" do you pile on your plate? Do you fill your plate twice?

So what is in a portion? You can not always go by what is on the outside of a box of cereal, bread or pasta. Serving portions on labels have increased in past years, right along with obesity in the U.S.

The following recommendations should be used as a general guideline, as individual nutrition needs vary widely according to factors such as age and activity level. This means if you are a couch potato, you need to go with the lowest level and really cut back (You are not burning enough calories).

Grains and Cereals: 6 to 11 servings per day

One serving of cooked rice or pasta is only 1/2 cup (Restaurants usually serve as much as four times this amount.
1/2 cup of cooked cereal is a serving
1 cup of ready to eat cereal is a serving

Only one slice of regular sized bread is a serving (A jumbo bagel served at most coffee shops, however, may contain as many as five servings).

Vegetables: 3 to 5 servings per day

One serving of leafy green vegetables like salad greens or raw spinach is 1 cup.

One serving of chopped raw or cooked vegetables like green beans, broccoli, squash is 1/2 cup.
Fruit: 2 - 4 servings per day

A medium banana, apple or orange each make a serving.

Or 1/2 cup of fruit juice, canned fruit or dried fruit is also equivalent to one serving.

Dairy and Protein Sources: 2 - 3 servings for Adults

One cup of milk is one serving
One cup of yogurt is one serving
One and a half ounces of natural cheese or two ounces of processed cheese all equal one serving. A serving of cheese is roughly the size of a one-inch cube

Meat, Fish, Poultry, Dry Beans, Eggs and Nuts: 2 - 3 servings

A serving of cooked lean meat is equivalent to two or three ounces, which is roughly the size of a deck of cards.

A serving of beans is 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans
One egg is equivalent to one ounce of lean meat; therefore, a serving of eggs would be about two or three eggs.
Two tablespoons of peanut butter or one-third cup of nuts are also equivalent to one ounce of meat.

Fats, Oils and Sweets: Use Sparingly

1 teaspoon of butter is considered a serving.

1 teaspoon of oil is one serving



One thing about portion control is that when you have a big plate you have a tendency to fill it up or else it ends up looking empty. I invested in smaller dishes I bought these square dishes that are shallow bowls and automatically I know I make portions smaller. Has dramatically helped me reduce my portion sizes.

When I am Serving Pasta & Rice I use a very small Glad (which mearues exactly 4 oz.)container to measure. (I use this same cup to make my Rice Mounds which makes for great presentation during a meal)

I also use the same size cup to make sure I have double the veggies as carbs.

I cut back my carb consumption during the week by sticking with protein and veggies at dinner time.


I hope you find these tips helpful i will be back with some yummy low fat meals soon!