- Cooked vegetables
- Pudding
- Ice cream
3 ounces = palm (without fingers) or a deck of cards
- meat
- fish
1 tablespoon = thumb or an ice cube
- Salad dressing
- Peanut butter
- Sour cream
- cheese
1 teaspoon = thumb tip or one die
- Butter
- Mayonnaise
- Oil
Buy snack foods in small packages, or divide up larger packaged foods into smaller containers. Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, showed that when people buy large size bags of almost any food, they tend to eat more at one sitting, which can increase what they eat by up to 43%!
Once you believe in the power of nutrition and the benefits of healthy eating, the next step is to get to familiarize yourself with nutrition data so you know the foods that support good health. Then you’ll be able to come up with a healthy eating plan that meets the dietary guidelines for maintaining good health, as well as catering to your personal tastes while meeting your nutritional needs.
Now that you are aware of some of the facts about healthy eating, you know that there is no additive or fortifier that protects our health and our waistline like the real thing: real, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. If we focus on real food and exercise, and lighten up on the snacks and correct the portion distortion, we’ll have a good chance of beating the obesity epidemic ourselves, and helping our kids beat it too. Look at our healthy eating tips to get some ideas as to how to use these healthy eating guidelines in your daily life.