If you’re focusing on eating healthier or losing weight, a distorted perspective of food portions may cause you to fail. But keeping track of food portions is fairly easy, once you learn a few tricks:

• Know Your Sizes - Does your huge slab of meat look more like the size of a hardcover novel than a pack of cards? Then you’re eating more than one serving. Check out Allina Hospitals & Clinics’ handy chart on what portion sizes are, using everyday objects to compare sizes.
• Buy Measuring Tools - Buy yourself some measuring cups, spoons and a small scale to help you keep better track of portions.
• Read Labels - A bag of chips may look like enough for only one person, but if you read the nutrition label, you’ll find that there’s enough for two or three people. Don’t just rely on sight - read the label.
• Buy Pre-Portioned Snacks - Hundred-calorie packs are all the rage now, and are great to grab if you’re on the go. But if you really want to save money…
• Portion Your Own Snacks - When you buy a box of crackers, see how many servings there are. Separate the crackers into that many Ziploc baggies, and you have your own calorie-saving packs.
• Focus On Healthier Foods If You Don’t Feel Full - After eating a serving size of cookies, you realize you’re still hungry. So you grab for more, negating the portion watching. You’re better off switching your snacks or meals to something healthier and a bit more satiating.
• Don’t Supersize - You may automatically grab for the double cheeseburger meal or the 20-piece chicken nuggets, but do you really need that much food? Try downsizing to a kid’s meal or just a plain old cheeseburger. You may find that you feel full on the smaller portion, and in addition to saving calories, you’ll also be saving money.
• Use Smaller Plates - Bigger plates may make you feel the need to fill up the plate. Try eating from a smaller dish, or filling the larger plate with more vegetables or salad.
• Doggie Bag Your Restaurant Meals - Restaurant portions are already supersized (see Cooking Light’s Restaurant Portion Distortion), so set aside half (or more), doggie bag it, and have it for another meal. Or you can always…
• Share - Have a friend dig into that plate of tortillas with you instead of each ordering your own.

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