How Big is a Serving?

You’ve made your resolutions, you’ve joined a gym, and you’ve eliminated all the holiday sweets from your home.

But all that hard work may be lost if you are eating more than you should to lose weight.

How Big is a Serving of Food?

The good news is that it is easy to measure a serving of food. Sticking to that recommended serving size is another story, but if you are committed to getting back on track to health, measuring your food – even casually – is a must.

You don’t need a scale or measuring cups to get an idea of how much is in a serving.

Serving Size Guide

Print out this guide and use it in your kitchen or at the dinner table until you get a feel for what a serving size it. Also, if you haven’t measured your portions in a while, it might be a good refresher to measure serving sizes for a while until you get back on track.

• 3 oz. of meat = A deck of cards
• 3 oz. of fish = A checkbook
• 1 ½ oz. of cheese = 3 dice
• 2 tbsp. peanut butter = A ping pong ball
• 1 medium-sized fruit = A baseball
• 1 cup of cooked vegetables = A baseball
• 1 medium potato = A computer mouse
• 1 cup pasta = A baseball
• 1 bagel = A hockey puck
• ½ cup of ice cream = A light bulb
• 1 tbsp. butter or oil = A poker chip

Lose Weight at Penn Medicine

Learn about medical weight loss in Philadelphia, and the Penn Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Program at a free information session about weight-loss surgery in Philadelphia.

There, you will hear about your weight-loss surgery options, and how Penn can help you lose weight and get healthy for good.

Register for a free information session today.