It’s not just what you eat that counts on the road to losing weight,it’s about how much you eat too.How does your sense of portion control measure up?

What do you think a portion size of say,breakfast cereal or meat should be? I hope you’re sitting down because it will probably be a shock.I know it is to me every time i see the particular truth in black and white!

According to healthy eating guidelines,a serving of breakfast cereal should be one ounce and a serving of meat should be two to three ounces.Cereal belongs to the food group of which we can have 6-11 servings a day,but it could be very easy to eat and nuts,should be contributing 2-3 servings a day to our diet.Again,it’s astonishing how quickly that can add up.

Here’s a checklist of the sorts of foods we should be eating for healthybalance of nutrients.It gives a range for the number of daily serving (e.g. 6-11 servings).The upper end of range really intended only for a very active man;most of us,especially sedentary women,should took to the lower end.There are also a few handy little visual ideas of what that amount looks like.It helps to get good at estimating these by eye because you can’t carry around a set of scales everywhere you go.Well,you could,but it would look a little obsessive.

Bread,cereal,rice and pasta - 6-11 servings

A serving is :

1 slice of bread (the size of an audio cassette tape)

1 small bread roll

2 heaped tablespoons of boiled rice

3 heaped tablespoons of boiled pasta

2 crispbreads

2 egg-sized potatoes

3 tablespoons of dry porridge oats

Fruit and vegetables - 2-4 servings of the former,3-5 servings of the latter

This is based on US recommendations.In the UK,the suggested amount of fruit and vegetables is ‘at least 5′ a day.

A serving is :

2-3 small pieces of fruit,such as plums

1 heaped tablespoon of dried fruit such as raisins

1 medium-sized piece of fresh fruit suchas half of a grapefruit or a melon

1 side salad,the size of a cereal bowl

3 heaped tablespoons of cooked vegetables such as carrots

Meat,fish,eggs,nuts,dry beans - 2-3 servings a day

A serving is :

60-90 g (2-3 ounces) of cooked lean meat,poultry or fish.This the size of a deck cards or the palm of your hand.

150 g (5 ounces) of white fish (or three fish fingers)

120 g(4 ounces) of soya,tofu or quorn

5 tablespoons of baked beans

2 tablespoons of nuts and nut products

Milk,yoghurt and cheese - 2-3 servings a day

A serving is :

200 ml milk

1 small pot of yoghurt

90 g (3 ounces) of cottage cheese

30 g (1 ounce) of cheddar or other hard cheese.This is roughly the size of matchbox.