Monday, September 14, 2009

Nutrition: Serving Sizes

When looking at the nutrition fact's table, we tend to focus on that calories, fat content, protein, etc.  We sometimes disregard the serving size.  We must keep in mind that those calories are for ONE serving.  Most of the time we take double or triple the serving size.  We must keep in mind that this means that the caloric intake also increases.  If we want to eat only one serving of a food item, that means we need to know what one serving looks like.  To make things easier for all of us we can use our hand to estimate a rough serving size.

Here is a list of what a serving size looks like:

A thumb = 25g of most cheeses
A thumb-tip = a teaspoon
3 thumb-tips = a tablespoon
A palm = a erving of meat, fish or poultry
A fist = a cup

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Today's Food: Ice Cream (11% MF)
Food Group: Milk & Alternatives
Serving Size: 125mL/ 1/2 cup
Calories: 150
Fat: 8g
Fibre: 1g
Walking: 38 min
Swimming or Jumping rope: 17 min
Cycling: 22 min