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Nutrition
Overview
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5-A-Day
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Healthy Recipes
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Myths of healthy eating
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Portion Size
Portion Size
Watch out for your portion sizes! To help you determine what a good portion size is when eating out, here are five tips:
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The unit rule. The bigger the container, the more we eat. To overcome this problem, request a half portion and have it served on a salad plate, instead of a dinner plate. Skip the “value” or “super-sized” meals and “economy-sized” bag of chips. Share a small bag of candy or popcorn at the movie. Get used to leaving food on your plate, or take it home with you for another meal.
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Split an entrée. Order an entrée to share, then order side salads and soups to complete the meal.
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Attitude adjustment. Usually we think of eating out as a special occasion. Today, we tend to eat out more often. We can no longer think of eating out as being an excuse to splurge. You must begin to think of restaurant meals as part of your healthy way of eating.
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Understand what a “real” portion is. People always underestimate how much they eat. This is what a “real” portion or single serving should be:
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Meat, chicken, fish: 3 ounces, or the size of deck of cards, or the palm of a woman’s hand
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Pasta (cooked), rice (cooked), oatmeal, potatoes, cooked vegetables: half a cup, or the size of a tennis ball
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Bagel or muffin: 1 ounce, or the size of a ping pong ball
d. Cheese: 1 ounce, or the size of a woman’s thumb, or
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dice stacked together
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Butter, oil, margarine: 1 teaspoon, or the size of a stamp
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Salad dressing: 2 tablespoons, or the size of an ice cube
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Raw vegetables: 1 cup, or the size of a baseball
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Load up on veggies. Help yourself to lots of vegetables and fruits. The USDA recommends that adults eat 2-3 servings of fruit a day and 3-5 servings of vegetables a day. Be careful of drinking juice as a substitute for your fruits and vegetable servings. Some juices only contain 10% fruit/vegetables. Look for juices that are 100% fruit/vegetable.
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