Welcome to portion control! Here is the first video, snacking, in our series for Portion Control by the Meal

Here is what we found in our DVD/Video research:

Snacks come in all sized packages and bags. Don’t let the food manufacturer decide your serving. Many packages and bags look like one serving but they are many more. Most of these packaged foods are very high in calorie density. A single one ounce serving of most items is around 140 calories. To put this in perspective, a one ounce piece of fruit would be around 20 calories.

We did find that a simple way to eyeball a one ounce serving is not to count potato chips – who would do that – but the one ounce serving most of the time is about a handful. Don’t eat out of a bag – put a handful on a small plate.

In the video you can see where we make a fun platter of fruits, vegetables and a few whole grain crackers. This gives you a fun variety and a whole plate of nutritious food for just 120-150 calories. Compare at the end where you can see a pile of chips versus a whole plate of food for the same amount – which do you think would make you feel more full?

There is truth to the Ruffles potato chip commercial – you can’t eat just one!

There is more info on this video here: