Portion Perfection

So you think you are on track with nutrition and still not losing weight?  Time to assess those portion sizes! It is very easy to overconsume even healthy essential foods in the diet.  Some common healthy foods that are over-consumed leading to excessive energy intake include: meat, nuts and dairy.

Red Meat:

Red meat is a fantastic source of protein as well as zinc and iron however it is easy to overconsume and choose the wrong cuts. 

A healthy portion would be a small steak the size of the palm or around 120g, this contains approximately 650kJ.

However the usual Australian serving size of steak is around 300g , which would be approximately 1600kJ.   

Aim to choose a lean steak the size and thickness of the palm to ensure good intake of protein but also micronutrients such as iron without overconsuming. 

Nuts:

Nuts can be a perfect snack option, this is because they contain good amounts of protein, natural fat, and micronutrients like vitamin B, selenium and calcium.  They are also a great source of fibre and will keep you satisfied.  The problem is that nuts are very easy to over-eat!

A suitable portion size for nuts would be a small handful, around 10-12 nuts or around 30g.

A usual portion size for nuts would be around 3 handfuls or 100g, this represents around 1800kJ, the equivalent of 4.5 tim tams!

Aim to choose an unsalted mixed nut selection keeping portion sizes to a small handful.

Dairy:

Dairy is important to include in a healthy balanced diet to ensure adequate calcium, as well as being a good source of protein and containing over 10 essential nutrients.  Most people need between 2-3 serves of dairy, however a serve is very easy to overconsume.  Overcomsumption of dairy foods can lead to a high intake of energy (calories/kilojoules) as well as high intakes of saturated fat.  1 serve of dairy is between 500-600kJ and consists of:

• 250ml Milk
• 2 slices (40g) of hard cheese
• ¾ cup or 200g of yoghurt

Commonly consumed serves of dairy include:

• 4 slices of full fat hard cheese =80g =1352kJ of energy and around 19g of saturated fat.