Keeping a track of food intake and kcal’s is tricky and one of the biggest issues encountered by people is what is a portion? A single portion of food is usually not known so people usually eat much more than a protion and with fruit and veg sometime not enough.
Below is a simple set of examples of what constitutes 1 portion of each food group.
Fruit and vegetables:
ONE portion = 80g = any of the following
1 apple, banana, pear, orange or other similar sized fruit
2 plums or similar sized fruit
½ a grapefruit or avocado
1 slice of large fruit, such as melon or pineapple
3 heaped tablespoons of vegetables (raw, cooked, frozen or tinned)
3 heaped tablespoons of beans and pulses (however much you eat, beans and pulses count as a maximum of 1 portion a day)
3 heaped tablespoons of fruit salad (fresh or tinned in fruit juice) or stewed fruit
1 heaped tablespoon of dried fruit (such as raisins and apricots)
1 handful of grapes, cherries or berries
a dessert bowl of salad
a glass (150ml) of fruit juice (however much you drink, fruit juice counts as a maximum of 1 portion a day)
Remember for your 5 a day you must have 5 different foods from the above.
Bread, cereal, rice and pasta and potatoes:
1 slice bread
1 egg sized potato
3 tbsp breakfast cereal (normally 45g dry)
2 heaped tablespoons of cooked pasta and rice (approx. 75g uncooked)
Milk and dairy:
200 ml of milk
150g low fat yoghurt
125g cottage cheese
30g hard cheese
Meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy source of protein:
85g-100g cooked meat or fish
3-4 tablespoons of dried beans
3 tablespoons of nuts or seeds
Always check food lables for the recommened food portion size, this will usuall be shown. but remember to check the lables clearly that you are reading the protion size and not kcal and other nutrition ingormation for a 100g protion.