Portion size help
 

Tonight for dinner I am making grilled chicken breasts with a side of alfredo rotini pasta and veggies.
I have no idea how much chicken is a portion. I don't have a scale to weigh. Visually, what should I be aiming for? Also, how much pasta cooked? 1/2 cup?
I am a calorie counter, but I just want a feel for what to put on my plate that is a sensible amount for someone wanting to lose weight. Thanks.

Palm sized piece of chicken. Skip the pasta. Go large on the veggies. Can't go wrong.

A serving of chicken is about the size of a deck of cards.

If you like pasta, I'd suggest not skipping it but I would reduce drastically how much you eat.Go for half a cup.

I read online somewhere, and its a rule I kind of try to use as a calorie counter...
A baseball is approximately a cup
A billard ball is approximately half a cup
An egg is approximately 1/4 of a cup
A deck of cards is about 2-3 oz (use for meats)
4 dice is about one oz
A ping pong ball is about two tablespoons.
One dice is about a teaspoon

I always eyeball it but when I serve myself I fill half my plate with veggies, 1/4 with pasta and 1/4 with protein.

I eat about half the chicken breast and save the rest for my salad tomorrow.

Here are some helpful images:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uaOydz5wrz...gsize_hand.jpg

http://www.marla-deen-fit.net/upload...84601_orig.png

Another way to measure although not perfect is to chop up your chicken and put it in a measuring cup.

thank you for the visuals!! i soooo don't like the idea of measuring all my food but I am a calorie counter so this really helps me get an idea of the right sizes

When it comes to rice and pasta though it really is worth it to measure in an actual cup. Because these spread so much, it's hard to eyeball it.

Thanks for all the tips! Much appreciated. Regarding the pasta.. it's not something I eat very often. By eating low calorie, I automatically keep my carbs quite low (not keto low.. but low compared to SAD). I buy Einkorn non-hybirdized pasta for when I do eat it occasionally.

I know this is a weightloss forum and people make big stinks about what one should or should not be eating but please don't feel like you have to justify to anybody why you're eating pasta! We don't need an explanation or an apology, pasta is a perfectly viable, delicious and nutritious so make no apologies for it! It's horrible how people vilify food.

I agree completely, eat pasta if you want pasta. I'm not even the biggest pasta fan but I had it for dinner tonight. It wasn't whole wheat, it wasn't rice pasta, it was regular old pasta. I had it with a ton of veggies and it was a very filling meal.

Thank you!

I've always sucked at eyeballing portions. I have to weigh and measure everything. Of course, after measuring everything everyday for eight months, I can eyeball something, throw it in a measuring cup to check myself, and be spot on.

I'd be willing to bet if I went back to strictly eyeing portions, I'd start overserving myself after a week or so. I do like to use the hand method for guesstimating restaurant portions.

You've gotten good advice for eyeballing, but I just wanted to chime in that I highly recommend getting a food scale. Calorie counting aside, it has made measuring ingredients for recipes a lot easier, as well as measuring out portion sizes of rice and dry pasta before cooking. And cheese. It's quick to use and you can get a decent digital one for something in the neighborhood of $15.

I can eyeball a 2 oz portion of spaghetti alright, but something like rotini or rice is a lot harder for me, and measuring cups tend to over estimate those items compared to weights. It's easier for me to just measure out 2 oz/4 oz (depending if I'm cooking for one or two) and throw that into the water than busting out the measuring cups.

I also have a peanut butter ball recipe where all ingredients are measured in pounds, so the scale helps with that once a year when I make them. :)