These portion size tips and charts provide guidelines for portion sizes for weight loss.
Incorrect portion size is one of the biggest reasons people are overweight. Find out the correct portion size for you with my quick reference guide. The best guideline to follow for your lunch or dinner plate is half a plate of vegetables/salad, one quarter of protein and one quarter carbs. However some things are better off weighed or measured to ensure you’re serving the correct portions, find out more below.
Meat and chicken
Raw meat portions should be 120g for women and 150g for men. For a piece of beef steak cut the fat off the side and it will drop the fat count down by half.
Cooked rice
Serve between ½ to ¾ cup for women; 1 cup for men
Cooked spaghetti
Serve 1 cup for women and 1½ cups for men.
Vegetables and Salad
Vegetables are unlimited except for potato, sweet potato or corn, as these are high in carbohydrates. Avocado is the other exception and a 30g serve is recommended. It is recommended you have five serves of vegetables a day; a serve equals half a cup.
Fruit
Fruit is good for you but not unlimited. To lose weight women should have 2–3 pieces and for men 3–4 pieces a day. For maintaining weight 4–5 pieces a day maximum. The size per serve is 150g (includes skin and seeds) so if your apple weighs 225g then it is one and half serves of fruit.
The chart below shows more options.
3 tools to help manage your portions
- Use a portion plate for your main meals – to ensure correct portion sizes FIND OUT MORE AND BUY PORTION PLATES HERE
- Use a portion bowl for cereal and desserts – a great reminder not to over-serve – FIND OUT MORE AND BUY PORTION BOWLS HERE
- Cook my recipes – divide each recipe into the number of portions shown as you are serving up and don’t go back for seconds. Freeze leftover portions for another day. I have 9 cookbooks filled with deliciously healthy recipes – HERE
Weight loss portion chart – serving size for adults
You’ll find a range of portion control products in my shop. There are also bariatric portion products for those who’ve had weight loss surgery.
Portion sizes for pregnant and lactating women vary from those shown above, please consult your midwife or dietitian for advice on this.
Portion sizes for children vary by age and you’ll find more about this in my Healthy Kids R Happy Kids eBook.