Managing your weight, your energy level, your hunger and your long- term health involves mastering a skill known as portion control. To keep your protein, carbohydrate and fat intake balanced you need to be sure to eat the right portion of each of these foods. One of the challenges we face is the "portion distortion" that has taken place over time in our culture. Promotions such as "Biggy" fries, "Supersize" soda and "Jumbo" franks have made it difficult to recognize a normal size portion of a protein rich food, and then balance it with carbohydrate and fat.

If you are new at estimating portions it might be worth your while to take the time and measure your food at home for a few weeks to help you "see" clearly what a normal portion looks like. Once measured be sure to eyeball just how full your bowl, plate or glass is when it is holding a single portion. Consider switching to a smaller size plate, like a 7" luncheon plate rather than a 12" dinner plate. After awhile you won't have to measure because you will be able to select the right portion size.

Purchase a selection of calorie controlled frozen entrees such as Lean Cuisine, Smart Choice, South Beach Diet etc. Most of these are formulated with the normal size portions for meat, potatoes, pasta, and vegetables. Notice the size of the servings. Clearly these portions sizes are drastically different than what you get in most restaurants.

Individually frozen chicken breasts, pork chops, meat patties, fish filets, will be labeled with the number of ounces per portion. Estimate that you will lose 25% in cooking so a 4 oz chicken breast will be about 3 oz after it is cooked.

If you don't have access to your measuring tools here are some quick and easy tips to help you manage portions when eating out or not at home.

• 3 ounces of cooked poultry or meat looks like a deck of cards
• A ping pong ball is the size of 1 ounce or 2 Tablespoons
• The average women's fist is approximately the size of 1 cup
• The average man's fist is approximately the size of 1.5 cups
• A tennis ball is about equivalent to a medium size piece of fruit
• 1 ounce of cheese is about the size of 4 dice

To achieve a balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat, you would want the protein rich foods to take up about 1/3 of your plate. These foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, tofu, dairy products and eggs. The rest of your plate should be divided between servings of carbohydrate rich foods including vegetables such as found in a green salad, peas, green beans, etc, whole grains such as brown rice, couscous, whole grain roll, and fruit such as fresh strawberries, melon, apples, etc. Many of vegetables and whole grain foods deliver protein as well as carbohydrates. Additional fat may be needed to balance the diet so use of salad dressing with healthy oils, vegetable oil used to saut the meat and vegetables and inclusion of nutrient-packed nuts such as walnuts, almonds and peanuts into your meal plan will result in a balanced diet.

It is hard to dictate how many portions of each food you should eat because it depends on your body size, your activity level and whether your goal is maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight. If you are an average size woman than eating one serving/portion of protein at each meal along with 1 or more servings of fruits and vegetables in addition to a serving of whole grain should be adequate for weight maintenance. If you are a 6'2" male than two portions might be needed for weight maintenance. A first goal would be to eat enough to maintain your weight. Then you can adjust serving sizes for weight loss if you desire.

NOTE: As defined by the Average Dietary Reference Intake. an average woman is defined as 64 inches tall and weighting 133 lbs and between 19-30 years old.

Source: National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine, reference heights and weights for children and adults in the US.