In this era of excess, where bigger is better and XL is the norm, our idea of appropriate portion sizes is significantly skewed. Heaping scoops of pasta, large slabs of meat and $5 foot-long sandwiches are no longer splurges, but every-day meals.

Portion sizes have a lot to do with weight management, said Justine Karduck, registered dietician and health educator at McKinley. Since many students don’t have as much time to exercise, controlling portions can help balance out caloric intake and expenditure, she said.

In University Housing dining halls, the serving spoons correspond to proper portion sizes, Karduck said. What often happens, however, is that students take several servings. For example, instead of sticking to one ladle of salad dressing, which is two tablespoons, students will use three or four, Karduck said.

Matthew Dierker, freshman in Engineering, said he is usually really hungry by the time dinner comes around, so he’ll serve himself two or three scoops. To combat this issue, Karduck recommends having several healthy snacks throughout the day. By eating every three to four hours, students can keep hunger at bay, she said.

Cate Landry, sophomore in AHS, said she lives in a sorority house and since she knows servings aren’t always the right size, she always tries to leave something on the plate. Karduck recommends a similar method for controlling portions at restaurants — eating about half of what you’re served and taking the rest home.

Karduck also recommends a simple trick to help monitor portions: visualization. By comparing your portions to these common household objects, she said, you can bring your portion judgment back from super-sized to normal.

h2. Other items

*Fish:* 3 oz = checkbook

*Raw vegetables:* 1 cup = baseball

*Peanut Butter or Hummus:* 2 tbsp. = golfball

*Milk or yogurt:* 1 cup = baseball

*Cheese:* 1.5 ounces = 3 stacked dice

*Oil or butter:* 1 tbsp. = poker chip

_Source: Justine Karduck, Registered Dietician and Health Educator at McKinley_