Food Pyramid

To find out what you should be eating each day, go to www.mypyramid.gov
You type in your age, sex and activity level and will get a personalized food pyramid - this is a great tool.

Don't forget your serving sizes. Here are some tips:

Grains:
a serving of bread should be the size of cassette tape (that's an audio tape, not a video tape!)
a serving of pasta, rice, or potato is the size of 1/2 a baseball - if you've eaten a wide-open handful size of pasta, then that is 2 portions
a serving of corn flakes is the size of your fist

Dairy and Cheese:
a serving of cheese is 1 1/2 ounces or 4 dice stacked on top of each other -- hah!
a serving of ice cream is 1/2 a baseball
a serving of fat is 1 tsp or = to 1 dice

Veggies and Fruit:
1 cup of lettuce = a serving, again this is the size of a baseball
1 baked potato should be the size of your fist
1 fruit the size of a baseball
a portion of dried fruit is 1/4 cup of the size of a large egg

Meat and Alternatives:
3 ounces of meat, fish or poultry is a serving, this should be equal to the size of a deck of cards
Peanut Butter; you get 2 Tbsp for a serving and that is the size of a ping pong ball

Junk:
a serving of butter, magarine or other spreads is the size of a dice!
a serving of oil or mayo is the size of a ping pong ball
Nuts; what fits inside your hand when it is slightly rounded. Take caution though, my friend who is a dietician told me that they use nuts for patients with anorexia or other conditions where they are under weight. She says nuts will put the weight on them faster than anything else and you don't even have to eat very many.