20 Foods That Look Shockingly Different When Portion Controlled

Dieters and nutritionists alike love to tout portion control as the key to putting healthy meals in perspective. Keeping a food journal or cataloging your consumption with apps like LoseIt! can make things simple, but there are other ways to make eating right easier on yourself. The first step towards not overeating is to know exactly what your portions should look like. While its easier for things like steak (the palm comparison trick is great), it can be better to see just what perfect 200-calorie portions of food look like side by side – the photos are pretty surprising.

Mixed Nuts

On the road to being fit and healthy, eating mixed nuts is one of the best things you can do for yourself as it is full of good protein and various nutrients. But as you can see they are also very calorie dense, so watch yourself when you munch.

Dried Apricots

Lots of people prefer to eating dried fruit to fresh if for no other reason than far less messy to snack on. One is just as healthy as the other, but with dried fruits, like apricots, there is a lot less volume.

Blueberry Muffin

Muffins are one of the easiest breakfast foods to eat because they require no preparation – just grab and go. But if you’re trying to cut back, be careful – whether homemade or store bought, muffin size and therefore calorie content can vary greatly.

Eggs

If you’re looking for the best and freshest form of protein that will fill you up no matter what time of day, than grab an egg. If you want all of the health benefits, don’t skip the yolk – yes, there’s cholesterol, but unless you eat eggs every day, each day of the year, you’re in no actual danger.

Cheddar Cheese

Cheese is delicious snack, but watch out if you eat it alone – its easy to over consume. If you insist on eating it, try eating it with something else to help fill you up, like apples.

Avocados

There is a reason why people consider the avocado to be a miracle food – its loaded with protein, good fats, and plenty of fiber. As you can see its also the perfect portion for a hearty snack or a mini meal.

Glazed Donut

One of the most important parts of dieting is to not deny yourself of the things you want to eat – doing so makes you more likely to break down and pig out on bad foods. If you grab for glazed donuts though, do yourself a favor and don’t grab more than one.

French Fries

French fries is one of the most addictive junk foods out there, so if you do eat them on a diet you must watch yourself. Just take careful note of this picture and you should be fine.

Splenda

If it isn’t clear by this picture, there is a reason why so many people run in the direction of artificial sweeteners in lieu of real sugar. But just like real sugar, it doesn’t sate hunger well, so there is still the danger of overeating.

Apples

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. But if you want to eat two, then you can do so without any real guilt.

Cheetos

You probably ate a lot of Cheetos when you were a kid, but likely not so much nowadays. But for the kid inside the adult with a waning metabolism, keep on eye out for yourself when you do partake.

Strawberry Yogurt

Yogurt is one of the best snack foods out there because of its protein content and therefore satisfying nature. While buying pre-flavored is easiest, its better for your health if you buy plain and add your own fruit.

M&M’s

Its easy to carried away eating candy as delicious as M&M’s, but you’re in luck. Nowadays, M&M’s are served calories portioned bags for health conscious chocolate addicts.

Balsamic Vinegar

Store bought salad dressing contains so many extra unnecessary ingredients including sugar. Not only does balsamic vinegar taste good, but people who like extra dressing don’t have to afraid of over indulging as much.

Hershey’s Kisses

Eating chocolate is not only good for your physical health but your mental health, its true, but if you’re not eating dark you should keep a lookout. Milk chocolate has more than twice the sugar of dark chocolate, so eat treats like Hershey’s Kisses sparingly.

Celery

Of all the plates on this list, this one has the most amount of actual food on it and rightly so – celery is about 90% water. Some even say it has negative calories because you burn off more calories chewing and digesting a stick of celery than it already has in it.

Bacon

Everyone knows that bacon is a very greasy and fatty food, but that doesn’t mean you have to avoid it entirely – you just have to watch your intake. When making it at home, trying cooking only what you need and saving the rest in a vacuum sealed bag for a later date.

Mini Peppers

Not many people have the constitution to eat a heaping plateful of mini peppers, but you could if you wanted without busting your diet. Just watch out for the potential bad breath.

Peanut Butter

As it is made mostly of the calorie-dense peanut, you could guess that the favorite spread has plenty of its own calories. Like cheddar cheese, it easy to get the most out of it when eaten with a lighter food like celery.

Whole Milk

Yes, skim milk has fewer calories but whole milk has more healthy nutrients. A full glass is a perfect source of dairy if you don’t like eating yogurt or eggs.