Daily Proportions of Food

I must admit that until recently I had a little bit of an idea of what portions I should be eating daily as an adult, but I had no clue as to what that looked like for my child.

With a bit of research, here is what I found:

Fresh Fruits

Not fruit juice or processed (canned) fruit. Real fruit. Processed fruits & juices tend to have a lot of sugar & other unnecessary ingredients added to them. Don’t believe me? Check the labels. I think you’ll be surprised. Just buy normal fresh fruit.

Who	Age	Amount
Children	2-3	1 cup
	4-8	1-1 ½ cups
Girls	9-18	1 ½ cups
Boys	9-13	1 ½ cups
	14-18	2 cups
Women	19-30	2 cups
	31-50+	1 ½ cups
Men	19-51+	2 cups

I make this possible by adding a little fruit with breakfast in the morning (1/4-1/2 cup). Grapes, Banana, Pineapple, etc

I get in the the rest of my needed intake in an afternoon snack. (yes, this means I pack it with me, if I need to leave the house) Fruit digests in around 20 minutes so it won’t affect your dinner appetite if you need to squeeze it in at 5pm and eat dinner at 6:30pm.

For my 2 yr old daughter (Addy), her Lunch is fruit. Sometimes I add some Original Triscuit crackers (they have less then 5 ingredients), Grammy’s Granola, or PB & local honey on whole wheat bread for a bit of filling, but those usually come after she has eaten all the fruit.

A Typical Lunch for Addy (home-made hummus on the side)

I also make fresh fruit smoothies for her lunches and I will make a bit extra for my afternoon snack. I add in Ground Flaxseed, leftover cooked Oatmeal (not instant, quick or steel cut), or PB for a bit of filling. I use Almond or Soy Milk or Organic OJ for the liquid.

Fresh Vegetables

Again, fresh means not processed or canned. The less you cook it, the better. Heat causes food to lose a lot of the nutrients our bodies need. After 3 minutes of cooking, vegetables start to lose nutrients. So add them to dishes last. We have acquired a taste for Cooked vegetables over Raw vegetables and we need to re-aquire a taste for the raw. This only comes by eating them. Give yourself and your family a couple of weeks to gain this new habit of eating them raw.

Who	Age	Amount
Children	2-3	1 cup
	4-8	1 ½ cups
Girls	9-18	1 ½ cups
Boys	9-13	1 ½ cups
	14-18	2 cups
Women	19-30	2 cups
	31-50+	1 ½ cups
Men	19-50+	2 cups

I usually split my vegetables between lunch & dinner. My daughter gets hers in for dinner. If the vegetables aren’t in the main dish already I give her her vegetables first and then she gets the main dish once her veggies are gone. Yes, this means that my daughter, at 2 yrs old, eats fresh salads. No, she doesn’t love them, but then again, neither do I. But they are good for us and I’m the adult, so… we eat them. It did take her about a week to eat it without crying and me and my husband having to constantly putting it back into her mouth. But since then, she eats it without a fuss.:)

I also do not douse my salads with dressings. Dressings tend to have a lot of added sugars and unnecessary preservatives. I make our own Poppyseed Dressing and I buy a Olive Oil Balsamic that has less then 5 ingredients and we add these with self-control. I want my daughter and myself to appreciate and know what food tastes like. Not just dressings.

Whole Grains (WG)

What does “Whole Grain” mean? Check out this post from a fellow healthy blogger who I admire and look to for good healthy choices and substitutes.

Who	Age	Amount
Children	2-3	3 oz
	4-8	5 oz
Girls	9-13	5 oz
	14-18	6 oz
Boys	9-13	6 oz
	14-18	8 oz
Women	19-50	6 oz
	51+	5 oz
Men	19-31	8 oz
	31-50	7 oz
	51+	6 oz

Grain	Type	Counts as 1 oz	Common portions & equivalents
Bagel	WG: Whole Wheat	1 ‘mini’ bagel	I large bagel = 4 oz
Breads	WG: 100% Whole Wheat	1 regular slice	2 regular slices = 2 oz
English Muffin	WG: 100% Whole Wheat	½ muffin	1 muffin = 2 oz
Crackers	WG: 100% Whole Wheat	5 Whole Wheat Crackers
Muffins	WG: Whole Wheat	1 small (2 ½ in. diameter)	1 large (3½” diameter) = 3 oz
Oatmeal	WG	½ cup cooked 1/3 cup regular, dry
Pancakes	WG: Whole Wheat, buckwheat	1 pancake (4 ½” diameter)	3 pancakes (4½” diameter) = 3 oz
		2 small pancakes (3″ diameter)
Popcorn	WG	3 cups popped	1 mini microwave bag or 100-calorie bag, popped = 2 oz
Breakfast Cereal	WG: toasted oat, whole wheat flakes	1 cup flakes or rounds
Rice	WG: brown, wild	½ cup cooked 1 oz dry	1 cup cooked = 2 oz
Pasta	WG: Whole Wheat	½ cooked	1 cup cooked = 2 oz
Tortillas	WG: Whole wheat, Whole Grain, Corn	1 small WG tortilla (6″ diameter)	1 large tortilla (12″ diameter) = 4oz
		1 corn tortilla (6″ diameter)

Protein

Who	Age	Amount
Children	2-3	2 oz
	4-8	4 oz
Girls	9-18	5 oz
Boys	9-13	5 oz
	14-18	6 ½ oz
Women	19-30	5 ½ oz
	31-50+	5 oz
Men	19-30	6 ½ oz
	31-50	6 oz
	51+	5 ½ oz

Type	Counts as 1 oz	Common proportions & equivelants
Meats	1 oz cooked lean beef, pork or ham	1 small steak (eye of round, filet) = 3 1/2 – 4 oz
		1 small lean hamburger = 2-3 oz
Poultry	1 oz cooked chicken or turkey without skin	1 small chicken breast half = 3 oz
	1 sandwich slice of turkey
Seafood	1 oz cooked fish or shell fish	1 can of tuna drained =3-4 oz
		1 salmon steak = 4-6 oz
		1 small trout = 3 oz
Eggs	1 Egg	3 egg whites = 2 oz
		3 egg yokes = 1 oz
Raw Nuts & Seeds	½ oz of nuts: 12 almonds, 24 pistachios, 7 walnut halves	1 oz of nuts or seeds = 2 oz
	½ oz of seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, squash seeds
	1 tbsp of peanut or almond butter
Beans & Peas	¼ cup of cooked beans: black, kidney, pinto, or white
	¼ cup of cooked peas: chickpeas, cowpeas, lentils, or split peas
	¼ cup of tofu
	¼ cup roasted soybeans
	1 falafel patty (4 oz)
	2 tbsp hummus

After about a week or two of actual measuring it out (when needed), I am hoping to have a better idea of what these proportions look like in my different sized bowls and plates. I think I will be printing out each family member’s needed proportions and posting it on my fridge as a reminder.

Also, check out these very cool Kids Plates & Bowls here to help teach your kids visually.

May our bodies thank us with energy, health, and happiness as we give it what it needs to THRIVE!