If you’re trying to get healthy, lose weight, or want to maintain your weight, portion sizes are something you’ve definitely considered. But what is a healthy portion size? And how many servings of each food group should I eat per day? The key to eating a healthy diet is eating a variety of foods in the right amounts. Making healthier choices also means eating certain foods more often and in larger quantities than others. This article aims to give you some tips and information to help you choose healthy portion sizes.
Some considerations
While this article provides information on standard serving sizes, we should be aware that as everyone is different, we should expect there to be some individual variation in this. For example, if he is very active, he will need more calories, therefore, his portion sizes may need to be larger or he may need more servings. The same goes the other way around: if you’re really inactive, you may need less. There are many factors that affect this, including your activity levels, your sex at birth, your age, and your metabolic rate. So use this information, but adapt it to work for you.
Serving Sizes
We hope the following is a helpful guide for you.
carbohydrate foods
| Food | Healthy serving size | What this looks like visually |
| Bread | 34-36g | One medium slice, 1 roll |
| Pasta | 75 g raw weight (or 150 g cooked) | 2-3 tablespoons |
| Rice | 50 g raw weight (or 150 g cooked) | 2-3 tablespoons |
| Potatoes (These are counted as carbohydrates, not vegetables) | 120g (boiled with skin)
180g (jacket with fur) |
2-3 egg-sized potatoes
1 medium jacket |
| Cereal | 40g | 3 tablespoons |
Protein foods
| Food | Healthy serving size | What this looks like visually |
| cooked meat (including chicken, turkey, beef, pork and lamb) | 90g | a pack of letters |
| Cooked fish | 140g | the palm of your hand |
| Eggs | 120g | 2 medium eggs |
| Beans and legumes (including baked beans, chickpeas, beans and lentils) | 150g | 4 tablespoons |
| soy and tofu | 100 grams | 4 tablespoons |
| Nuts and seeds | 25-30g | A small handful or 1 tablespoon |
Dairy and alternatives
| Food | Healthy serving size | What this looks like visually |
| Milk (or a calcium-enriched plant-based alternative such as soy, oat, or almond milk) | 200 ml (1/3 pint) | A glass |
| Yoghurt | 125-150g | Standard pot or 3 tablespoons |
| Hard cheese | 30g | A piece the size of a small matchbox. |
Fruits and vegetables
| Food | Healthy serving size | What this looks like visually |
| Apple, pear, orange, banana. | 80g | A medium fruit |
| Smaller fruits, e.g. plums, fresh apricots, satsumas | 80g | two fruits |
| Berries (including grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries) | 80g | A bunch |
| Dry fruits (including raisins, dried apricots, dried mangoes and prunes) | 30g | a tablespoon |
| Vegetables (including sweet corn, carrots, green beans | 80g | 3-4 tablespoons |
| Cherry tomatoes | 80g | 7 cherry tomatoes |
| Salad | 80g | A full cereal bowl |
Fats and oils
Try to limit your use of oils and spreads and measure them, as it is easy to add too much, especially when cooking or drizzling oil on a salad. It is better to use “unsaturated” oils such as olive oil and sunflower oil, rather than others. A serving of oil and spread is about 5g/5ml (equivalent to a teaspoon).
Number of servings each day
Using the portion size information above, this information gives you an estimate of the number of servings from each food group you will need to consume on a typical day to maintain your ideal weight. Remember you can always halve portions to make smaller snacks between meals. This information does not include drinks, oils or spreads, nor “foods high in fat and sugar”, for example crisps, biscuits, chocolate and sausage rolls.
| Food group | Number of servings throughout the day. | Useful notes |
| carbohydrate foods | 3-4 servings | Always try to choose versions of carbohydrates that are whole grains or higher in fiber, for example granary bread, whole grain pasta, basmati or brown rice, potatoes with skin, high fiber grains such as oats, weatabix and grated wheat. |
| Protein foods | 2 -3 servings | Try to eat less red and processed meats (e.g. ham, sausages, hamburgers). Choose lean meat whenever possible (for example, ground beef with a lower percentage of fat). We should try to include more beans and legumes (e.g. lentils, chickpeas, beans) and two servings of sustainably sourced fish each week, one of which is an oily fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, fresh tuna). |
| Dairy and alternatives | 3 servings | Whenever possible, try to choose low-fat and low-sugar versions. Some yogurts, for example, may be high in sugar and you will need to check the labels to compare and ensure you have a healthier variety. |
| Fruits and vegetables | 5 servings – As minimum. Eat more if you can! | Variety is key – trying to include a variety of different colors is a good way to get a variety of different micronutrients. |
