Do you know what a serving size looks like? Sure, they mention it on the bag of pistachios or gummi bears, but do you ever actually see what that serving size looks like, like in REAL LIFE? (Hint: a serving size of shelled pistachios is not the whole 24 oz bag. Sigh.)

Every once in a while I’ll actually do a measurement- a quarter cup of nuts, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, a teaspoon of oil. And then I think of how often I have more than that serving size. It is so easy to do. It’s also encouraging, on the other hand, to measure a serving size of fruit or vegetables, and see how much bang for your buck you can actually get!

The American Heart Association has a great little chart that explains the size of fruits and vegetables. A medium-sized fruit, such as an apple the size of your fist, constitutes one fruit. Calories vary for fruits and vegetables, but a medium-sized apple has about 95 calories. This is about the same as one tablespoon of peanut butter.

You don’t need me to tell you which one of these is more filling! This is not to say that we shouldn’t be eating peanut butter. I love peanut butter! I can’t imagine life without it. It’s part of my favorite easy lunch- peanut butter on little cracker toasts.

But what is important is to look at that label. Learn to look at labels when you shop if you don’t already. See what a serving size is, guesstimate what you think that looks like, and then take some time to measure it and see what that actually looks like. Maybe you’re already doing a good job of estimating your serving, maybe not. But knowing what one even looks like is where we can all start.

I’d love to hear from you! Do you ever look at your nutrition labels? Are you good at estimating a serving size?