One of the key ways to reaching your health goals is to maintain portion control.  Most of us tend to underestimate portion sizes which then could lead to weight gain.  I recommend when you are at home start looking at nutrition fact labels to identify serving sizes and use your measuring cups, spoons, and scale to help you recognize what you are eating.  For example, filling a measuring cup with the proper sized portion of vegetables, rice, etc. and then emptying it onto a plate will help you learn what these serving sizes look like.  However, the question remains what do you do when you are out to eat or eating in the cafeteria?  The best way to eyeball portion sizes is to use visual images.  Here are a few examples:

• Vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist or a baseball
• Meat, fish or poultry is the size of a deck of cards
• Snacks such as pretzels and chips is about the size of a cupped handful
• Potato is the size of a computer mouse
• Bagel is the size of a hockey puck
• Pancake is the size of a compact disc

Check out http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate to give you more examples of visual images to help with portion control.

You can fit snacks into your personal healthy eating plan without over-spending your day’s calorie budget.  Snacks should contain 100-250 calories, depending how active you are. Make snacks work for you by choosing nutrient rich foods from all your foods groups.  Here are some great nutritious snacks that you can add to your evening:

• Three cups air-popped popcorn sprinkled with three tablespoons grated parmesan cheese 
• One 6-inch flour tortilla with ¼ cup black beans and 2 tablespoons fresh salsa 
• One 4-ounce fat-free, ready-to-eat vanilla pudding with ½ cup fresh fruit and 5 vanilla wafers 
• Banana split: banana sliced length-wise topped with ½ cup frozen yogurt and a tablespoon of chopped nuts
• Whole wheat pita cut into wedges with 2 tablespoons hummus for a dip
• Trail mix: mix 20 almonds, miniature box of raisins or dried cranberries, and ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• Six whole-wheat crackers and one slice low-fat Colby cheese   

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and research shows only about 1/3 of Americans actually eat it.  Fitting breakfast into your day is a great way to add fiber, improve your mood and concentration, jump start your metabolism and help you achieve your weight goals.  A healthy breakfast should contain a combination of nutrient-rich carbohydrates, such as whole grains; fruits and veggies; some lean dairy; and a smidgen of fat. Here are some healthy, on-the-go breakfasts that you can add to your mornings!

• Oatmeal (made with skim milk) topped with with fruit and almonds (try adding a variety of different colors of fruits and berries to ensure that you are getting all different types of vitamins and minerals).
• Whole wheat toast, with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, sliced banana and a cup of skim milk.
• Egg white omelet with reduced fat cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers and onions on a whole wheat sandwich thin.
• 2 whole grain waffles topped with low fat cottage cheese and strawberries.
• Smoothie, prepared using low-fat silken tofu, or low-fat plain yogurt, with some of your favorite berries (make it the night before so it's ready to go when you are!)
• 1 cup high-fiber cereal with diced bananas and skim milk.
• Egg white and turkey sausage breakfast burrito with whole wheat tortilla, topped with fresh salsa and coffee.
• Low fat yogurt parfait, with fruit and granola.