Everywhere you turn at this time of year people are talking about cutting back. Cutting back on spending, on eating out and cutting back on eating in general. Usually these thoughts are prompted by an overindulged holiday season and the need to answer that dreaded question, “So what’s your new year’s resolution?” Normally I don’t make resolutions because I find that if you haven’t got the will power to change something during the other 11 months of the year then chances are that in the depressing month of January, drastically changing something is not a positive experience!

This year however, after eating enough cheese through the holidays to make Wisconsin the richest state in the US, I turned to my husband on New Year’s day and proclaimed (as only a wife can)… “we’re cutting back on our eating.” Not a diet mind you but a change in portion size. I’m an advocate for eating what you want as long as it is in moderation. A nibble of dark chocolate late at night or a comforting meal of mac and cheese every once in a while is not going to kill you. It’s when the bowl is the size of the kitchen sink that the problems start. It seems like these days portion sizes have spun out of control and our ability to recognize a healthy size portion has been altered. Even our dinner plates have become larger to accommodate this upsize mentality.

There is a great article on http://www.epicurious.com/ about essential tools for portion control. I wasn’t so interested in the actual tools but more about getting a visual about what is considered a healthy portion size to help remind me how to keep our servings down to a healthy size.

So cheese, bread and pasta will still have a loving spot in my diet routine but now when I dish out our portions I will be thinking “hmm..is this the size of my computer mouse or a stack of cards?” View the slideshow and you’ll see what I mean.

Whether you have chosen to make a food resolution or not, give a thought to your dinner plate tonight and measure up a few household items to see how your portions “stack up”.

Happy New Year!