IT CAN be hard to learn if your portions of food are putting you over amounts of things you’re trying to control. It doesn’t help that sizes for everything from bananas to soft drinks have gotten larger in the past 20 years. It’s not enough to eat the right kinds of food to maintain a healthy weight or to lose weight. Eating the right amount of food at each meal is just as important. If you are a healthy eater, it is possible to sabotage your efforts by eating more than the recommended amount of food. A serving is a specific amount of food, and it might be smaller than you realize. Here are some examples:

A SERVING of meat (boneless, cooked weight) is two to three ounces, or roughly the size of the palm of your hand, a deck of cards, or an audiocassette tape.

A serving of chopped vegetables or fruit is 1/2 cup, or approximately half a baseball or a rounded handful.

A serving of fresh fruit is one medium piece, or the size of a baseball.

A serving of cooked pasta, rice, or cereal is 1/2 cup, or half a baseball or a rounded handful.

A serving of cooked beans is 1/2 cup, or half a baseball or a rounded handful.

A serving of nuts is 1/3 cup, or a level handful for an average adult.

A serving of peanut butter is two tablespoons, about the size of a golf ball.

TERMS like these are on many food packages. Here are some definitions based on one serving of a food. If you eat more than one serving, you will go over these levels of calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium.

Calorie-free: fewer than 5 calories

Low calorie: 40 calories or fewer

Reduced calorie: at least 25% fewer calories than the regular food item has

Fat free: less than ½ gram of fat

Low fat: 3 grams of fat or fewer

Reduced fat: at least 25% less fat than the regular food item has

Cholesterol free: fewer than 2 milligrams cholesterol and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat

Low cholesterol: 20 milligrams or fewer cholesterol and 2 grams or less saturated fat

Sodium free: fewer than 5 milligrams sodium

Very low sodium: fewer than 35 milligrams sodium

Low sodium: fewer than 140 milligrams sodium

High fiber: 5 grams or more fiber