• Three ounces of cooked meat, poultry or fish, the recommended amount at a meal, is about the size of a deck of cards or the palm of a small woman's hand.
• One cup of cooked rice, pasta or vegetables is about the size of a small fist; a large fist can be as much as two cups. Measure a cup of cooked rice at home, then compare it with your fist -- a "handy" reference.
• One ounce of cheese is about the size of four stacked dice.
• One teaspoon of mayonnaise, peanut butter or salad dressing is about the size of the tip of your thumb, from the end of the thumbnail to the first joint. Guidelines suggest limiting added fats such as margarine or mayonnaise to one teaspoon per meal (each teaspoon contains approximately 30 calories).
• One ounce of nuts or raisins is the amount you can hold in your cupped hand, if you have a small hand.

All of those extra servings can really add up. One extra bite here, a large soft drink there, an entire bag of microwave popcorn at night (most bags of microwave popcorn contain three servings), and we've eaten 200 or more extra calories we didn't realize were there.

It may seem like small potatoes at the time, but 250 extra calories per day adds up to two additional pounds each month -- 24 pounds in a year.

What to do about managing serving sizes? Start by reading labels on the food you eat. Try limiting yourself to the serving size listed and measure it out. You may find you can eat less and still feel satisfied. Get in the habit of using the visual reminders for more exact measurements of foods without labels.