If you’re concerned about maintaining or losing weight, one of the most important skills you can develop is portion control. It’s not always easy. Consider this:

• A serving of French fries is approximately 10 pieces, while the smallest order of fast food fries is often four times that amount.

• A serving of beef should be 2 to 3 ounces, but steak houses often serve 8 or more ounces of beef plus chicken or shrimp.

• Supermarket bakery bins are often filled with jumbo bagels that are far larger than a regular 3-inch diameter bagel.

• A small frozen food chicken pot pie has 510 calories and 9 grams of saturated fat, except that’s for just half the pie.

• A local college cafeteria sells a wrapped muffin. The nutritional information looks good except the single muffin counts as 2.5 servings.

• HMF doctors agree that serving size is one of the most perplexing components of weight loss and nutrition.

"Downsizing to a healthy portion can really help your weight loss program," says Lorraine Gray, R.D., HMF’s dietitian . For instance, three ounces of meat is approximately the same size as a deck of cards. One ounce of cheese is the size of four dice. A cup of pasta is about the same size as a tennis ball.