WiseGEEK conducted a very visual and informative study and presented a photo series, which compares what 200 Calories actually look like in different foods. Fun.
Eek, I guess I better lay off the carbs.
Was surprised that it takes so much Coca Cola to equal 200 calories. I would have guessed much less.
Personally, my favorite photo is the hot dog.
Very important disclaimer. The WiseGeek study refers to Calories (capital C) which is different from calories (small c):
1 Calorie = 1 kcal= 1000 calories.
See wikipedia article on Calorie.
An interesting way to compare these. It doesn't necessarily mean that those at the bottom of the list are bad for you. It is all a case of having a balanced diet.
they are ranked by Calorie density: it's another way of measuring the weight associated with a specified amount of a particular food. Often referred to as energy density, the idea behind measuring the calorie density is to determine whether a given food provides a higher amount of vitamins and nutrients while containing fewer calories per ounce or gram.
There was an article recently in (I think) the Guardian that was a great rough guide to portion control.
Uncooked - you should serve enough carbs that you can easily scoop up with one hand (without going in like a mechanical digger, obviously), proteins should be no bigger or thicker than your palm and veg can be a good handful of each.
It was a good general guide for anyone wanting to serve an adequate portion, proportionate to their size.
I'll try to find the article because there was more info behind my summary above.
im struggling to diet
With many people embarking on diets for the New Year, it seems a good idea to remind people of this useful comparison guide.
Good luck with the diet