Help with pasta serving sizes

LBeet

Hey guys! Right now I'm measuring my food with measuring cups even though I know that's not accurate. I'm going to buy a food scale asap but I'm moving across the country via plane in a few weeks so it would make more sense to buy it when I get there because I need to pack light. I have a big bag of no name rotini (the kind made with durum wheat semolina) that I want to eat but I'm terrified of underestimating the portion size if I use measuring cups. The serving size is 1 1/5 cups (85g). Could someone weigh 85g of rotini and tell me approximately how much that looks like? Or should I just measure 1 cup and assume that's about 85g? Sorry this question is so weirdly specific.

Does anyone have any tips about which foods are the worst culprits for underestimating? I know peanut butter is bad but what else? What's the biggest discrepancy you've seen between measuring cups and the scale?

Thanks!

bpetrosky

Not sure what you can do without the scale, but since this is a temporary situation just use the measuring cups. Rotini is a shaped pasta, so it varies a lot between manufacturers, so a photo might not get you much. Using 1 cup of the pasta, and logging 1 1/5 cups might be good enough for what you need.

Chunky foods are bad for underestimating, cereals, bag vegetables, etc. Sticky foods like peanut butter, honey and the like. Peanut butter is notorious because a tablespoon can vary a lot, and you can get 50-100 cals easily in the difference.

Good luck with your move and once you get there, get a scale and a routine going.

LBeet

Thank you!