Serving size for food

megustaleer

I think the biggest challenge for me is knowing the proper serving size for food. For example, I thought the proper serving size for fruit is one cup for fresh fruit. Today, I ate 1 cup of grapes, but when I entered the amount in MFP I got a warning that it was high in sugar. I decided to check on the internet the proper serving size. I found conflicting information. Some sites said 1 cup and some sites said 1/2 cup. This is quite a difference. So how do I learn proper serving sizes when information available is conflicting? Also I travel a lot and eat a lot of ethnic foods. How can I find out the proper serving size/calories for these dishes? Thanks for any help!

Lietchi

Sugar in fruit is nothing to worry about, unless you have medical reasons to worry about sugar.

Honestly, I don't believe there are 'proper' serving sizes. It all depends on what your calorie goal is and on your specific macro goals, if you have any.
For me, it's mainly about the amount of calories. If I have 150 calories left at the end of the day for a snack, I could choose a huge portion of fruit or a small portion of potato chips. But if I have 500 calories left over, I might have lots of fruit with a side of ice-cream, or a big portion of potato chips. I just try to keep things balanced and varied overall.

glassyo

If you need a definition of a proper serving size, I would say it's the size you serve yourself, weigh, log, and that satisfies the reason you're eating or drinking it.

For instance, a proper serving size of ice cream for me would be a pint of ben & jerry's So I don't buy it but aaaaanyway....

amusedmonkey

It's easier to manage your weight if you don't sweat the small stuff. Do you have diabetes? If you do, the recommended amount of carbs for a snack is about 15-20 grams give or take depending on your particular condition (about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup in case of grapes). If you're worried about sugar for dieting purposes, don't worry. The only way sugar can hinder weight loss is if you overeat it (calorie-wise) or if it encourages you to oveat (go over your calories). Portions are not rigid rules, they're recommendations. What constitutes as a good portion for you depends on how much feels mentally/physically satisfying and how it fits into your calorie budget, you can find that balance through trial and error.

yirara

The proper serving size for weight loss is the one that fits into your calorie allowance. Really. if you have a medical condition and should reduce sugar then that's a different story. But overall, a serving size is not really something that exists outside the US. Generally, calories are given per 100gr, and you eat as much as you want or think you should eat. I find 'serving size' completely confusing tbh. It means nothing.

penguinmama87

megustaleer wrote: »

I think the biggest challenge for me is knowing the proper serving size for food. For example, I thought the proper serving size for fruit is one cup for fresh fruit. Today, I ate 1 cup of grapes, but when I entered the amount in MFP I got a warning that it was high in sugar. I decided to check on the internet the proper serving size. I found conflicting information. Some sites said 1 cup and some sites said 1/2 cup. This is quite a difference. So how do I learn proper serving sizes when information available is conflicting? Also I travel a lot and eat a lot of ethnic foods. How can I find out the proper serving size/calories for these dishes? Thanks for any help!

If you are tracking certain nutrients closely, you can heed these warnings, but for weight loss purposes you can disregard. I mostly find them mildly irritating whenever they pop up. Serving sizes are recommendations to help you get good nutrition; you don't have to use them as a tool if you don't want to.

megustaleer

Here's the thing, I do want to use the serving sizes as a guide. It has helped me in the past when I realized that I can only eat a couple servings of carbs a day. That helped me lose 50 pounds. I just went to the dr and I'm healthy, but I need to lose another 10 pounds. Diabetes runs on both sides of my family so I am careful about sugar. Does no one have a reliable site that they use for serving sizes?

cmriverside

megustaleer wrote: »

Here's the thing, I do want to use the serving sizes as a guide. It has helped me in the past when I realized that I can only eat a couple servings of carbs a day. That helped me lose 50 pounds. I just went to the dr and I'm healthy, but I need to lose another 10 pounds. Diabetes runs on both sides of my family so I am careful about sugar. Does no one have a reliable site that they use for serving sizes?

No, because we are eating the foods we like in the portions that fit into our daily calories.


Here's what I did: I logged food. Then I studied my FOOD diary. I learned where I was eating too many calories, and where I needed to cut back or increase on Fats, Carbs, Protein. The FOOD diary has those things broken into percentages of 50%C, 30%F, and 20%P.

I mean, labels often have recommended serving sizes and for fruit and vegetables I would start with approximating one cup...but I use a digital food scale, so I don't use cups.

You'll have to figure out your own portioning based on experience.

amusedmonkey

Well, if having rigid portions make things easier for you, you could use DASH diet as a reference (or pick any other source and use it consistently). I do recommend you customize your portions to your own needs. Flexibility will aid a lot in maintenance when you encounter new situations. Here is how DASH diet defines portions:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/dash-eating-plan

A side note: sugar does not cause diabetes nor do carbs. Being overweight is the main cause, especially if paired with genetic disposition.

cwolfman13

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/add-color/fruits-and-vegetables-serving-sizes

Keep in mind that this is simply for measuring purposes...one's actual "proper" serving size is going to be very individual as per their own calorie requirements and nutritional needs as well as any dietary restrictions, etc. Fruit has sugar...it is primarily sugar...so yeah, you're going to get a "warning" that it's high in sugar...because fruit is high in sugar. Some are higher than others...things like grapes, bananas, etc are going to be higher in sugar than berries for example. I personally don't worry about sugar in fruits and vegetables. Generally, recommendations for sugar limits are for added sugars.

TwistedSassette

In terms of the generic "2 & 5" serves, I can tell you the Australian government recognises a serve of fruit as 150g (which is roughly equivalent to 1 medium piece of fruit, or 2 small pieces of fruit, or a cup of chopped/canned fruit), and a serve of vegetables as 75g (which is roughly equivalent to 1/2 cup cooked vegetables/legumes, 1 medium potato, or 1 cup of salad). I assume other government guidelines would be somewhere in this ballpark.

However, as others have mentioned, this might not fit with your specific dietary needs. These guidelines can help you ensure you're getting a good variety of fruit & veg in your diet, but you should look at that in the context of the rest of your diet.

corinasue1143

Diabetes 2 runs in my family, too. I was told about 1/2 cup or the equivalent or 1/2 banana. Don’t know if that’s technically correct, but it’s what I go by to try to avoid diabetes. So far it’s working. 🤞 (or at least something is).

amusedmonkey

corinasue1143 wrote: »

Diabetes 2 runs in my family, too. I was told about 1/2 cup or the equivalent or 1/2 banana. Don’t know if that’s technically correct, but it’s what I go by to try to avoid diabetes. So far it’s working. 🤞 (or at least something is).

Again: fruits, sugar, and carbs don't directly cause diabetes. Avoiding them to avoid diabetes is like trying to avoid an ankle sprain by applying cold packs to your ankle every day. Controlling them helps your symptoms when you are already diabetic or pre-diabetic, but reducing them when you're not doesn't do much other than add unnecessary rules to your diet. If you want to avoid/delay diabetes, control your weight, stay active, and go for routine checks to catch it early if you do get it. That's all you can do.

Now, if controlling your portions of fruits helps you adhere to your diet, that's a different story. I always have to keep them in check because I'll consume half of my daily calorie allowance in fruits if I don't, so I try to keep them under 300 calories a day.

goal06082021

Just chiming in to +1 the following:

* There is no universal, Platonic-ideal "Serving Size" for any particular food
* Weigh your food and log your portions by weight
* You don't have to worry about micronutrients/sugar content if your goal is weight loss unless you already have a medical diagnosis from your actual personal doctor that requires you to worry about micronutrients or sugar

Also, you can turn off the little messages like "this is high in sugar" or whatever, it's in the settings. On the Android app, tap the hamburger menu on the home screen, go to Settings > Diary Settings > uncheck "Show Diary Food Insights."

penguinmama87

goal06082021 wrote: »

Also, you can turn off the little messages like "this is high in sugar" or whatever, it's in the settings. On the Android app, tap the hamburger menu on the home screen, go to Settings > Diary Settings > uncheck "Show Diary Food Insights."

Ah, this is so helpful! Thanks for sharing! 😄

scarlett_k

In the UK the official public health advice is that 1 serving of fruit or vegetables is about 80g which is what I use as my own yardstick when trying to cram as many servings in in a day as I can.

Beverly2Hansen

MFP salt and sugar info is WAY off on most items I double check with labels and find more wrong on nutrition info than right even if the calorie amount is right.

Lietchi

Beverly2Hansen wrote: »

MFP salt and sugar info is WAY off on most items I double check with labels and find more wrong on nutrition info than right even if the calorie amount is right.

In my experience, many confuse salt and sodium values so the numbers are often wrong. Whereas sugar (and fiber) often simply seems to be missing. Check and recheck, so important!