WHAT EXACTLY IS A CUP?!

Kayzia_M
Kayzia_M Posts: 97 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I AM GOING CRAZY OVER HERE. started actively logging my food intake and exercising on the 6th of Jan 2014, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what a cup (eg a cup of sliced bananas) is a cup equal to say 1litre on a measuring cup or is it like a rice cooker cup which is about 160-180 ml. is there a standard cup?
please don't tell me to weigh, I have a food scale, but I cant take it to work, so I can only measure my food intake at home, and sort of eye ball it at work. I would like to take my lunch to work but that's not possible this month. so I really need to know what the measurement for a cup is!!please help, I am so frustrated!!

actually my biggest issue is rice, I have lunch at work and its sort of a cafeteria set up. they don't use measuring cups, they have their own little bowls they use for dishing out rice, I try to have only one or two of those, but it bothers me not knowing exactly how much im eating. the fruit don't bother me as much since I weigh them at home before taking it to work.
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Replies

  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    A cup is 250 ml. For solids though I would always weigh as a cup of bananas could depend on how finely you slice the banana and pack it in. There is always multiple entries look for the ones by weight as they will be more accurate.
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    Use a measuring cup. One cup is one cup.
  • queenbea77
    queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
    When I have a banana I just log it as "whole or half".
  • xDinMammax
    xDinMammax Posts: 11
    Use a measuring cup. One cup is one cup.

    Not all of us live in a country where they measure in cups :)
  • april1445
    april1445 Posts: 334
    a measuring cup is 250 ml, or 8 oz. Some things need to be weighed for accuracy.
  • grdnr03
    grdnr03 Posts: 547 Member
    8 oz = a cup of whatever you are measuring, but like some one else said depends on how thin or thick a slice is, some one might take half a banana and put it in a measuring cup and call it "a cup of banana"
  • reddcat
    reddcat Posts: 314 Member
    Not a silly question. Sometimes I wonder myself. I mean, I know a cup is a cup (by US standards), but sometimes I wonder how you judge a cup. For example, 1 cup of broccoli. Do I have to pulverize it to make a cup?? Is this kinda what you mean?
  • GoMizzou99
    GoMizzou99 Posts: 512 Member
    IKR? Use a scale. Weight is more accurate.
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
    To add to your confusion, there are also dry/solid food measuring cups, and also liquid measuring cups.

    Make a fist. That's roughly the size of a cup of food. (Unless you have man hands! :)

    I don't measure my fruit, I just look for "medium apple" or "medium banana" or whatever. People will say I'm not being accurate enough, but it works for me.
  • GoMizzou99
    GoMizzou99 Posts: 512 Member
    Make a fist. That's roughly the size of a cup of food. (Unless you have man hands! :)

    lol
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
    8 oz = a cup of whatever you are measuring, but like some one else said depends on how thin or thick a slice is, some one might take half a banana and put it in a measuring cup and call it "a cup of banana"

    This isn't exactly true--this is the general rule for liquids only. A cup of Rice Krispies does not weigh 8 oz.
  • nicoleisback
    nicoleisback Posts: 184
    I don't measure my fruit, I just look for "medium apple" or "medium banana" or whatever. People will say I'm not being accurate enough, but it works for me.

    I do something similar to this, but I like to overestimate just to be safe. The reason I do this is because a 'large apple' if you are talking about a granny smith is about half the size of a large apple of the 20oz variety. If I think the fruit is small and I cannot weigh it, I record it as a medium, etc
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    Don't know whete OP is from but we don't use cups in the UK. Weighing is always better for solids.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    Just look up medium/large fruit and go from there. Honestly, no reason to be that nit picky about it. Average weight of a medium banana without the peel is around 100 grams give or take.

    Hope that helps.
  • Kayzia_M
    Kayzia_M Posts: 97 Member
    Use a measuring cup. One cup is one cup.

    Not all of us live in a country where they measure in cups :)
    THIS! thank you for saying this, had to bite back a sarcastic response when I saw that reply
  • healthytanya1
    healthytanya1 Posts: 198 Member
    A cup is 8 fluid ounces or 8 fl oz, this is by volume. If you are weighing something that is 8 oz, then its by weight.

    Edit..8 oz of lead will take up less volume (space) than 8 oz of feathers
  • Kayzia_M
    Kayzia_M Posts: 97 Member
    Not a silly question. Sometimes I wonder myself. I mean, I know a cup is a cup (by US standards), but sometimes I wonder how you judge a cup. For example, 1 cup of broccoli. Do I have to pulverize it to make a cup?? Is this kinda what you mean?

    lol! sort of :smile:
  • Kayzia_M
    Kayzia_M Posts: 97 Member
    lol, definitely not man hands, ill try this till I can get a scale for work
  • cgarand
    cgarand Posts: 541 Member


    Make a fist. That's roughly the size of a cup of food. (Unless you have man hands! :)

    ^This. And, maybe you can measure things out at home as you are making your lunch for work too.
  • JuliRamone
    JuliRamone Posts: 365 Member
    Just use a scale and weigh your stuff. There are a lot of entries in the database that are in grams, that's the way I do it :)
  • webbeyes
    webbeyes Posts: 105 Member
    As already noted, it's a measure of volume: 1 Cup = 250ml = 8 fluid ounces = 250cc.

    It is usually best used when measuring liquid (water, juice, milk) or fine-dry ingredients (flour, oats). In a recipe, they often refer to "1 cup of *mashed* bananas", but I would hate to eat a banana that way. You can get away with using a cup to measure peas, finely-chopped carrots or strawberries, etc.

    There are four ways of measuring foods such as bananas and apples if your intent is to eat them "normally".

    First: measure by weight instead of by volume.
    Second: measure by approximate size (i.e. medium apple)
    Third: chop into as fine of pieces as you're willing, put them into a measuring cup, and estimate
    Fourth (and most scientific): by water displacement.

    - take a 1 liter / 4 cup measuring container
    - fill to the 750ml or 3 cup level with clean water
    - gradually add pieces/slices of the food to be eaten until the water level reaches the 1L / 4c level.
    - you have now measured *exactly* one cup of the food.

    Of course, this only works with foods you don't mind getting wet:
    - carrots
    - celery
    - apple slices

    It won't work for foods that absorb water, such as bread and cooked rice.

    In cafeterias, I have actually seen people carry a plastic measuring cup to actually measure their serving of rice, potatoes, etc!
  • BeckyMBisMe
    BeckyMBisMe Posts: 215 Member
    I have found that the weight of a food item is a more accurate method for tracking. A food scale that measures in 1 gram increments is the most accurate.
    If you are baking or preparing your food from "scratch" then you would use a "nesting" cup or spoon set for dry ingredients such as flour, sugar and the like. If you are measuring liquids you need the other kind of measuring cup. Usually clear glass or plastic with increments marked on the sides.
    I wouldn't bother using either of the later for bananas. Unless you're mashing the banana for banana nut bread. Yummy!:tongue:
  • Kayzia_M
    Kayzia_M Posts: 97 Member
    As already noted, it's a measure of volume: 1 Cup = 250ml = 8 fluid ounces = 250cc.

    It is usually best used when measuring liquid (water, juice, milk) or fine-dry ingredients (flour, oats). In a recipe, they often refer to "1 cup of *mashed* bananas", but I would hate to eat a banana that way. You can get away with using a cup to measure peas, finely-chopped carrots or strawberries, etc.

    There are four ways of measuring foods such as bananas and apples if your intent is to eat them "normally".

    First: measure by weight instead of by volume.
    Second: measure by approximate size (i.e. medium apple)
    Third: chop into as fine of pieces as you're willing, put them into a measuring cup, and estimate
    Fourth (and most scientific): by water displacement.

    - take a 1 liter / 4 cup measuring container
    - fill to the 750ml or 3/4 cup level with clean water
    - gradually add pieces/slices of the food to be eaten until the water level reaches the 1L / 4c level.
    - you have now measured *exactly* one cup of the food.

    Of course, this only works with foods you don't mind getting wet:
    - carrots
    - celery
    - apple slices

    It won't work for foods that absorb water, such as bread and cooked rice.

    In cafeterias, I have actually seen people carry a plastic measuring cup to actually measure their serving of rice, potatoes, etc!

    I Think I will do that, carry a rice cooker cup (which is 3/4 of a "standard" cup) it will make things easier till I can start taking packed lunches. thanks
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    In the US...a cup is a standard 8 fluid ounce measuring unit. Everywhere else...about 250 ml.
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
    OP you might find this website helpful: http://www.metric-conversions.org
  • piersonj
    piersonj Posts: 62 Member
    Don't know whete OP is from but we don't use cups in the UK. Weighing is always better for solids.

    Ok, maybe a silly question but if you don't use dry measure cups and spoons how do you measure dry ingredients while following a recipe. My scale would not register the equivalent of a 1/4 teaspoon of anything. How are recipes written?
  • ThriceBlessed
    ThriceBlessed Posts: 499 Member
    A cup is an Imperial measurement. (Non metric). It is equal to 8 fluid ounces, or to put it in metric terms, around 237 mL, or around 0.24 L.

    Be careful though, not to mix up fluid ounces with ounces in weight, they are completely different things... just as different as a gram is from cc.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Use a measuring cup. One cup is one cup.

    outside the USA the cup is not a common unit, so most people don't have standard sized measuring cups. It took me a while to figure this out as well, i.e. what USA recipes were going on about with all these cups... in Britain recipes etc are in grams and/or ounces.

    so for a British person not familiar with the cup as a standarised unit of volume, a recipe or food database entry for "one cup" makes no sense at all, because to most brits a cup is something you drink out of and they come in all different shapes and sizes. a lot of us don't know that USA people have a standard sized "cup" as a unit of volume

    For comparison, brits react the same way to "cups" as Americans tend to with "stones" - as in they're not familiar with it as a unit of weight, only as lumps of rock of various size....
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Don't know whete OP is from but we don't use cups in the UK. Weighing is always better for solids.

    Ok, maybe a silly question but if you don't use dry measure cups and spoons how do you measure dry ingredients while following a recipe. My scale would not register the equivalent of a 1/4 teaspoon of anything. How are recipes written?

    in grams and/or ounces

    for small volumes, teaspoons or tablespoons, but large quantities of dry ingredients are listed in weight measurements, and everyone has a kitchen scale (not always a digital one though)
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
    Don't know whete OP is from but we don't use cups in the UK. Weighing is always better for solids.

    Ok, maybe a silly question but if you don't use dry measure cups and spoons how do you measure dry ingredients while following a recipe. My scale would not register the equivalent of a 1/4 teaspoon of anything. How are recipes written?

    Don't weigh things like spices, salt, baking powder, baking soda, etc. Use measuring spoons.

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