Portion Control Question

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alyjb1121
alyjb1121 Posts: 186 Member
in Food and Nutrition
A lot of my weight dropped is contributed to being serving size aware and using MFP to accurately track my portions. So I have a question:

If I take a 3oz container and fill it with cereal to crunch up for the top of my yogurt, and after I crunch it up and put it back in the conatiner [to store until I am ready to mix it at work to eat] but it only says it is 1.5 oz instead of three, do I log the serving size as 1.5 oz or 3 oz?

I know it seems like a silly question but inquiring minds must be educated to understand what they are doing and why! Thanks in advance for input!

Replies

  • Four_Leaf_Clover
    Four_Leaf_Clover Posts: 332 Member
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    I would log what you ate - so yes 1.5 oz.
  • alyjb1121
    alyjb1121 Posts: 186 Member
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    Is this where a food scale and measuring weight would be more beneficial than measuring in liquid type metrics such as ounces and cups? I may now consider a scale if so, It seems tricky that by altering the shape of the food, my serving size is altered and I may be underestimating/overestimating at times.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    1st: Are you sure the cereal you put into the "3 oz container" actually weighs 3 ounces?

    2nd: Yes - food scale is definitely the way to go.
  • alyjb1121
    alyjb1121 Posts: 186 Member
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    I didn't weight it. It's a liquid measurement.

    So, in detail, I used the tupperware container (which has a line that marks the 3 oz measurement) to measure the amount of cereal I was going to use. then I put it in the cruncher tool that I use. And put it back in the container. Since it went from funny shaped and not filling all the air of the container at 3oz to small crumbs and filling air space it came to 1.5 oz. In short, I thought 1.5 would be correct but needed reassurance.

    Also, It didn't hit me the benefit of a food scale on this topic til after I wrote it and received a reply!
    Thanks so much!
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    Yep, if you measure solid food in measuring cups or spoons, you're not nearly as accurate as you could be. Cups/spoons are intended for liquids only, as any baker will confirm.

    Food scale! Food scale! Food scale!
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    Yep, if you measure solid food in measuring cups or spoons, you're not nearly as accurate as you could be. Cups/spoons are intended for liquids only, as any baker will confirm.

    Food scale! Food scale! Food scale!

    +1

    :flowerforyou:
  • bethanytapp
    bethanytapp Posts: 79 Member
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    a 3 oz container hold 3 oz of liquid. Ounces are a weight measurement, so 3 oz of cooked rice will take up more space than 3 ounces of uncooked rice. You need to either weigh the cereal, or see if there is a cup measurement for serving size. if it says 1/2 cup is a serving for a certain # of calories then you'll get a closer total
  • butlersoft
    butlersoft Posts: 219 Member
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    yep ...... by volume is not the same as by weight.

    Your first filling - even if it fills a 3oz container is likely less when you take into account the air space between the pieces.

    Weigh solids on a scale
    Liquids in a container / jug
  • alyjb1121
    alyjb1121 Posts: 186 Member
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    You guys are awesome! Thanks!
  • raggiemom
    raggiemom Posts: 139 Member
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    I usually use a food scale for weighing solids. However, at times, I will use a measuring cup if the serving size of something is measured that way on the packaging. Cereal is usually measured by the cup.
  • scraver2003
    scraver2003 Posts: 528 Member
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    I <3 my food scale. I think it was like $12 on Amazon. Or maybe a bit more, I can't remember. It's a digital one that goes up to 11 lbs or so and I can switch between oz, grams, and lbs. It makes this SOOOO much more accurate. I weighed my butter for my popcorn the other day and found I was actually using LESS than I thought I was. Now, I like to go around weighing things. I weighed meat one day to see if the package was accurate (it was!)
  • alyjb1121
    alyjb1121 Posts: 186 Member
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    Cereal is measured by the cup but since I am using it as a topping, I never use that. So i usually measure in tablespoons and then use that as a portion of the cup suggested serving. ....i.e. 2 tablespoons=0.125 servings when the serving is a cup. Today I couldn't find my tablespoon so I used the measurement on the container instead, and I guess that's what threw me off and made me wonder about all of this!

    I am definitely going to get a food scale, and thank you for the amazon comment as I was about to buy the $40 one I saw at a pampered chef party tuesday, whew!
  • cpcoursec
    cpcoursec Posts: 82 Member
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    I just bought one for 10.00 on Amazon and have been using it for two days now. My mind has been blown...I can't even explain how different food looks between "eye balling" and actual weighing.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,988 Member
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    I think you're confusing fluid ounces (a measure of volume) and ounces (1/16 of a pound, a measure of weight). Weight doesn't change when you crunch food. If the nutrition information for the cereal is in fluid ounces, you should use the pre-crunched volume.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,988 Member
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    Sorry - it looks like this may have already been answered -- when I load this page, all I see is one reply, but then when I responded, some later replies showed up briefly before disappearing -- I guess the site is having some issues again.

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