Portion Control Question

alyjb1121

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!

Four_Leaf_Clover

I would log what you ate - so yes 1.5 oz.

alyjb1121

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You guys are awesome! Thanks!

raggiemom

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

I 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

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

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

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

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.