serving size calculations and other random stuff

WhyW8

How do I calculate what a serving size is? If something says makes 6 serviings - how do I know if a serving is 1/2 cup, full cup or something else? Must I really sit there and divide it into equal portions to see how many portions it is? I can't eyeball it - thats how I gained the extra weight in the first place and I already feel a little OCD having to measure everything (although this method is totally working for me so I am over the uncomfortableness of bringing measuring cup, measuring spoons and food weighing scale into the kitchen at work! - I just tell em how good I'm doing and they don't say anything after that!) I know for meat I usually do like 3-4 oz, but lets say for instance this soup that I want to make tonight - which says 4-6 servings...now what the hell does that mean? Depends who is eating it? Any ideas on this one? I think for soup (minty pea risotto soup recipe from the Feb/March issue of Working Mother magazine which is funny b/c I don't have kids or want them and the magazine comes addressed to my husband...but I digress) I think for soup it should be prob. 1 cup for a serving? If it helps at all the main liquid is chicken or veg. broth to the equivallent of 6 cups.

My dog was looking at me like I had 3 heads yesterday whilst doing the Level 2 Jillian MIchaels 30 Day Shred - anyone else have pets that watch them work out? He really looked like "girl, you crazy." He was just laying there chillin...I felt like saying "Dog, you lazy!" but then I realized I would be talking to my dog...again.

Does anyone have a tattoo on their foot and one somewhere else? Did the foot one hurt worse b/c its all bones and stuff down there...I'm debating a second tatoo. My first one was on by back the second I turned 18 - now I'm mid-ish-life crisising it with the need for another one at 36!

Thanks!

melsinct

If you have a pot of soup that makes 6 servings, you either have to measure it out, weigh it, or eyeball it. Your choice.

I have a digital scale, so I will weigh the entire pot of soup then divide that by the number of servings. I am just making this up, but for instance if you have a pot of soup that you plop on the scale (accounting for the weight of the pot, of course) and it weighs 128 ounces. Divide 128 ounces by the six servings and you have each serving weighing in at 21.3. I just put my bowl on the scale and ladle soup in until the scale says 21 ounces. After I do that once for a recipe, I will know from then on out what a serving is.

I usually just eyeball it but I have become pretty good at estimating portions due to my love of cooking and the amount of food I have weighed since starting MFP in February.

WhyW8

good idea, thanks! I'm making it tonight so I will try that little trick! appreciate it!

supershiny

I am a huge advocate of the kitchen scale! Weighing food is the only way to accurately measure in my opinion (and Alton Brown's! haha).