arrrgh!! Cereal serving sizes

kathleennf

OK so I notice on the box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares (great cereal BTW - and pretty good protein content for cereal) that it supposedly contains 8 servings. I was already logging 1.25 servings (1.25 cups) based on the amount in the bowl. So today I finished the box and looked back on MFP to see how many times I had eaten it. 4. Yes 4 - I checked again.

So I thought NO WAY - I'm not eating 2 cups!! So I got out the measuring cup and measured the bowl. 1.5 cups is almost to the rim- and the amount I usually eat is pretty close to 1.25. HOW ANNOYING!!! So I changed my logged breakfasts for this week to 2 cups - assuming that the number of grams must be accurate. But PLEASE!

And don't tell me to get a food scale. I'm mathematical and neurotic enough as it is!!

Just beware...

Moonbyebye

Ha, I was just about to suggest a food scale but then saw what you said. Not sure what else to tell you!

irrelevant, but that dog in your picture is precious.

kathleennf

Ha ha thanks!! She's a sweetheart. A rescue from a farm. She's a lot bigger now! Barely tipped the scale when I got her!

JediMaster_intraining

I remember finally measuring my cereal servings and realizing how much I was eating before! At first I was like "this sucks. I'll never get full" but you get used to it!


that cereal sounds really good! :flowerforyou:

surfrgrl1

I have to get out the measuring cups every now and again to make sure my eyes aren't fooling me. I can do really well with tablespoons, teaspoons, but when it comes to a cup, I have to be reminded. Cereal is one of the hardest, I just know that when I measure out that 3/4 cup into my bowl, it looks damn small!!!

sc1572

Yea some cereals I don't think fill completely! I use a measuring cup and ALWAYS run out!

midonhau

I bought a big bag of Cheetos this week and on the bag it said: serving size - 13 pieces and servings per container - 4. By my math that should be 52 pieces in all. When I counted the bag there were actually 43 pieces in there.

kathleennf

I bought a big bag of Cheetos this week and on the bag it said: serving size - 13 pieces and servings per container - 4. By my math that should be 52 pieces in all. When I counted the bag there were actually 43 pieces in there.

Unbelievable!! Well I have counted chips before (seriously) and not really had that problem- though usually I use single serving or 2 serving bags to keep myself from "having" to eat them before they get stale haha.

The other thing I KNOW I have to be really careful with is salad dressing. Cereal's not so bad- but if I am off by 50% on salad dressing it's a killer!

NorthRiver

Hm, I noticed before that the suggested serving sizes on the labels - when you actually measure them out and stick to them - are ridiculously small. But now they don't even fill the boxes up with as much as they claim??

Either way, I made my peace with the fact hat I need two servings in the morning to get full... except for oatmeal. There I'm actually okay with half a cup (dry). Probably cause I add fruit AND nuts

dippystick

I never measured my cereal. Going to have to do it now.

Think I might just get me some really cheap zip lock baggies. When I bring home a new box of cereal I'll just measure out a serving and bag it up.

Think I'll do this with my snacks too. Then all I have to do is grab a bag and I'm good to go. As it's dry, I'll just save the baggies for the next new box. I figure that's what the convience is about when you buy the single serving sizes. I'll just save some money and make up my own single serving sizes.

SDkitty

Suggested serving sizes always crack me up...it blows my mind that there are people out there that don't pay attention to the nutrition labels!

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22177/93710-nutrition-label-lies-loopholes-serving

mpmama2re

Yea some cereals I don't think fill completely! I use a measuring cup and ALWAYS run out!

I don't think using a measuring cup for cereal is very accurate. usually the measuring cups are for liquids. but I have a food scale and one serving (on average) for cereal is 1/3-1/4 of a regular size bowl. like a PP said, you do get used to the smaller amounts (eventually )

Newf77

I never measured my cereal. Going to have to do it now.

Think I might just get me some really cheap zip lock baggies. When I bring home a new box of cereal I'll just measure out a serving and bag it up.

Think I'll do this with my snacks too. Then all I have to do is grab a bag and I'm good to go. As it's dry, I'll just save the baggies for the next new box. I figure that's what the convience is about when you buy the single serving sizes. I'll just save some money and make up my own single serving sizes.

I added up what I was spending on single servings vs bulk and found it was less expensive to buy bulk, measure it out {yes I come out uneven alot} and use plastic containers. This way I have the proper amount of cerel in a bowl and ready, grab and go. I even have marked a line so I can measure the milk added.
When I first was doing this I looked at the amount and said wow I was eatting a lot of cerel then said wow that is not enough. Finally settled in on usually it is enough, when not I will have a yogurt or piece of fruit.

tmarie2715

Hm, I noticed before that the suggested serving sizes on the labels - when you actually measure them out and stick to them - are ridiculously small. But now they don't even fill the boxes up with as much as they claim??

Either way, I made my peace with the fact hat I need two servings in the morning to get full... except for oatmeal. There I'm actually okay with half a cup (dry). Probably cause I add fruit AND nuts

Exactly this. Cereal is terrible-- generally little nutritional value (I do like the Quaker cereal the OP mentions, and there are some great ones like Kashi Go Lean), tons of sugar, teeny baby-sized servings. Does anyone out there actually eat only 1/2 a cup? Add milk to it and you're probably over 300 calories and hungry before 10 AM.

vaughny

i thought measuring cups are for dry foods and something like the glass pyrex measuring cups were for liquid

traceywaugh

just measure out what you eat work out cals for it and carry on. you wil find away that works for you x

wiffe

I measure out my cereal on my scale then found a bowl taht made it LOOK like I was getting a full bowl. Tricked my mind and it worked. NOw I dont have to measure.

poisongirl6485

Yea some cereals I don't think fill completely! I use a measuring cup and ALWAYS run out!

I don't think using a measuring cup for cereal is very accurate. usually the measuring cups are for liquids. but I have a food scale and one serving (on average) for cereal is 1/3-1/4 of a regular size bowl. like a PP said, you do get used to the smaller amounts (eventually )

Not exactly. The measuring CUPS (like the ones that come in sets of 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, etc) are for solids. The measuring cups that are like the little pitchers like glass etc are for liquids.

havalinaaa

If you really don't want to weigh your food, you can portion it out to the # of portions per box in ziplock bags and keep those in the cereal box.

**edit**

Once you use a bag you can keep it to use for the next box of cereal since all it held was dry cereal. I do this with snack type things, chips and pretzels mostly. Most things are portioned/packaged by weight, not volume, so measuring by volume will never be truly accurate.

tschmelzer

Check to see if the serving size is one cup or 3/4 of a cup. That might be the only thing messing you up

kyylieeeeee

Breakfast cereals are probably my favorite processed foods that exist. And for years I had cereal every day for breakfast, because I loved it and it was quick. I always used measuring cups and would do about 1.5 servings (ususally 1-2 cups, depending on the cereal)...

and then I bought a food scale and realized I had been estimating my cereal intake so so so incorrectly. I was actually eating almost double or triple the servings I thought I was. Since buying the food scale, cereal is the only food weight that's been wildly off from what I thought it was prior to my scale. I cut cereal out of my diet almost completely, mostly because I totally grossed myself out by realizing how much I'd been unintentionally over-estimating for years. And since I stopped eating it for breakfast this summer (now I eat protein shakes or an omelette), I broke the 1-year plateau I was in and have finally lost about 7 pounds.

So my advice about cereal? The exact opposite of what you want to hear: buy a food scale :] But everyone else's non-scale advice is good...if you know the box has 8 servings, divide it into 8 servings in baggies-- that'll make your measurements handy and correct.