How do YOU count servings?

FrankWorsley

I've worked hard to increase my daily vegetable consumption. While I'm working to eat even more, I feel I've made good progress. Recently some people who have looked at my diary said I need to eat more servings of vegetables. I'm wondering if it is because of they way they are counting? If I eat a large amount (4 servings) at one sitting and log it all as one entry in my diary, maybe they are counting this as one serving???

Servings is not equal to the number of times a day you eat something, rather it is measured by the volume of the item you eat.

Here is a link that I find helpful...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/portion-control/NU00267

How do YOU count servings?

bhalter

I measure by the volume of what I'm eating.

krissypea79

In my opinion, a serving is a serving, whether you're eating them all at once or over the course of the day...I bet people are just looking at the number of times they see it on your diary! I've never heard anything about it mattering how you space out your nutrition over the day, but I guess it would be interesting to see what others have to say!!

goron59

A "serving" is an alien concept to me.. I just count by weight/volume.

maidentl

I think a lot of people don't realize how small a serving is either. 1/2 c. of most vegetables are a serving, 1 c. of greens. So, I peeked at your diary, when you eat that 2.5 c. of veggies, that's your 5 servings right there, not counting the other veggies and fruits you're getting. So, yeah, I'd assume they're not noting the amount.

truelypinkthing

I regularly have at least 4 veg with my dinner, eg celeriac, cauliflower, broccoli and leeks, and I count them as 4 veg, but obviously log them separately , usually by weight or cup amounts or spoonfuls, depends how they come up on mfp. and I have a basic salad with my lunch, and fruit with my breakfast.

pdworkman

The new USDA "my plate" guidelines say 3 cups vegetables for an adult male. As usual, for leafy greens 2 cups only count as 1. Looking through your diary, I see 3-4 cups of vegetables per day, plus some more from your "other" dishes when tomato sauce or such are included. The other USDA guideline is that half your plate should be vegetables.

So according to those guidelines, you are doing just fine. Some diets or people would suggest that the USDA guidelines are too minimal, and recommend more, but that is totally up to you and depends on your tastes and needs.

Pam

jbootman

when I first began I thought this is an apple, one serving right? wrong, my apples averaged 2 servings by weight,

I got myself a high tech digital scale with a tare function and weigh every bite I eat, every gram,

I am a lifelong volume eater, I did not get this fat knowing limits,

after a year or so weighing everything I can better guess, but I am still rabid about weighing everything,

a little delay on munching is even helping my control development,

I am serious about my food now, this is not playtime

dls06

I've worked hard to increase my daily vegetable consumption. While I'm working to eat even more, I feel I've made good progress. Recently some people who have looked at my diary said I need to eat more servings of vegetables. I'm wondering if it is because of they way they are counting? If I eat a large amount (4 servings) at one sitting and log it all as one entry in my diary, maybe they are counting this as one serving???

Servings is not equal to the number of times a day you eat something, rather it is measured by the volume of the item you eat.

Here is a link that I find helpful...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/portion-control/NU00267

How do YOU count servings?

Yes and a food scale is you friend

rockerbabyy

to be honest, i dont ever think about how many servings of fruits and veggies i get. i do weigh everything and just enter that.. some days the only veg i eat is with dinner. if its frozen veg, i usually eat two servings according to the package.
other days i have fruit with breakfast, salad for lunch, and a veg or two with dinner.

fteale

When it comes to fruit and vegetables, it is the variation that counts. 4 apples don't equal 4 servings, even though one apple equals one. You need 5 different types of fruit and veg a day.