Help....I don't using measuring devices!

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  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
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    I suggest that you start using measuring devices :flowerforyou:
  • LuciaLongIsland
    LuciaLongIsland Posts: 815 Member
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    What do you have against measuring devices?


    :drinker:
  • dakitten2
    dakitten2 Posts: 888 Member
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    I weigh, measure everything.
  • jenluvsushi
    jenluvsushi Posts: 933 Member
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    Make friends with a digital scale.....mine is my BFF!
  • Scott613
    Scott613 Posts: 2,317 Member
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    I'll use my hand to measure portion size.......I mean fist, use your fist!
  • jzaz903
    jzaz903 Posts: 306 Member
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    i'd say measure it a couple times, until you get a feel of it. i make a salad every day for lunch and the first week or so i measured everything, now i know about how much lettuce 2 cups is in my bowl, and how a serving of carrots looks in my hand. i still measure dressing, it's SO easy to go over on that.
    most of the time, though, you'll need to measure things. its the only way to know if you have a serving of something.

    i do have(for when friends come over) serving spoons from weight watchers that are certain sizes- they look like normal serving spoons but one is a cup, another 3/4 cup.. so you don't have to take out your measuring cups when you have friends over.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    .....and don't get me started with homemade soup or spaghetti sauce, Sheesh! How do I figure how many calories there are???

    If you use the recipe builder here on MFP, its very easy to do homemade foods and get accurate results but they are only accurate provided you make the effort to properly weigh and measure your ingredients.
  • DianeG213
    DianeG213 Posts: 253
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    This is from Weight Watchers - a way to measure food when you need to guess.


    Your fist is equal to one medium fruit or one measured cup


    Your palm minus the fingers is a 3 ounce portion of cooked meat


    Your thumb (whole thumb, from tip to base) is equal to one ounce of meat or cheese


    Your thumb from the tip to the first joint is about 1 tablespoon


    Your index finger from the tip to the first joint is about 1 teaspoon
  • CaWaterBug8
    CaWaterBug8 Posts: 1,040 Member
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    To be fair, I understand where the OP is coming from since I struggles with this when I first started MFP.

    But, you have to learn to let go and pick your battles. Is it more important to freak out over every last 0.0009 calories? Or is it more important to just learn how to use the tools you are given and make the best of the situation?

    There are plenty of features on here that allow you to copy the same items (I use this for variations of salads all of the time) from different days so that you are not constantly looking up the same thi........

    You know what? Forget it! This is all over MFP and this thread. Just GET UP AND LOG!!! Even if it's a "knife" of mayonnaise or butter - log it!!!
  • TashaP2011
    TashaP2011 Posts: 142 Member
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    I think some things warrant measuring more than others. If you are off on lettuce - say you enter 2 cups based on an estimate, but you really ate 4 cups - you might end up with an extra 25 calories (just guessing). No one ever got really unhealthy mis-measuring lettuce.
    Condiments that contain high fat, sodium, etc are worth measuring every time.
    Figure out what your acceptable margin of error is, and measure what really needs to be measured!
    Good luck!
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
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    Get a scale with a 'zero out' feature.

    When I make my breakfast in the morning I put my bowl on the scale and zero it.

    Then I add 50gms of berries. Zero it.

    Add 45gms of cereal. Zero it.

    Add my yoghurt.... done.

    Easy.
  • regions02
    regions02 Posts: 154 Member
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    I agree with everybody - you just have to measure - at least until you can eyeball things. It drives my husband crazy sometimes when he sees me getting out the measuring cup! The recipe builder is a lifesaver if you tend to fix the same things more than once.
  • Lisa__Michelle
    Lisa__Michelle Posts: 845 Member
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    That is why I bought a food scale! They are a great investment!
  • Sharnitab
    Sharnitab Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks for all of the advice......I get it, I get it! I HAVE to measure and use the recipe builder. I'm so happy I joined this site!
  • amythebaker
    amythebaker Posts: 7
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    There's a great tool on this site in the food section where you can add your own recipes. Just add the number of portions and ingredients, and the calories and nutritional info will be calculated!

    Also, yeah, I agree with the others...you'll need to measure for a while until you get a good feel for what an actual portion size looks like. I found that a digital scale was easiest for me (zero it out with the bread on the scale, then add mayo, peanut butter, etc, and use the weight to measure the calories). Works for those veggies in your salads, too!
  • Whodatgirl77
    Whodatgirl77 Posts: 238 Member
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    I pretty much use weight as my measurement for everything now bc I find there are too many possible discrepancies using even measuring cups or spoons. For instance I have a condiment cup that holds two table spoons. This is pretty accurate for say steak sauce as it is pretty light...therefore the weight per serving seems to match well the actual space it takes up...2 table spoons. However blue cheese dressing, which is more dense doesn't work the same way. When I put it in the measuring cup, two table spoons visually weighs more than the grams noted per serving. While its not a huge discrepancy, 10 calorie here or 40 calories more really can add up per item or per meal. So for me weighing has been my biggest eye opener and teaching moment so far on this journey.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    Yup - use the recipe tool here on MFP, then tweak it if you need to.

    I have things like "green salad" and "green salad no dressing" in my recipes so I will usually just pick one of these and add in high cal extras like mayo, feta, olives, egg etc. I don't bother changing it to reflect the actual ratio of baby spinach to cucumber to tomatoes - life is too short!

    I have also entered "cherry tomato pasta", "chicken soup" and a bunch of other recipes and often I will just use them as they are, sometimes I'll go back and look and see if they are dramatically different to the last time I cooked them.

    Remember that all the numbers we enter for food and exercise calories are estimates - just make them as close as you can without driving yourself nuts and you'll be OK!

    Every now and again I will measure out 100g of grated cheese - which works out pretty neatly to be one of my measuring cups or a regular apple or mango to see if I am close enough - then I put the scales away again for a while.

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