Portions of food

AGreen54
AGreen54 Posts: 100 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi. I was wondering how you eat the right portion of your food. It's easy for, let's say and apple, because the portion size is just 1 apple but if you are eating pasta or something and the portion size is 1 cup or 2 oz are you really going to use a measuring cup or kitchen scale to weigh it? I usually use serving spoons and scoop 2 spoonfuls but I don't really know how much of the food it is. Any comments would be appreciated.

Replies

  • sneakysneaker
    sneakysneaker Posts: 16 Member
    For pasta (and meat) I always bust out the kitchen scale. It is amazing how easy it is to underestimate portions. And I've also used it for treats like chocolate.
  • KeegansMomma
    KeegansMomma Posts: 156
    I rarely take a full portion of anything. I've measured, I've eye-balled it, I've just gone and guestimated. But, I find that, especially after measuring, I rarely take a full serving of anything anymore.
  • ChristineS_51
    ChristineS_51 Posts: 872 Member
    Get some digital scales - even apples can vary from 80 grams to 180 grams plus - so doing your portions by weight is much more accurate. One person's medium is another person's HUGE!! :laugh:
  • mbajrami
    mbajrami Posts: 636 Member
    The food scale is the most used appliance in my kitchen.
  • kali31337
    kali31337 Posts: 1,048 Member
    Currently I'm using the measuring cups while I'm waiting on my food scale to show up...then I will use that super religiously once I figure out how to weigh fruit & chicken on it while keeping sanitary!
  • Irish_eyes75
    Irish_eyes75 Posts: 475
    Definitely measure everything until you get an idea of what a portion of something looks like.
  • ipsamet
    ipsamet Posts: 436 Member
    I definitely measure and weigh! Especially when it comes to something like pasta - it's SO easy to underestimate that, so I just bust out my kitchen scale. It's the only way I can be successful to be honest.
  • monicalosesweight
    monicalosesweight Posts: 1,173 Member
    I've always been confused about this but I'm assuming that the measurement on pasta is based on the dry amount? Am I right? I always worry about eating too much or too little as that part of the labeling process is confusing. I've found some that state (dry) which help but you don't always see that.
  • Irish_eyes75
    Irish_eyes75 Posts: 475
    Currently I'm using the measuring cups while I'm waiting on my food scale to show up...then I will use that super religiously once I figure out how to weigh fruit & chicken on it while keeping sanitary!

    My scale came with a bowl, you put the bowl on the scale, zero it out and then put your meat/chicken in the bowl. It's dishwasher safe so no worries about cross contamination. I think you could probably do this with a bowl or a plate if your scale can be zeroed out.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    I use a food scale (in grams or oz, I like grams better) and find an entry in the database that allows you to measure in weight instead of vaguely '1 medium apple'. 100g of apple is much better, in my mind.
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
    I guesstimate a lot of stuff but do weigh and measure what I eat in my truck.
  • shirleyash
    shirleyash Posts: 4 Member
    I use both - a scale and measuring cups. If you have a spoon that you usually use for dishing up your pasta - fill your spoon as you would and then put it in the bowl on the scale or the measuring cup. That way you will know what that spoonfull really equals. In case you forget - keep a note with your pasta on what the portion is. Being certain of our portion size is the best way to stay on program!
  • LisaLouisiana
    LisaLouisiana Posts: 145 Member
    I do have a scale and I do measure EVERYTHING. Because I do this at home, when I go out I can eyeball the portion size surprisingly well. I have a $20 scale and I love it. I have three sets of measuring cups that I use to dish up some dishes. If my diary says I ate 1 cup of beans, you better believe it was one cup. The only way to know how much you are truly eating is by measuring it accurately. Since I've started doing this I'm loosing twice as much weight and I haven't hit a plateau once since then, either. I used to do my best to estimate and the fact is that I was underestimating the quantity of food I was eating.

    Another thing I do that makes a huge difference is I log the food before I eat it. Many a meal I eat has shrunk in size because I wasn't willing to eat that many calories.
  • LisaLouisiana
    LisaLouisiana Posts: 145 Member
    Currently I'm using the measuring cups while I'm waiting on my food scale to show up...then I will use that super religiously once I figure out how to weigh fruit & chicken on it while keeping sanitary!

    Kali, I put a plate on top of the tray that came with my food scale. I get a tare weigh of the empty plate or bowl and then I put the food in it and that weight will tell me exactly how much food is in the plate.
  • LisaLouisiana
    LisaLouisiana Posts: 145 Member
    I use a food scale (in grams or oz, I like grams better) and find an entry in the database that allows you to measure in weight instead of vaguely '1 medium apple'. 100g of apple is much better, in my mind.

    I prefer grams, too. There are 28 grams in an ounce so I have more increments to get it precise than to just use ounces. I also weigh everything and you're right, 100 grams of apple is much better, without a doubt!
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    depends how serious you are about tracking your calories. Some days I just guesstimate but usually I portion everything out. I don't have a food scale though.. For things like pasta I will look at the package as a whole and see how much of it would be one serving and measure it that way. So say 1/8th of the package is 2 oz, I would just take out roughly 1/8th of the pasta in the box. I don't eat very much pasta though.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    Non-scale-owner way: I've just this week taken to splitting things up before cooking them (which obviously only works if you have an idea what the starting weight is).

    Like today I bought 200 grams of ham from a deli. I eyeballed 4 equal parts and stuck them into baggies, which I now know contain roughly 50 grams of ham. Same for my pasta, of which a serving size (85 grams dry) is '1/5th of a box'. I put rubber bands around five 5ths.

    I have one of those visual analogies charts up on my fridge.

    It's not less work than weighing though, I should just get a scale, lol.

    (I do use measuring cups though.)
  • shan1204
    shan1204 Posts: 36
    In the beginning, I weighed everything but now I find that I can visualise the size things should be as I am used to seeing specific portion sizes. You also tend to remember which serving spoons deliver the right portion size for certain things but you do have to weigh everything at the start to train yourself.
  • pandorakick
    pandorakick Posts: 901 Member
    Another thing I do that makes a huge difference is I log the food before I eat it. Many a meal I eat has shrunk in size because I wasn't willing to eat that many calories.
    I usually have to lower the amounts of food entered after eating because I'm just too full to completely empty my plate. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, makes it possible to have an evening snack!

    Edited to add that I weigh everything as well.
  • Nina2503
    Nina2503 Posts: 172 Member
    I do find that I think afterall a while I get it right but slowly the sizes get bigger so its weigh and measure all the way for me. I plan meals and log them all in the morning so I know what I am eating and how many calories etc

    I went into the butchers today to buy two steaks and he held up two and I said yep they will do. When he charged me I realised they must have weighed more than I thought. I weighed them together when I got home and combined they weighed 2lbs 3oz! Huge.... so I have frozen one for next saturday and will cut the other into two for mine and OH tea tonight (he can have a lamb steak with his too if he wants!) Yes I could eat a 16oz steak but it would be through greed and not need so I wont! That is the reason I weigh everything before eating it
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
    I've always been confused about this but I'm assuming that the measurement on pasta is based on the dry amount? Am I right? I always worry about eating too much or too little as that part of the labeling process is confusing. I've found some that state (dry) which help but you don't always see that.

    Generally, yes, you'd weigh it dry, unless the package is giving you a calorie count for "as prepared" or "after cooking".
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
    I use my food scale constantly, yes. It's the most accurate way to measure everything but liquids.
  • LynnKirchhoff
    LynnKirchhoff Posts: 3 Member
    Measuring is KEY. I know a man who has lost 205 lbs! He started his diet at 410 and just celebrated losing half of himself. He has said time and again, "I am a food measure Nazi!" Of all the things he's done, from logging food, exercising more, eating healthier....he says the KEY thing for him was weighing and measuring all of his food. Portion distortion is epidemic in this country, ESPECIALLY when eating out!
  • maryjay51
    maryjay51 Posts: 742
    i measured everything in the beginning because i had no clue what a cup of anything looked like. now i rarely measure because im used to the portions. i will measure pasta and rice though.. i have a tendency to want to go overboard if i dont. our minds love tricking us into believing its not that much

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