Portions help please

I think it's worth mentioning that over here in Europe, serving sizes are NOT labeled on packaging except in about 10% of the cases (and these are usually more "fitness" type items such as healthy cereals, yogurts, etc.). Rather, the nutrition facts are given in 100 g or 100 ml increments. For some items, 100g is a huge amount while for others 100g is a tiny amount... needless to say, it leads to a lot of math to figure out how many calories etc. are in the amount of food you are actually eating, and a lot of googling "30 g beans oz" and such!

Thanks so much for pointing that out. I didn't know that - and that's why I suggested to google UK portion sizes.

I also didn't understand that "Slimming World" was some sort of weight loss program. The more we know....

Especially at the beginning, and for a good long time- nothing went in my chops that wasn't measured. Digital scale, measuring cups/ spoons (especially peanut butter- good Lord!!) Best nutritional weapons on earth is a well prepared kitchen.

I am in the UK and although I don't follow her diet, I bought some of the Rosemary Conley Portion Pots online.

I really like them for measuring out Pasta and Cereal and all sorts of stuff. They come in 4 different sizes for cooked and uncooked items and a card showing you the most commonly used foods and which colour to use....they weren't expensive either.

Not for everyone, but I found they have helped me!

Hi Lexon, Your scales are fine for your need, but careful reading of the nutition on the side of all packets will identify the calories etc you need. e.g Flavahans Porridge quotes per 100gms 374 Cals (kcal) with a breakdown of carbs / fibre/protein etc and then does the same for a single 40gm portion150 Cal (kcal).

Put your bowl on the scale and zero it, add 40 gm of porridge, and as the instructions say, add 250 ml of water then heat till cooked.

This same priciple works for all food products in the UK.

Hope this helps?

I agree with much of what has already been suggested: measuring cups/spoons, digital scale, read nutrition and serving size information on packets.

I estimate what a restaurant portion is while I'm there, before I touch a spoonful of food. For example, yesterday I ate out and ordered a glass of wine and a pasta dish with sea bass and tomato sauce. I noted that a small glass of wine was 175 ml (printed on the menu), and that the sea bass looked to be about half a fillet. There were 4 cherry tomatoes, about 1 cup of sauce, and about 2 cups of cooked pasta. That's what I plugged into my diary.

You can get familiar with serving sizes with something like this: http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/01/know-your-portion-sizes/ For example, a serving of protein (steak, chicken, fish) is about the size of a deck of playing cards. That is the suggested serving size, NOT an entire 100 g of mince.

NB: I'm an American living in the UK, and so I live by cups for measurements. I know that packages often have the nutrition content for 100 g instead of one serving or one bag of crisps. The packages will have the weights on them (35 g, for example), so you will have to do a bit of math to estimate how many calories you're actually eating. For example, the package and MFP may have cheese as being 500 calories per 100 g. However, a serving is more like 20 g.

Remember that restaurants often give you about twice of a serving, and if you get to know portion sizes and become familiar with a scale, everything should become easy!