Portion Sizes

If it is packaged, i usually go by what is written on it. I count Goldfish and cereal pieces into smaller containers for snacks.

If i make a meal, like a soup or casserole, i divide it into about 3/4 to 1 cup portions. Anything like yogurt, ice cream, etc, i use a ramekin, it is about a cup and i fill it half way, so about 1/2 cup.

For everything else, like chopped veggies, mashed potatoes, etc, i go with about a handful sized portion.

I use a measuring cup and I bought some of the Tyson chicken breasts frozen individually so I could SEE what 4 oz of chicken looked like. Honestly I'm not overly concerned if I under/over estimate by 2oz on something. So shelling out for a food scale it too much for me.

I weighed everything at first, and now I can judge by feeling how much I'm getting. For instance, a cup of shredded chicken weighs about 4 oz if you don't pack it down. By shredding the chicken and weighing it, I know the chicken breasts I usually buy are about 4 oz each. Half a handful of shredded cheese is 1/4 cup, and a cap of peanuts is 1 serving. But to be able to learn it, I got a food scale--$5 at Wal-Mart.

for me, I have some cheap scales I use for the foods that are not in a package. But the main trick I use is use the same container for my meals. a 4 coup pyrex bowl. I can tell how much I put in it with out mesuring all the time.


Welcome to MFP, it is a great tool to help you.

Something that I use often is the guidelines used by Lilly ( a company that makes insulin and has a really good exchange diet). They say your fist is approximately one cup, the palm of your hand is approximately 4 oz of meat, your thumb is about 1oz ( like of cheese), then end of your thumb is approximately 1 tbsp and the end of your index finger is approximately a tsp. If you measure for a while in a measuring cup and compare the amounts to something you are familiar with, you can eyeball it. I still go back every now and again and measure to be sure I'm not over approximating. Hope that helps. You can look up the Lilly diabetic exchange diet online for more information of that sort. Good luck!

I use measuring cups or count out crackers, etc.

I weigh everything if it has a weight on it to go by. Especially cereal. Once I weighed oatmeal vs using a measuring cup and it was half the portion size!

I can't be trusted to eyeball anything. Before I started counting calories, 1/2 a bag of fun sized snickers and/or milky ways was one portion.

I'm new to this life style change that I have just started. I know that one of the biggest things to pay attention to is portion sizes, but I need to go get scales to weigh portions?! That seems a bit extreme, but it also seems like it may be the most effective way to keep track of things.

How do ya'll keep your portions to the right size?

My food scale is my best friend. I measure everything. Sometimes I will use measuring cups, but mostly I go by weight. The scale I have deducts the container weight so if I put a bowl on the scale it will 0 out and only the weight of the food will be counted. this will be one of the best investments you make (that and a heart rate monitor).

Karen- I'm starting out at almost the same weight as you. How long has it taken you to lose the 15lbs? (Great job by the way!!!) 15 pounds seems sooo far away!

I started on September 1 and last week I had lost 14.6 lbs (this site rounds up). Today is 14.8 lbs (long story on the only 0.2lb loss) but if you keep at it and do the right things, measuring food, drinking your water, watching Sodium, CUTTING OUT OR REDUCING Alcohol intake (in my case I quit drinking) then the weight will come off. Also, you HAVE TO EAT your exercise calories and you should try to not go below 1000 calories/day. Lots of variables and mileage WILL vary but that's how I am doing it

*bump*

I found this interactive guide on WebMD :happy:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate

Often times, I look at the food that I have weighed on my digital scale and thought..."that looks like way more than 2/3 of a cup" Thoughts? Is it better to measure using a measuring cup, or weigh the food on a scale?

I have to use the scale rather than cups (measuring cups) I find too much variation in how much goes in a "cup" of cereal, I mean if it's rice krispies it'll be close every time in a cup but if it's something like raisin bran where you can end up with different amount of raisin in each bowl... ok well that one sucks as an example anyway :P I make my own raisin bran with all bran flakes and my package of raisins on the counter I know exactly how much of which item goes in.