How to figure out serving size

Depends on how it can be broken up. Since you can input recipes into myfitnesspal, it makes it a bit easier to determine that. One you add in all the ingredients you already measured, you can put say… a cup of something as a serving and get the calories from that. Its difficult sometimes since you know the food isn't all even, but its as close as it can get.

Food scale makes it a lot easier and they are inexpensive. If you don't have one already I would suggest picking one up. I think mine was $9

I use an OXO digital kitchen scale that accommodates up to 11 pounds and measures in both metric and imperial. I'm now using it so often that I keep it on the counter all the time. It was a bit pricey at $50, but I use it every single day and I think it's a great value.

When I enter a recipe, I do it after I've made the meal. I no longer throw stuff into a pot without measuring like I used to. And even though I know all these recipes by heart, I write down every ingredient and its weight as I go. Then I look at what's in the pot and can usually eyeball the number of servings, or sometimes I'll portion them out to make sure.

If I'm making something like a stew, I calculate servings based on the amount of meat in the recipe. For a beef bourguignon, for example, I"ll start with a pound of lean beef and figure that will make five large servings (I use a lot of veg in stew). It almost always works out as I think it will. For soups, I estimate the number of servings based on cups of broth, usually 1 cup of broth per serving. I did that yesterday with a southwest chicken soup, and it worked out perfectly.

Mfp just divides the total calories by whatever # of servings you enter in. If you want it to be more accurate you have to measure it all or weigh it... Like I said above its sooo much easier to just weigh the whole things once I'm done and figure servings based on that.

cpbsmail wrote: »

I'm so confused. I've entered in recipes (in Myfitnesspal) that I got from cooking books. They indicate the number of servings. However, most don't say what that serving size is. MFP will tell me the nutritional info based on a serving. In all cases so far, the calorie count and sodium count (the main things I'm watching) in MFP is greater than what the recipe says. How can I find out what serving size MFP is calculating info on?

The nutritional information of the recipe is going to depend on the specific ingredients that you are adding to the dish. I have found that there can be a significant difference in the MFP generated nutritional information with my specific brands listed and the nutritional information provided on a website's recipe.

Also, MFP is just dividing the overall nutritional information by the number of servings entered. To determine how much each serving is, weigh the entire recipe and divide by the number of servings. I find it helpful to indicate the serving weight in the recipe title.