Cups, Portions, Servings
jamespriley1
Posts: 9 Member
Whenever I find a food item by searching that only has "cup" as the unit of measure, I'm never sure if they mean the volume of food that will fit in a cup, or 8 ounces. I _hate_ it when someone uses "serving" or "portion" for a measure, because unless you have the whole recipe, no one knows what that means, but I'd be interested in knowing how you all measure a "cup's" worth. I almost wish you could filter the search to allow only foods that have a gram or ounce measure, since the food scale seems to be the most accurate way of journaling.
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I so agree with your comments. It's very frustrating and ends up costing me too much time researching other entries. I sure wish we (USA) would switch to metric.0
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I go by grams almost always. So, if it is not on the Database I create a new one based on the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 27.0
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Well, if you don't know the serving size that a recipe is using, then you really shouldn't be using that particular entry anyway. I stick to grams/ounces almost exclusively. If I can't find an entry with the weight option, then I use the packaging for the particular food that I'm using to determine how much a cup should weigh. If I'm out and about with friends and absolutely have to estimate, then I choose a restaurant entry from the database and guess high.0
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I weigh it. Before I bought a food scale, I'd never thought about using cups, so why now? (other than liquids, of course).0
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Is the working assumption that whenever a cup is used, it's meant to indicate volume and not weight?0
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A cup is ALWAYS a volume measurement. ALWAYS.0
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I had just bought a "Cup" from Faberwear plastic set. OMG, it was SO much bigger than my old metal set. SO....I only use it as a receptacle on my scale.0
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Well, when a recipe calls for a cup, then I use a 1 cup measurement - which is 8 oz in volume (like you know, with a measuring cup).0
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jamespriley1 wrote: »Is the working assumption that whenever a cup is used, it's meant to indicate volume and not weight?
Yes.
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jamespriley1 wrote: »Whenever I find a food item by searching that only has "cup" as the unit of measure, I'm never sure if they mean the volume of food that will fit in a cup, or 8 ounces. I _hate_ it when someone uses "serving" or "portion" for a measure, because unless you have the whole recipe, no one knows what that means, but I'd be interested in knowing how you all measure a "cup's" worth. I almost wish you could filter the search to allow only foods that have a gram or ounce measure, since the food scale seems to be the most accurate way of journaling.
I hate it too, and much rather see grams, but if people use 'serving' or 'portion', it's probably some homemade food and I don't really have any business using that entry anyway (or restaurant food, which is as accurate as it's going to be considering it comes as one portion).Well, when a recipe calls for a cup, then I use a 1 cup measurement - which is 8 oz in volume (like you know, with a measuring cup).
Then I eyeball what a cup of the ingredient is, but I actually weigh it so my recipe has a more accurate calorie count.0 -
I had no idea even what a 'cup' was before I joined here. I am now thinking of getting one as I keep finding American recipes that use them although I suppose I could just remember they are 8oz?0
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Good to know. I tend to think of it as 8 ounces. (more of a drinker than an eater)0
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Malibu927, like I say, I wish there were a way of filtering out any food that doesn't have an ounce or a gram measurement. Some foods only have a cup measurement, and I stand there thinking, does that look like a cup or is it more in the pint/quart region?
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Sometimes you have to go outside of the MFP database to the USDA database or nutritional information on the package/mfg website. When users input data, it isn't going to be perfect.jamespriley1 wrote: »Malibu927, like I say, I wish there were a way of filtering out any food that doesn't have an ounce or a gram measurement. Some foods only have a cup measurement, and I stand there thinking, does that look like a cup or is it more in the pint/quart region?
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I would weigh everything then create my own entry so that I know it's accurate.0
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I go by grams almost always. So, if it is not on the Database I create a new one based on the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 27.
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search
Rather than creating a completely new entry for a food item and adding to the Disaster/Mess in the Food Database I continue looking through the items until I find one with Grams in it and verify the data against the USDA website. HINT if 4000 people have confirmed the nutritional value of an item it's a good choice, if 4 people have its questionable.
There are always a range of choices and one inevitably has by weight
Check against pack calories to be safe
If I can't find an existing entry with grams I pick one that has valid Nutritional Values based on Manufacture Label - cross referenced to USDA database and then edit it by adding a 100 gram reference and confirm the nutritional values based on Manufacture Label again cross referenced to USDA database ( MFP seems to automatically add a 1 gm value in the database). My personal Bias is to use grams ( 100 gm) as it makes the math easy especially when you use a scale and weigh everything.
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I use a measuring cup with a level measurement. If anything sticks out above the cup, I cut it off.0
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juliet3455 wrote: »I go by grams almost always. So, if it is not on the Database I create a new one based on the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 27.
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search
Rather than creating a completely new entry for a food item and adding to the Disaster/Mess in the Food Database I continue looking through the items until I find one with Grams in it and verify the data against the USDA website. HINT if 4000 people have confirmed the nutritional value of an item it's a good choice, if 4 people have its questionable.There are always a range of choices and one inevitably has by weight
Check against pack calories to be safe
If I can't find an existing entry with grams I pick one that has valid Nutritional Values based on Manufacture Label - cross referenced to USDA database and then edit it by adding a 100 gram reference and confirm the nutritional values based on Manufacture Label again cross referenced to USDA database ( MFP seems to automatically add a 1 gm value in the database) .
Thank you. I do, many times, do exactly what you showed. So many times I don't find what I need though and then I'll give to the USDA database. 0 -
I was using MFP for a good 6 months before I found these posts so it is a bit of a personal mission of mine to pass them on to other people who are just starting.
My standard suggestion/tip is to do some reading and buy a kitchen scale!!!
@ arditarose and @ blankiefinder Nailed it when it comes to Logging accurately and selecting food using the search feature.arditarose wrote: »Weigh your eggs and find the appropriate entry. Two eggs at 50 grams is typically 140 calories. If you cooked them with olive oil, add that as well.blankiefinder wrote: »if I haven't found an entry that lists the grams, I keep looking for a different entry. This [ Enter Food ] item is already listed a bunch of times. Better to edit and correct one that is already there than add to the database mess that exists now.
When creating or editing a Food item from the existing database my Personal Bias is to Edit an existing Entry and enter the nutritional values based on grams ( 100 gm ) as it makes the portion size math easy. Especially when you use a scale and WEIGH EVERYTHING. Don't log 2 eggs as it is a subjective number, where 50 gm. is very concise.
Re-train/calibrate your mind as to what a portion size is..
You will be surprised how small some portions look when you start to weigh them out. The average cereal bowl I have in my kitchen will hold 2-6 portions.
For Nutritional values start with the values from the product label and confirm it with the un-biased nutritional information from the USDA web site at 100 gm.
Try the USDA site as a cross reference for nutrition values of different food diary entries.
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-next-step/
Visit the Eat-Train-Progress group and read the pinned topics. If you click on the little STAR you can bookmark the topic for future reference.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/10118-eat-train-progress
Read the information at these MFP post. They have links to multiple very good reads.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/getting-started
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1069278/acronyms-and-terms-for-new-mfp-members-v-6/p1
Visit these links about building Habits.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ihad/view/the-power-of-habit-part-4-making-good-habits-stick-1-000-days-on-mfp-and-counting-698617
Some of these links will show up in the other Groups and discussions.
There are lots of other good groups and discussions with really good information and some with a more Social aspect.0 -
Wow. Thanks, juliet3455.0
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jamespriley1 wrote: »Malibu927, like I say, I wish there were a way of filtering out any food that doesn't have an ounce or a gram measurement. Some foods only have a cup measurement, and I stand there thinking, does that look like a cup or is it more in the pint/quart region?
Usually the items that only list the unit in cups are liquids, in which case you should measure with a measuring cup. Anything that gives a gram option either on the label or in the database here, always use the weight. You'd be shocked at some of the serving sizes. Even my cereal; after 6 months, I still weigh it every time. Looks can be deceiving, and there can be a real difference between the start of the box and the end, when it comes to volume vs. grams.
Also, those links that Juliet posted are a great place to start if you are just beginning your weight loss journey. Any of the posts stickied at the top of the various forums here are written by people with a lot of knowledge to share, and a good knowledge base will let you sort through the random advice given here, to pick out the good from the bad.0 -
blankiefinder -- there a lot of casserole, stew type items that use cup measurements too. It's way too vague for me. Who wants to bring a measuring cup measure to a restaurant or church social?0
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pick the items without an asterisk *.. those ones are the most reliable and they have the option to use grams. I always type in "raw" or "cooked" to help me find the ones without the *0
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juliet3455 wrote: »I go by grams almost always. So, if it is not on the Database I create a new one based on the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 27.
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search
Rather than creating a completely new entry for a food item and adding to the Disaster/Mess in the Food Database I continue looking through the items until I find one with Grams in it and verify the data against the USDA website. HINT if 4000 people have confirmed the nutritional value of an item it's a good choice, if 4 people have its questionable.
There are always a range of choices and one inevitably has by weight
Check against pack calories to be safe
If I can't find an existing entry with grams I pick one that has valid Nutritional Values based on Manufacture Label - cross referenced to USDA database and then edit it by adding a 100 gram reference and confirm the nutritional values based on Manufacture Label again cross referenced to USDA database ( MFP seems to automatically add a 1 gm value in the database). My personal Bias is to use grams ( 100 gm) as it makes the math easy especially when you use a scale and weigh everything.
Not everyone does this and if you're not eating at home, chances are you aren't weighing your food. My bias is to prefer volume measurements, especially for food I don't cook. I find it nearly impossible to guestimate the weight of anything, but I can eyeball what a half cup of rice, pasta or ice cream looks like.0 -
Good point Peter, I eyeball when I go out to restaurants - friends etc. I was referring to cooking at home. Do be careful about eyeballing as many people have posted how surprised at how small some portions are when they started to use a scale and weigh them out. I know I was. we can never be 100% accurate but the rewards of weight loss are worth the effort.0
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If I have to use a volume measure, I have a little one cup compactor that compresses 3 cups of Macaroni & cheese into one. Did I mention I actually gained this week?0
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