Proper portion sizes

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Jazznit
Jazznit Posts: 27 Member
in Getting Started
Hey all,

This time around I don't want to just focus on calorie intake, but more on proper portion sizes. I'm looking for a resource on Pinterest or the web that can tell me what are the proper portion sizes in weight. Everything I'm finding is " a portion of meat should be the size of your palm" etc.. I don't like this eyeball method, I just want a resource so I can use my food scale or measuring cup. Thanks.

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  • litsy3
    litsy3 Posts: 783 Member
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    Take a portion of meat the size of your palm, weigh it, then use that?

    The palm-size advice presumably works because a huge man with giant-sized hands is going to need more food than a tiny woman, for example.
  • Jazznit
    Jazznit Posts: 27 Member
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    It's just that I've started weighing out a few items, starches. And I'm finding an insane difference than when I used to really on these eyeballed portion sizes. Like almost doubled in some cases. This has contributed to me not losing as much lately because I'm still struggling with what are true portion sizes of food. 10 ounces of chips compared to a handful is different.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Weigh everything and log it in MFP which has the calories per weight

    Then look at it and try to remember how much you got

    Although I've been doing this 9 months and my eyeballing is still ridiculous
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
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    Jazznit wrote: »
    It's just that I've started weighing out a few items, starches. And I'm finding an insane difference than when I used to really on these eyeballed portion sizes. Like almost doubled in some cases. This has contributed to me not losing as much lately because I'm still struggling with what are true portion sizes of food. 10 ounces of chips compared to a handful is different.

    I googled "what is one serving of steak" and got all sorts of links giving weights for various foods. So the info is available, you just might have to invest a little time looking up foods you eat fairly often.

    For packaged food, the serving is often listed multiple ways. Like for cookies, it might be: "1 serving: 2 cookies (35g)" or for hot chocolate, "1 serving: 3 tbsp (28g)" or for bread, "1 serving: 1 slice (40g)" <-- then you actually weigh your slice and may find it is not in fact 40g, which will help you log more accurately. Your chips example, there should be a weight on the bag for you to go by.

    It can also be helpful to run food through MFP before you eat it. That way, you don't find out after the fact that you ate 800 when you were aiming for 500.

    If you are stuck eating where you can't weigh, use google images. Type in something like "6 oz chicken" and you'll find lots of images showing 6 oz chicken or comparing chicken of different weights. It can be helpful to google several weights, to really give yourself a good look at a few sizes so you can pick the best. Be careful, of course, because images that show up in a search may show up for the wrong reason (maybe it's really 8 oz but came up anyway), but as you'll be able to see tons on the page, and from different angles, I do find it helpful.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
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    Look up the USDA guidelines, then weigh and measure your food to their guidelines.
  • kandell
    kandell Posts: 473 Member
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    http://www.prevention.com/sites/prevention.com/files/images/articles/portion-control-chart-full.jpg

    This is just a guideline, but is this along the lines of what you're looking for?

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