Food Diary: Do You Measure Everything You Eat?

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breadaddict
breadaddict Posts: 26 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone,
I am off and on MFP and now I AM BACK!! I find that what sometimes frustrates me is the need to measure all my food. So I try to make approximations but it has occured to me that I could be way off. For instance, I had yellow beans in tomatoe based sauce with calamari for lunch today. I estimated that I ate one cup, but how much is a cup? Same with fruit - I don't know the diameter of what I am eating so which size do I enter? Or my bran flakes in the morning - my bowls vary in sizes so I don't often know if I am only eating one cup or more. How do you all deal with this? Is there an easy way to estimate measurements by looking without having to weigh everything I eat to enter into the diary?

Thanks.
Breadaddict

Replies

  • breadaddict
    breadaddict Posts: 26 Member
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    Hello everyone,
    I am off and on MFP and now I AM BACK!! I find that what sometimes frustrates me is the need to measure all my food. So I try to make approximations but it has occured to me that I could be way off. For instance, I had yellow beans in tomatoe based sauce with calamari for lunch today. I estimated that I ate one cup, but how much is a cup? Same with fruit - I don't know the diameter of what I am eating so which size do I enter? Or my bran flakes in the morning - my bowls vary in sizes so I don't often know if I am only eating one cup or more. How do you all deal with this? Is there an easy way to estimate measurements by looking without having to weigh everything I eat to enter into the diary?

    Thanks.
    Breadaddict
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    sadly, the only way is to truely measure.

    you can get a food scale at walmart for about 8 bucks.

    and I have a set of measuring cups that I use. If you aren't sure
    go bigger. At this point I have a really good idea of how much liquid
    is in a cup, an oz. and a gram. But it takes a while. It sounds silly
    but it helps to practice. I used to measure water until I could put
    exactly 1 cup into a bowl without measuring.
  • abetterme
    abetterme Posts: 393
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    What I have done is measured it once and then once I pour it into a bowl I now what that amount looks like. I try and use the same bowls for breakfast and as far as grapes pull a bunch off and put them in a bowl and I usually can tell about 1 cup. Other than that I measure it a few times and then use my best judgement.
  • Thamber
    Thamber Posts: 194
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    I dont have a scale but I measure. I have a measuring cup and set of measuring spoons that I pretty much leave out on the counter becaue i use them so much.
    I also have used my measuring cup to see how much is a cup in all of my bowls, mugs and drinking cups..So I am getting an eye for it.

    I dont measure my apples...they look small to me so I enter small or medium , same with my onions and carrots and peppers those are all eyeballed.

    Unless you get a scale i dont believe you can be really accurate but as long as I am losing weight i am not going to bother getting one myself.
  • IUChelle423
    IUChelle423 Posts: 197
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    I measure everything I eat at home, but have to eyeball it when I go out to a restaurant. That's the tough part, but since I measure at home, I have a good idea of how much a cup is.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    In for a penny then in for a pound....WHAT?

    anyway...I tried for about 2 minutes to guess at the portion sizes and then got a measuering cup like my Ma used to have and now I know why...anyway...take cereal for instance....a cup or 1/2 cup is not an unusual serving....I poured what I thought should be about a mornal serving and then measured it>>>>BAM! 5 cups!!!! I was eating five servings at time...HOLY MOLY!

    so yes....to get a true picture of how many calories are going in my fat mouth, I need to measure EVERYTHING...now I can get real close on what a 1/2 cup of oatmeal is but I still measure to remove the doubt factor...


    measure it my friend

    have fun'Dave
  • greeneggsam
    greeneggsam Posts: 121
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    A couple of handy tips:
    2 tbsp = a golf ball
    3 oz. of protein = a deck of cards
  • abillings9
    abillings9 Posts: 165
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    Yes, I've taken to measuring everything that I can. It has really helped me keep my portions in check.
  • MOMOFTWO29
    MOMOFTWO29 Posts: 8,276 Member
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    I measure everything, if it says to eat 1/2 cup then I get out my trusty measuring cup and I measure it, portion control has always been a problem for me and this time I want to make sure that I am eating the correct serving size.
  • willywonka
    willywonka Posts: 743 Member
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    measuring the food has really helped me a lot also
    good luck!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,080 Member
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    a cup or 1/2 cup is not an unusual serving....I poured what I thought should be about a mornal serving and then measured it>>>>BAM! 5 cups!!!! I was eating five servings at time...HOLY MOLY!


    HA! :noway: Eye-opener, ain't it??:laugh:
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
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    In for a penny then in for a pound....WHAT?

    anyway...I tried for about 2 minutes to guess at the portion sizes and then got a measuering cup like my Ma used to have and now I know why...anyway...take cereal for instance....a cup or 1/2 cup is not an unusual serving....I poured what I thought should be about a mornal serving and then measured it>>>>BAM! 5 cups!!!! I was eating five servings at time...HOLY MOLY!

    so yes....to get a true picture of how many calories are going in my fat mouth, I need to measure EVERYTHING...now I can get real close on what a 1/2 cup of oatmeal is but I still measure to remove the doubt factor...


    measure it my friend

    have fun'Dave

    5 cups? Do you use a mixing bowl as a cereal bowl? I can only fit 2 cups into one of my cereal bowls... hee hee hee
  • TamTastic
    TamTastic Posts: 19,224 Member
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    Yes, I measure everything. I use measuring spoons, cups and a digital food scale. Sometimes you end up with more than you'd think!

    It has helped me to learn about portion control and while I do still portion things out at home, I am confident in myself when I am at a restaurant or having dinner at a friends house to eat proper portions.
  • breadaddict
    breadaddict Posts: 26 Member
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    Excellent! This is helpful - I like the idea of measuring until your eye gets a knack for it. Good point. Going to get some measuring cups and scale!!!
  • SGFlyinHi
    SGFlyinHi Posts: 469 Member
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    I measure & weigh everything I eat at home. Eating out I have to estimate, but I have gotten pretty good at guessing.
    Also, for work days, I weigh and measure everything that I will need for the next day while at work, so it is all pre-packaged. It sure has made it easier for me.
    Good luck!!
  • Jolie30
    Jolie30 Posts: 18
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    I bought a $28 electronic digigal scale from Wal-mart for home and a cheapie one for work. I measure everything. You really learn a lot about how much you are serving yourself once you start measuring.
  • Wynnie
    Wynnie Posts: 225 Member
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    It's important to measure because portion sizes have gotten crazy big in America and most of us have lost sight of what a reasonable portion should be. Someone told me once that a platter of food in New York is 3X the same platter size in France. Hmm. Anyway, like another member said, after you measure something 4 or 5 times, you do develop and "eyeball" for it.

    For snacks at home, I measure them in a 1/2 or 1/3 measuring cup and then just noshe them right out of that. At restauants I have a couple tips I was given:

    About the size of your fist (for an average girl) is a good eyeball volume measurement for 1 cup.
    A meat portion the size of a credit card is approximately 4 oz.

    Happy measuring!
  • kalla
    kalla Posts: 11
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    I seem to be in the minority here, since I usually go by eyesight. Mind you, I'm pretty good at estimating amounts, especially if I know how much kcals are in a litre, desilitre, tbls and a tsp. I'm not as good at estimating grams, so with them I usually just compare the amount of my serving to the overall amount in the package etc.

    For me, measuring everything religiously reaches the point of obsessiveness very fast, so I try to avoid it. Usually I estimate a little higher that necessary, just so I don't risk it :)

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