Portion sizes
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mc62412
Posts: 195 Member
Hey everyone. So I’ve been mostly brining my lunch to work. But sometimes I’m running late or don’t have the time to prep for it. So I’ll order take out. But it’s ALWAYS a grilled chicken salad with some croutons and oil & vinegar dressing.
Does anyone have a trick when trying to figure out how much of what is in your meal when your not using a scale or measuring cups.
I’ve been eyballing it, and then going a little higher just to be on the safe side. But then I always wonder if I’m right, close to right or if I’m totally wrong.
Does anyone have a trick when trying to figure out how much of what is in your meal when your not using a scale or measuring cups.
I’ve been eyballing it, and then going a little higher just to be on the safe side. But then I always wonder if I’m right, close to right or if I’m totally wrong.
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Replies
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Could you try to recreate the dish at home, with your scales, so that it looks similarly sized AND you can weigh the ingredients? Unless the restaurant that makes it provides nutritional info, that's probably your best bet.
I mostly eyeball my portions, but find it helpful to weigh stuff occasionally at home, so I have a better grasp of what different weights look like on the plate.1 -
Is it an option to buy a double portion once, eat one and bring one home for 'dissection' and weighing?7
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If it's a national restaurant, they might have the calories somewhere. If it's a local (Yay!) you might be able to email/facebook message them about what the ingredients are/portions and whether they have an nutritional info on the dressing.
Also, if you're happy losing at the rate you are right now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you hit a point where you're no longer losing as much/at all, you can reassess from there.3 -
Salads are tough because everything’s mixed together, making it hard to eyeball amounts. I might eyeball the lettuce and veggies since the difference in calories between 4 oz of lettuce and 5 oz of lettuce is not really big enough to warrant a huge fuss. But for the chicken, croutons, and dressing (and any cheese or nuts that go on the salad), my plan would be to take them out of the salad and put them on a plate to really get a look at how much there is of each.
Dressing: Often they put this in a 2 oz little cup with a lid, so there’s a start. If it’s full to the brim, that could be 3 or 4 tbsp. If it’s halfway, probably more like 2. Can you bring a small set of measuring spoons to work for this, if you’re going to order salads pretty often?
Chicken: you can use the palm-estimation method, OR start weighing any chicken you eat at home religiously, so you can train your eye to know what 3, 4, 5, or 6 oz of chicken looks like.
Cheese, nuts, and croutons: same as above. Start weighing these things at home to train your eye.
You could also buy a small pocket digital scale to keep at work 👍2 -
I think this is the hidden bonus/benefit to logging food at home using a food scale.
I can pretty accurately dissect restaurant meals in my head now since I have so much practice at home.4 -
If it's a national restaurant, they might have the calories somewhere. If it's a local (Yay!) you might be able to email/facebook message them about what the ingredients are/portions and whether they have an nutritional info on the dressing.
Also, if you're happy losing at the rate you are right now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you hit a point where you're no longer losing as much/at all, you can reassess from there.
They are local. I’ve steadily lost 18 pounds since 4/12 but my first mini goal that was set was set to 7% of my starting weight. Which turns out to 20 pounds. These last 4 Pounds have been difficult to lose. I was at a 3 day stand still / slight gain. Today I went back down and I’m a a pound an a half away.
Maybe I should reevaluate. 🤔 I just try picking something healthy on those days I forget my lunch.1 -
gallicinvasion wrote: »Salads are tough because everything’s mixed together, making it hard to eyeball amounts. I might eyeball the lettuce and veggies since the difference in calories between 4 oz of lettuce and 5 oz of lettuce is not really big enough to warrant a huge fuss. But for the chicken, croutons, and dressing (and any cheese or nuts that go on the salad), my plan would be to take them out of the salad and put them on a plate to really get a look at how much there is of each.
Dressing: Often they put this in a 2 oz little cup with a lid, so there’s a start. If it’s full to the brim, that could be 3 or 4 tbsp. If it’s halfway, probably more like 2. Can you bring a small set of measuring spoons to work for this, if you’re going to order salads pretty often?
Chicken: you can use the palm-estimation method, OR start weighing any chicken you eat at home religiously, so you can train your eye to know what 3, 4, 5, or 6 oz of chicken looks like.
Cheese, nuts, and croutons: same as above. Start weighing these things at home to train your eye.
You could also buy a small pocket digital scale to keep at work 👍
Yeah, as you said the lettuce isn’t a big deal. But then you get to the chicken and croutons lol then it’s all like whattttt. I think I’ve been doing ok. I just like hearing how others are overcoming this and if they do the same. Thanks for the tips !1 -
If it's a national restaurant, they might have the calories somewhere. If it's a local (Yay!) you might be able to email/facebook message them about what the ingredients are/portions and whether they have an nutritional info on the dressing.
Also, if you're happy losing at the rate you are right now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you hit a point where you're no longer losing as much/at all, you can reassess from there.
They are local. I’ve steadily lost 18 pounds since 4/12 but my first mini goal that was set was set to 7% of my starting weight. Which turns out to 20 pounds. These last 4 Pounds have been difficult to lose. I was at a 3 day stand still / slight gain. Today I went back down and I’m a a pound an a half away.
Maybe I should reevaluate. 🤔 I just try picking something healthy on those days I forget my lunch.
Does your work have a refrigerator you can keep back-up options in? Or a drawer you can put some tasty back-up options? When I was breastfeeding I kept oatmeal in my drawer (I still do, I don't know why now). There are a bunch of tasty shelf-stable options you can keep at work that might suffice for those tough moments until you kick that plateau's butt. Dr. McDougall's Right Foods are AMAZING healthy lunch options.0 -
cmriverside wrote: »I think this is the hidden bonus/benefit to logging food at home using a food scale.
I can pretty accurately dissect restaurant meals in my head now since I have so much practice at home.
Yep, practice makes perfect. The more exacting you are when you are home, the easier it gets to eyeball when you're not.
I sometimes try to practice eyeballing at home, then put it on the scale to see how I did. It's a useful skill and it can develop with time
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Of course, weighing is best, but if you're just trying to estimate:
Visual Cues:
1 tsp is about the size of 1 die (a dice) or a quarter or 2 earbuds
1 Tbl is about the size of a small thumb drive
1/4 cup is about the size of a golf ball or a large egg
1/2 cup is about the size of a computer mouse
1 cup is about the size of a baseball or a traditional lightbulb
1 oz of meat or cheese is about the size of a tube of lipstick or a matchbox
3 oz of meat or cheese is about the size of a deck of cards
4 oz of meat or cheese is about the size of an average smartphone1 -
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I try to keep it as easy as possible and compare it to something that it's the MFP database. If I get a grilled chicken salad from the grocery store, I will log it as a grilled chicken salad from a restaurant I am familiar with that has similar portion sizes. Otherwise, if I'm feeling particularly motivated, I will attempt to log everything separately and guesstimate as best as I can on portions. I'd prefer to accidently go over than be under, but there's truly no way of knowing for sure unless you prepared it.
Have you seen the mason jar salads where you put the dressing on the bottom so that everything doesn't get soggy? They'd be really fun and simple to make ahead of time, and you'd know exactly what your getting. That way, you can weigh everything at home and it'll be easier to log.0 -
I bought a couple pocket food scales today.^ They were marked down $7 bucks.
Average person eats 3-5 lbs food each day so I'm going to track with the scale/portions while I'm on the road and have a wide variety of everything. 2 -
cmriverside wrote: »I think this is the hidden bonus/benefit to logging food at home using a food scale.
I can pretty accurately dissect restaurant meals in my head now since I have so much practice at home.
Yep, practice makes perfect. The more exacting you are when you are home, the easier it gets to eyeball when you're not.
I sometimes try to practice eyeballing at home, then put it on the scale to see how I did. It's a useful skill and it can develop with time
That’s a great idea. So I can see how spot on or off my eyes are 👀2 -
Diatonic12 wrote: »I bought a couple pocket food scales today.^ They were marked down $7 bucks. Average person eats 3-5 lbs food each day so I'm going to track with the scale/portions while I'm on the road and have a wide variety of everything.
That's awesome! I didn't even know there was such a thing!
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Diatonic12 wrote: »
That was a good read0
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