Help....I don't using measuring devices!

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Replies

  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
    Get a scale with a 'zero out' feature.

    When I make my breakfast in the morning I put my bowl on the scale and zero it.

    Then I add 50gms of berries. Zero it.

    Add 45gms of cereal. Zero it.

    Add my yoghurt.... done.

    Easy.
  • regions02
    regions02 Posts: 154 Member
    I agree with everybody - you just have to measure - at least until you can eyeball things. It drives my husband crazy sometimes when he sees me getting out the measuring cup! The recipe builder is a lifesaver if you tend to fix the same things more than once.
  • Lisa__Michelle
    Lisa__Michelle Posts: 845 Member
    That is why I bought a food scale! They are a great investment!
  • Sharnitab
    Sharnitab Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks for all of the advice......I get it, I get it! I HAVE to measure and use the recipe builder. I'm so happy I joined this site!
  • amythebaker
    amythebaker Posts: 7
    There's a great tool on this site in the food section where you can add your own recipes. Just add the number of portions and ingredients, and the calories and nutritional info will be calculated!

    Also, yeah, I agree with the others...you'll need to measure for a while until you get a good feel for what an actual portion size looks like. I found that a digital scale was easiest for me (zero it out with the bread on the scale, then add mayo, peanut butter, etc, and use the weight to measure the calories). Works for those veggies in your salads, too!
  • Whodatgirl77
    Whodatgirl77 Posts: 238 Member
    I pretty much use weight as my measurement for everything now bc I find there are too many possible discrepancies using even measuring cups or spoons. For instance I have a condiment cup that holds two table spoons. This is pretty accurate for say steak sauce as it is pretty light...therefore the weight per serving seems to match well the actual space it takes up...2 table spoons. However blue cheese dressing, which is more dense doesn't work the same way. When I put it in the measuring cup, two table spoons visually weighs more than the grams noted per serving. While its not a huge discrepancy, 10 calorie here or 40 calories more really can add up per item or per meal. So for me weighing has been my biggest eye opener and teaching moment so far on this journey.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Yup - use the recipe tool here on MFP, then tweak it if you need to.

    I have things like "green salad" and "green salad no dressing" in my recipes so I will usually just pick one of these and add in high cal extras like mayo, feta, olives, egg etc. I don't bother changing it to reflect the actual ratio of baby spinach to cucumber to tomatoes - life is too short!

    I have also entered "cherry tomato pasta", "chicken soup" and a bunch of other recipes and often I will just use them as they are, sometimes I'll go back and look and see if they are dramatically different to the last time I cooked them.

    Remember that all the numbers we enter for food and exercise calories are estimates - just make them as close as you can without driving yourself nuts and you'll be OK!

    Every now and again I will measure out 100g of grated cheese - which works out pretty neatly to be one of my measuring cups or a regular apple or mango to see if I am close enough - then I put the scales away again for a while.
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