updating food portion sizes

BarringtonFinbarNash
BarringtonFinbarNash Posts: 22
in Food and Nutrition
i have a bit of a conumdren when it comes to the idea of updating the food in my log, and thats the portion size.

owing to a rather unusaul condition i face where i do not feel full up, i have found the most cost effective way for me to manage a satifactory life style is to eat too main meals (size wise), but my protions are nothing like what an oridnary portion would be described as on most packaging.

untill i pick up some good easy cook recipies this will reamin a part of my eating as after a 10hr shift i genrally do not want to fafth around with a lot of prep and cooking, i want soemthing simple i can just leave to cook for a while or just cooks in a few mins.

but my question is how do i know how much i should say is the portion i have eaten, when my portions do not macth the size's suggested on the packaging, any help would be greatley appricated

Replies

  • niftyafterfifty
    niftyafterfifty Posts: 338 Member
    I'm not sure I understand your problem, but I think you just need to estimate how many servings you had and multiply the listed calories per serving x the number you ate. For example, if the pkg. says 4 servings with 300 cal. per serving, and you ate the entire pkg., it would be 300 x 4 = 1200 calories. I hope that helps. Sometimes you just have to make the best estimate you can.
  • PayneAS
    PayneAS Posts: 669 Member
    I think I get what you are trying to say and it sounds as though the easiest way to do it is to find out what an actual portion size looks like so that you can estimate how much of a portion you are eating. Generally people tend to underestimate how much they eat which is why I suggest this. Then when you enter it into your food diary, you can change the portion size. It is something I am always doing. For example, if the portion size on the packaging is 1 cup and I eat 1/4 cup, then when I enter into the food diary, I change the 1 to 0.25. That changes it to 1/4 cup.

    What I ended up doing, which you really want to do if you eat that way, is invest in a food scale. Then you'll know exactly how much you are eating and you won't have to guess. Mine is very portable so I'm guessing that most are.
  • BarringtonFinbarNash
    BarringtonFinbarNash Posts: 22
    thank you both for your replies, i'm still learning how to use this site and did not know i could update the portion size for what i'm eating to address both you comments.

    size estimation - the packaging is not always clear on what a portion size is and so makes it akward for me to guesstimate it at times, i don't want to over or under estimate too much as this will devalue what i'm trying to achieve.

    payne i think you have summed it up well, i don't really know what a portion size is for a standard person, this i think helps to confuse the issues when i'm trying to work out how much of a portion i'm having.

    it does not help that on top of my heartier appeite a lot of my freinds eat smalle rthan normal portions, so i have very little to compare to these days..i know my work place serves substandard portions as everyone complains about that, so i have no real gauge what a normal portion is.
  • MsTT80
    MsTT80 Posts: 59 Member
    When cooking something, if unsure if you have had the "suggested" portion size....weigh it! I now keep a set of scales on my kitchen worktop and if I am unsure how much the portion is or if preparing something fresh, I weigh it.

    Also, if you don;t find something in the food lists, add the cals etc yourself.

    Good luck with your journey :)
  • MrsR0SE
    MrsR0SE Posts: 313 Member
    I rarely use the "1serving/portion" foods in the database, as I find it easier and far more accurate to weigh and measure my food. Who knows what someone else on mfp considers a portion/serving anyway? :)
  • sunnyflower1177
    sunnyflower1177 Posts: 212
    just weigh ur food, it really helps!
  • BarringtonFinbarNash
    BarringtonFinbarNash Posts: 22
    looks like scales are going to be a good investment then, thank you all for you're help, this is the first time i have even attempted to mointer my eating in this way.
  • GaiaKitten
    GaiaKitten Posts: 1
    I would recommend you get a decent set of digital scales, I think mine cost around 15 or 20 quid, it has a wide base.

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