Do You Measure Out Serving Sizes?

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Do You Measure Out Serving Sizes?

June 9, 2008

When it comes to portion control, it's not a bad idea to measure out serving sizes. This way you know how many calories you are truly eating. It trains you to understand what one cup or ounce looks like. After I started measuring serving sizes, I realized that my previous estimated amounts were always more than the actual portion. This meant that I was eating more than I thought. Now, I've learned and eyeball my portions with an occasional refresher course. So I was wondering . . .

41 Comments

sharshar 4 years 48 weeks

Not so meticulously (rough approximates usually), and more because I'm a light eater, not a weight watcher. I hate having too many leftovers on my plate.

Advah 4 years 49 weeks

Nope, but I should do that for rice and pasta. I always end up with too much for one meal but not enough for two.

UhHuhHer 4 years 49 weeks

Weight Watchers... I have too, or else I'd cheat too much.

Spectra 4 years 49 weeks

I never measure servings of fruits and veggies because it's pretty hard to eat TOO many fruits and veggies. But I do measure cereal, ice cream, meat, milk, and nuts.

JaimeLeah526 4 years 49 weeks

I'm counting calories so this is a crucial part of it.

serenavallentine 4 years 49 weeks

i was shocked to see some things i measured were way way more than i thought i was having. however, i eat special k cereal pretty much every morning and i was pretty much eating spot-on the right amount without even trying, i was pleased. i can't skimp on breakfast or my stomach burns with hunger!

SaraJeanQueen 4 years 49 weeks

Ehhh, yeah I don't measure out serving sizes. This is partly because I think that cereal, crackers, chips etc. lie on the nutrition facts anyway. Maybe we could look into THAT phenomenon... anyway, I usually go based on how FULL I am feeling when I'm done eating. However one time I ate a box of Apple Jacks in 2 days!! Oops....

nancita 4 years 49 weeks

I do for cereal, because otherwise I just pour way too much. My boyfriend always makes fun of me and I can't really blame him.

scottdavis0676 4 years 49 weeks

I measure or weigh EVERYTHING before consumption! That is how I got down to single digit body fat.

emalove 4 years 49 weeks

No, but I've never been one to eat large portions of anything...I'm more the type to have a few mini-meals during the day, not 3 big meals.

chicchick 4 years 49 weeks

I've been measuring ever since I started Weight Watchers. My husband even bought a food scale so we can identify just how much meat we're consuming. I'd say it's very helpful to measure!!

eclecticFLgirl 4 years 49 weeks

All the time!

eclecticFLgirl 4 years 49 weeks

All the time!

AMP 4 years 49 weeks

I measure things like quinoa and pasta, but everything else I'm pretty good at eyeballing.

kia 4 years 49 weeks

I measure every so often just to keep myself in check that I am up on the serving sizes I eyeball.

soulight 4 years 49 weeks

The only food I really try to do it with is cereal because just like some of the other posters I love to eat seconds when it comes to cereal, but recently I've been watching what I eat so giant bowls of cereal have got to go!

MindayH 4 years 49 weeks

I measure cereal - and milk.

MindayH 4 years 49 weeks

I measure cereal - and milk.

Francoisehardly 4 years 49 weeks

I measure or eyeball things and check the serving size. If I didn't check serving sizes and do some measuring I could easily end up having too many calories. I remember once I bought this bag of chocolates. If I hadn't read the serving size/calories for each serving, I would have probably had the whole thing at once when a small amount has a ridiculous amount of calories. I should also mention that after noticing that, I never bought it again. And paying attention to these things also prevents me from wasting time buying things that have way too many calories for such a small portion. I don't think it takes that much effort or time to measure some things.

Leilanic1 4 years 49 weeks

i measure my cereal, my rice and pasta. everything else is pretty much eyeballed.

mondaymoos 4 years 49 weeks

I measure out my snacks if they're not the healthiest. I'm a Wheat Thin addict, and if I don't count out exactly one serving, I know I'll end up eating the whole box.

neonbee 4 years 49 weeks

Sometimes I do. I guess it depends on what I'm eating.

lolababy575 4 years 49 weeks

I don't have the time to measure out my portions but most of my stuff is fruits and veggies and I just eat slowly until I feel full. Lots of small healthy snacks keeps me from over-eating throughout the day, so I haven't gone this route yet. I'm big on "handfuls" measurements - hand of grapes and a hand of almonds is usually enough, an apple fits, etc. Avoid eating more than a "fist size" portion of pasta or protein during one sitting. It's fast but still helps me think about how much I'm putting in.

mwjank 4 years 49 weeks

There are some things that I measure out almost always, like nuts and cheese, b/c I would be taking a huge calorie hit for eating more than I think I am. Cereal I sometimes measure, but no I can pretty reliably eyeball 1 1/2 servings Kashi Go Lean with 1 cup berries. Mmmm. For a while when I was trying to lose pregnancy weight I measured almost everything. What makes me mad is that I found that the measuring cup type measurements do not always match up with the weight measurements that the box lists as a serving size. I would measure out say a cup of cereal (what the box lists as a serving), then weigh the cereal - weight of the measuring cup, and the cereal weight would be more than the box says a serving should be. This happens a lot. Companies would probably argue that it is due to the product "settling" during transit or what have you, but it seems awfully dishonest because this is almost always going to happen. Now I just end up rounding up the calories when I use measuring cups or use the food scale instead.

mwjank 4 years 49 weeks

There are some things that I measure out almost always, like nuts and cheese, b/c I would be taking a huge calorie hit for eating more than I think I am.Cereal I sometimes measure, but no I can pretty reliably eyeball 1 1/2 servings Kashi Go Lean with 1 cup berries. Mmmm.For a while when I was trying to lose pregnancy weight I measured almost everything. What makes me mad is that I found that the measuring cup type measurements do not always match up with the weight measurements that the box lists as a serving size. I would measure out say a cup of cereal (what the box lists as a serving), then weigh the cereal - weight of the measuring cup, and the cereal weight would be more than the box says a serving should be. This happens a lot. Companies would probably argue that it is due to the product "settling" during transit or what have you, but it seems awfully dishonest because this is almost always going to happen. Now I just end up rounding up the calories when I use measuring cups or use the food scale instead.

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41 Comments

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