Hey Vix, for food, the oz or grams always refers to weight, not volume. Volume measurements using ounces will refer to liquids rather than solid foods. Sorry, I didn't understand earlier that this was the source of the confusion (although I should have caught on when you said you measured 2oz without a scale ).

Rice? 1/2 cup cooked has about 100 cals. Rice is one of the things I measure cooked and by volume rather than weight. Easy peasy.

Absolutely by a good scale! This is probably one of the most important weightloss tools if you are calorie counting.

I measure EVERYTHING when I am at home. This helps me when eating out because I have really developed an eye for estimating portion sizes.

I have a Salter which measures mg, oz and fl oz. Plus it has a button to reset so you can keep adding ingredients or items to your plate and not need to do the math to subtract each measurement.

I got mine at Linen n Things.

Lori

Just jumping in here... I bought a fantastic scale from Target for $30 that is large and easy to read and ACCURATE. I believe it was by Mark Graves or something... it might actually be the only one they sell in the stores.

I use a postage scale with a small plate on top. I'm not going to be measuring foods beyond a pound!

Barilla makes a "Pasta Plus" that has better nutrition but doesn't taste like whole wheat pasta.

One cup of cooked pasta = around 200 cals. I usually eat only 1/2 cup because I prefer to "spend" calories on other foods.

Yes, it's an eye opener! But after awhile you learn better how to eyeball what you are eating. For example, I know that 1 ounce of cheddar cheese is about two 1/4-inch slices from a standard rectangular brick. I know this because I've measured it many times.

You'll get the hang of it!

Jay

They don't really taste like pasta - but I like shirataki noodles made with soy. A whole bag is only 40 calories. Over here in CA I find them at Whole Foods or Safeway in the same section as the Tofu.

And of course, the ever-popular spaghetti squash option (which really doesn't taste like pasta, but it's an interesting, tasty dish in its own right).

I would definitely recommend a food scale. After all this time, I still weigh pasta, turkey for sandwiches, soy chips etc.

LOL I know what you mean... I probably used to eat 3 or 4 servings at a time!