I am a college student and although I have been counting calories as best I can, I often have to eyeball it. This is because I eat dinner everyday and often lunch in a cafeteria where I cannot weigh anything, and the cafeteria actually does have calorie counts for main entrees, but it is often things like x amount of calories per 4 ounces, which kind of leaves me hanging and I TRY to estimate how much 4 ounces would be but it's not easy. Problem is that I can't measure in the cafeteria, and that is a great deal of my food intake. I will be home in a month and over the summer I can measure my food, and when I come back in August I should be able to buy a food scale (I have almost NO money right now!) so I can at least measure my food I eat outside the cafeteria such as cereal, but for now I'm forced to eyeball it, which I know isn't good, but, at least with the cafeteria, it's unavoidable.
Now, I've been eating a lot BETTER foods... my dinner tends to be a glass of milk, a salad with a LITTLE bit of thousand island (making sure to go as light on the dressing as possible), often a little brown rice and/or some tasty veggies, so those don't worry me too much. What worries me is having the main entrees. I always go for the ones that aren't super high in calories and are both healthy AND taste good but I'm still worried about figuring out. I've tried rounding up for safety, like if I think "That's probably about 2-3 cups of rice" going with the 3 cups in case, but is there anything else I can do for good measure (hahaha a pun!), since I can't measure my food? I'm definitely eating much more reasonable portions now than I used to, but I'm still worried I guess.

Hi there! I lost a lot of weight my freshman year of college and I ate in the cafeteria all the time. (I wasn't even trying to lose weight, so it is possible).

Have you seen websites like this? They might be helpful.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy-e...res/index.html

I also eat at least one, often two meals a day in a college cafeteria. I use Fitday to estimate my calories, and I honestly rarely measure things anyway. I try to focus on what I'm eating more than how much. Overeating is not really a problem for me so much as just eating the wrong things. If you're confidant with your portion sizes, then as long as you're making healthy choices, I wouldn't be too worried about the calorie estimation.

Who is satisfied on two ounces of pasta lol. Seriously a tennis ball amount size is not enough for me! I have at least 3x that- no wonder I don't eat pasta anymore It's one of my triggers

Back on topic, I was also going to suggest things like your meat portion should be I believe 1/4 of your plate, veggies half your plate, and the other quarter things like your rice or pasta's or whatever.

I am in the same boat as you too! i go to a large unversity and I try to eat small portions of eerything but, i really dont find it hard at all to track my calories at all. I usually make a turkey sandwich and have a side of veggies. I always drink water. I also track calories from the main dishes that the serve adn i just guess with dailyplate what the calories would be with somthing similar that i could get at a restaurant for example.

I am in the same boat. Luckily thursday I am going home for the summer. I just try to focus more on what I am eating more than how much. I started about a week ago and I have lost 4 lbs through diet and exersices. It's possible, just eat healthy, drink lots of water, and use your gym!