I have been using this little pyrex bowl for cereal. I know it holds 1/2 cup. I then cover the cereal with milk and called that a 1/2 cup. Forgetting all my highschool physics and displacement. I decided today to measure the milk. It's only a 1/4 of a cup! I've been short changing myself.
I'm sure this mostly happens the other way when we 'eyeball' servings.
Remember to measure for accuracy!
My dh was always telling me (I record his FitDay) he had a "tablespoon" of peanut butter. One day, I saw his "tablespoon". It was actually about a 1/4 cup! I measured out a Tablespoon, put it on a plate and showed it to him. He didn't want to see it
My dh was always telling me (I record his FitDay) he had a "tablespoon" of peanut butter. One day, I saw his "tablespoon". It was actually about a 1/4 cup! I measured out a Tablespoon, put it on a plate and showed it to him. He didn't want to see it
That's funny!!
I've been trying to measure my things as well, although sometimes I skip even when I know I shouldn't. I picked up a little kitchen scale and today I started weighing certain foods, too. It's definitely an eye-opener sometimes!
I weigh and measure just about everything, even milk. When I have milk in the morning, I put my cup on my digital scale and measure out exactly 8 ounces. Unless I have Slimfast, then I usually go about 10 ounces to make it stretch a little further.
My dh was always telling me (I record his FitDay) he had a "tablespoon" of peanut butter. One day, I saw his "tablespoon". It was actually about a 1/4 cup! I measured out a Tablespoon, put it on a plate and showed it to him. He didn't want to see it
That very same thing happened in our kitchen last month! Too funny!
My husband who is also counting calories with me, was heaping the tb. with peanut butter too, and counting it as 1 tb. (what is it with men and PB?)...I showed him how to measure properly and that made all the difference in the world. He lost 4 pounds this week and I am so proud of him.
I weigh and measure everything, if I'm not sure of the weight of the food.
I do eat a lot of prepared food (like South Beach and other frozen dinners), so it's a breeze to know the calorie count. But for other items I'm not sure of, I do weigh and measure, so I can accurately predict my calories. I do this all the time, so during times when I'm away from home or eating out, I can eyeball pretty accurately.
I have lost 9.5 pounds painlessly counting calories (I follow the Calorie Queens Eucalorics formula), and I'll never stop eating this way!
Rich won't even eat PB anymore. Says "Peanut butter is to be eaten in gobs, not small amounts" .
I keep the kitchen scale on the counter, now, and have a container filled with precut wax paper sheets for weighing foods on next to it. Everyone in the house now measures before they eat. I explained that it isn't that they need to be obsessive with measuring, but unless they know what each serving size looks like, they won;t be able to estimate properly when eating out. (They are always amazed at my ability to guestimate caloric contents on food.)
I checked my guestimate on cheese the other day. I've been putting it into my online calculator as a square inch. Well I cut my square inch and grated it. It produced much more than I thought so I've been over estimating for months! So its definately worth checking!
No kidding...after a few weeks I thought I had a "good eye"...WRONG ! ! ! I am back to measuring.
SOME things I can get pretty much perfect. And I'll test myself now and then to make sure I'm still doing it right. Like the other day I was pouring some milk (I always use the same type of cup for my milk) and after I poured it, I weighed it to make sure I was still getting just 8 ounces. Right on the nose, 8 ounces exactly.
However, there are some things I'm terrible at measuring with guesses, so I always make sure I use my scale or measuring cups for certain foods.
I also measure or weigh everything. When using the digital scale, I prefer to weigh to the gram instead of the ounce because it easier to get "right on" with weight. I even measure the peanut butter. I just weigh the knife first and tare it back to zero. Then I'll dig into the PB jar and then weigh the knife again. (And then add or subtract the PB until it weighs a serving.) That way I'm not dirtying the tablespoon. I KNOW that I am not good at eye-balling things.
It's very important to measure your food!
That's funny!! 
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