Serving sizes

[Night Elf]

Is there a rule to follow when calculating serving sizes? I see some people say they can only eat one serving size of such and such food. Is that individual? A serving size for one person won't be the same for the next person? I've heard many veggies can be eaten in any amount, but some veggies and fruits should be kept to a single serving size. Do my questions make sense?

[Carrie12345]

I think it depends on what exactly you're aiming for.  The percentages listed on most things are with a set number of daily calories in mind. (I want to say most are based on 1800 calories?)  If you aim for a different number of calories, those percentages don't work, but the actual calories/fat/nutritional content is what it is for the measured amount and you may need/want more or less.

[zoobie]

It depends on how the item is prepared and the calorie count. Raisins and grapes are the same basic fruit, but a cup of each is very different! People usually limit fruits and vegetables that are very high in sugar/carbs and calories. You would have to try really hard to eat enough celery to make a dent in your daily caloric intake (or however you calculate body fuel), but something like corn is high in sugar or avocados are high in calories and fats (good fats, granted!).

[regentrude]

I find the idea of a prescribed "serving size" ridiculous. Who is making this decision and based on what?

The concept makes no sense to me, since the serving size for item A will depend on how much of items B and C are included with the meal, and also on who the eater is. A serving size of pasta for middle age me bears no relation to a serving size of pasta for my 16 y/o athlete son.

 

[LisaKinVA]

Oh, as I agree whole-heartedly with Regentrude here -- let me also say, that I have now eaten at restaurants throughout many parts of Europe (most of which do NOT cater to Americans).  The idea that America's portions are so far and away huge compared to the rest of the world is not true.

 

What we do differently is package meals together...when I buy a steak, I get a salad, a potato item, steak and a cooked veggie (often times, this may still be more than I want/need).  When I order in Italy (and it was the same way in the Netherlands, in France, and Portugal), I order my salad, my main course (in Italy, this is pasta or rice, sometimes with meat -- sometimes not), a meat, and a veggie/fruit separately.  The portions are HUGE (and they are not meant for multiple people to share).  THAT said, most people don't order from every portion of the menu during a meal (unless they are there for hours...which isn't atypical, either.

 

I think we (Americans - we), have a bigger issue of eating only when we are hungry (vs. bored), and eating until we are satisfied (not stuffed).  Those hunger cues get messed up because we don't drink enough water, have cheap "snack foods", and most of what we have available is not nutrient dense and void of a lot of the things our body needs.

 

Also, how much protein a person needs varies from body type, gender and type of activity.  I can tell you that if I ate the "recommended" amount of protein for my gender/age/weight, I would feel awful (I *do* feel awful), I need more protein.  I can also tell you that if I don't allow myself grains, I get a bit depressed. 

[mamaraby]

It depends on how the item is prepared and the calorie count. Raisins and grapes are the same basic fruit, but a cup of each is very different! People usually limit fruits and vegetables that are very high in sugar/carbs and calories. You would have to try really hard to eat enough celery to make a dent in your daily caloric intake (or however you calculate body fuel), but something like corn is high in sugar or avocados are high in calories and fats (good fats, granted!).

Corn high in sugar? 100g of sweet corn kernels has 3.2g of sugar. An equal quantity of peas has more. So does carrots. An equal quantity of sliced apples has about the same amount of fiber as corn and 10g of sugar. Plus, all of the above comes in under 100 calories.

 

IMO the low carb movement has mucked up our relationship with fruit and vegetables and the GI isn't particularly helpful. I eat vegetables ad libitum with a few exceptions because my goal is weight reduction. If it weren't then I'd never give it another thought. For me the measuring stick is calorie density so I limit avocados and olives fairly strictly, and eat fruit and starchy veg only slightly less than ad libitum.

 

Most vegetables would hit your satiety mechanisms before you'd be able to overeat them.

 

As for what counts as a serving? That's greatly depends on who you are asking. The USDA guidelines are something like 1 1/2c of fruit a day and anywhere from 2-3c of vegetables a day depending on age.

[Night Elf]

Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Some serving sizes seem arbitrary. I didn't realize they were based on a specific daily calorie goal. If it's something much higher than I eat myself, I can see that being a hard thing to calculate. The fact is that I lost weight following Weight Watchers and am used to tracking all food I eat. On things I eat that have a label, I follow the suggested serving size. When I eat something like rice or mashed potatoes, I eat half a cup because that is what fits in my daily goal. I make choices based on what else I eat. I've never paid attention to anyone's suggestion to eat a certain number of fruits and veggies. Now that I'm maintaining my weight, I'm looking at changing how I eat a little. I'd like to eat more fruits and veggies but it's a hard transition. I'm really a big fan of packaged, processed foods. It's an area of nutrition I'd like to address.

[Wildcat]

I think serving sizes for meats, fruit, and veg come from the RDA ---- if we should have a certain % of this or that vitamin or mineral, a serving size was "created" to match that amount (daily total, then divvied up by meal, etc).

 

For things like processed foods, baked goods, whatever, it was the food industry. I seem to remember something that was published years go, back when portion size and calorie count became popular and the average person started looking closely at each, saying that each manufacturer created a 'serving size' that would make its product seem healthier than it was so the calorie count/fat count would be in alignment with a competitor/the RDA, etc.

 

Take, for example, a chocolate bar. Just yesterday, dh and I compared labels of dark chocolate bars. At first glance, the sugar content was nearly identical, and the weight of the bars were exactly the same weight. One would probably think they were the same and wonder "Cool, do I want the dark chocolate with the hint of orange, or do I want the dark chocolate with sea salt?" However, the one with sea salt was, oddly, much higher in sugar because that one bar had 2.5 servings per bar when the one with orange had 2 servings per bar, so a serving of the one with salt was smaller than the serving size of the one with orange. Same manufacturer.  Cereals are notorious for doing this.... one cereal's serving size might be 3/4 cup, while another one is 1/4 cup. Who the heck eats just 1/4 cup of cereal?? If one just looks at calories, they seem the same, but then you look at the serving size, and the sugars (and fats, etc) are very different.

 

We figure serving size isn't as important as the "fine print" and we read everything.

[Night Elf]

Oh, another reason I'm asking is because I was looking at my old accounts on Spark People and My Fitness Pal. I entered my weight and that I wanted to maintain and the daily calorie counts stunned me. They are higher than I've found I require to maintain my weight. Also, there is no allowance to change specific goals like how many grams of carbs I want to eat. So I continue to track by hand in a notebook so I can keep up with the numbers that mean the most to me.

[nevergiveup]

I look at "serving size" not as a recommendation on how much I should eat, but rather just a means of reporting how many calories and nutrients are in a certain size portion.

Then, it is up to each individual as to how much they want to be consuming.

[regentrude]

the best example for how arbitrary serving sizes are was the bizarre labeling of a package of slim jims that contained 9 slim jims. The nutrition information informed us that these were 8 servings. That's just nuts.

[LisaKinVA]

Oh, another reason I'm asking is because I was looking at my old accounts on Spark People and My Fitness Pal. I entered my weight and that I wanted to maintain and the daily calorie counts stunned me. They are higher than I've found I require to maintain my weight. Also, there is no allowance to change specific goals like how many grams of carbs I want to eat. So I continue to track by hand in a notebook so I can keep up with the numbers that mean the most to me.

 

Then, those calculators are wrong for you.  If you feel satisfied, have energy to do what you need to do on a daily basis -- then you don't need to eat a lot more.  I tend to be more on the opposite side.  I need more calories than the calculators provide.  

 

There was a diet plan many, many years ago based upon exchanges -- if you look at what you've been eating, and in general just "exchange" some bread for some fruit, you could do that.  Non-startcy veg you can usually never overeat -- I don't even bother counting the servings, weighing or measuring any of that.  I buy smaller fruits (berries, small apples, smaller oranges, smaller bananas), because I don't like worrying about a half of this or a half of that.

 

For me, it would work out this way:  Instead of a slice of my homemade bread with peanut butter, I eat a small apple with peanut butter.  They are usually about the same calorie-wise, but the 2nd one is sweeter.  Usually, I have strawberries in my yogurt -- but I really want a good "crunch" -- so today, I put some granola with almonds in my yogurt instead.  No, it's not exact -- but for *me* grains and fruits tend to balance each other out pretty well.  If I want to eat more fruits, I usually lower my grains.

[regentrude]

I look at "serving size" not as a recommendation on how much I should eat, but rather just a means of reporting how many calories and nutrients are in a certain size portion. Then, it is up to each individual as to how much they want to be consuming.

 

In other parts of the world, that is done by reporting the calories and nutrients per standard amount of mass, i.e. 100 grams.

Alas, that would require people to be capable of doing math....

[zoobie]

Corn high in sugar? 100g of sweet corn kernels has 3.2g of sugar. An equal quantity of peas has more. So does carrots. An equal quantity of sliced apples has about the same amount of fiber as corn and 10g of sugar. Plus, all of the above comes in under 100 calories.

 

IMO the low carb movement has mucked up our relationship with fruit and vegetables and the GI isn't particularly helpful. I eat vegetables ad libitum with a few exceptions because my goal is weight reduction. If it weren't then I'd never give it another thought. For me the measuring stick is calorie density so I limit avocados and olives fairly strictly, and eat fruit and starchy veg only slightly less than ad libitum.

 

Most vegetables would hit your satiety mechanisms before you'd be able to overeat them.

 

As for what counts as a serving? That's greatly depends on who you are asking. The USDA guidelines are something like 1 1/2c of fruit a day and anywhere from 2-3c of vegetables a day depending on age.

However you want to phrase it--eating corn affects blood sugar more like a grain than a stalk of celery. Not all vegetables and fruits are created equal. Corn was the random example that popped in my head. Popcorn, corn syrup... No honey, that big bowl of popcorn is not "just like eating a salad." (My DH's joke.)

[Barb_]

A good food scale is about $25. Measure grams instead of volume. You will be shocked at what a serving size of cereal, rice or pasta looks like.

 

I use a rule of thumb that a serving size of fruits and veggies are about 90 grams.

[Amy in NH]

When I'm planning dinner, I try to have the four food groups: protein, starch, vege, calcium.  If I'm serving corn I count it as a starch.

[sarasue7272]

However you want to phrase it--eating corn affects blood sugar more like a grain than a stalk of celery. Not all vegetables and fruits are created equal. Corn was the random example that popped in my head. Popcorn, corn syrup... No honey, that big bowl of popcorn is not "just like eating a salad." (My DH's joke.)

 

Corn is a grain.

[Barb_]

Oh, another reason I'm asking is because I was looking at my old accounts on Spark People and My Fitness Pal. I entered my weight and that I wanted to maintain and the daily calorie counts stunned me. They are higher than I've found I require to maintain my weight. Also, there is no allowance to change specific goals like how many grams of carbs I want to eat. So I continue to track by hand in a notebook so I can keep up with the numbers that mean the most to me.

Two things. Maybe you have your activity level set too high? Also you can adjust your carbs (or anything else) by going into "Goals" then "custom" instead of guided.

 

Does that help at all?

[mamaraby]

However you want to phrase it--eating corn affects blood sugar more like a grain than a stalk of celery. Not all vegetables and fruits are created equal. Corn was the random example that popped in my head. Popcorn, corn syrup... No honey, that big bowl of popcorn is not "just like eating a salad." (My DH's joke.)

Eh, it's more complicated than that.

 

For a snack, dh and I often pop 1/2c of popcorn in an air popper and share it. We don't add anything to it. It's low in fat and sodium, high in fiber, and very filling. We eat lots of potatoes, rice, bananas, etc. Dh has lost 22lbs since the second week of January and I've lost 19 and change. My fasting blood sugar's lower than it's ever been. By the GI measure I should be packing on the pounds and have out of control blood sugar levels. Meh, not so much.

 

OP - MFP will allow you to customize your macros and calorie intake if you go to the website. Go to goals and choose custom instead of guided. You know what works for you so adjust total calorie intake and chamce the macro percentages until you get one that fits your goals. I do that, except the other way as I prefer a higher carb percentage and a lower fat percentage than the MFP default. If you've got something that works, stick with it.

[Night Elf]

I didn't realize I can change the goals in MFP. That is indeed helpful.