Portion Sizes.... My shock at discovering MY portion of CEREAL was 5 times what the box recommennded!!!!

[MUM23ASD]

I love the Special K cereal- Oats and Honey- and realkised that a box was only serving me 3 times!!! So I weighed what i had as a portion....and it weighed 150g!!!!

I looked on the box and they recomend 30g ....which seems tiny to me.

I then weighed out a 'smaller' but 'adequate' portion0- and that was 60g.... so am trying to manage with that.....

Today i made porrige with 50g oats, semi milk and added 10g dates. however- not quite 'datey/sweet' enough- so 2morrow will try 20g dates.

I know what you mean, it's shocking isn't it! I now use a very small bowl for my cereal and it didn't take me long to adjust.

I like chopped apple on my porridge if you are looking for a bit more sweetness and fibre without too many more calories.

looking back...i used a normal sized bowl for ages...but gradually crammed more in to the point when as soon as you add the milk it falls out of the sides!

So...rather than reduce the portion...i increases the bowl size!!! (next stop using mixing bowl...which i really must refrain from!!!!)

So smaller bowl it is!!!

Also am aware how 'calorie loaded' some so called healthy cerals are... and that I could probaby have a larger portion of a 'plainer' cereal- instead of the special K one- so will look into that too.

I actually LOVE the porridge with dates.... but again realsied (by wighing) that i was adding same weight of dates as oats...which may taste YUMMY... but hardly likely to help my weight!!!

So will try apple- and another porridge version i love is mashed bannana

I think this is one of the good things about being on a calorie-controlled diet - when you weigh things and go by recommended portion sizes it does make you realise how much you have been eating!

BI'mWit....yes...I have really focussede today on weighing EVERYTHING and am gobsmacked at even 'healthy' fruit I am eating 'far too much'...I have irritable bowel and have been advised to not simply gorge on 1 fruit- such as grapes...in the belief that it's 'healthy'..

I also got to thinking about simply keeping a food diary for a few days...weighing 'portions' of food- so that in future i can at a glance measure what i should be having....

when i did slimming world, I worked out after a short while that a 'portion' of cheese was approx '25 gratings of a block of cheese' and i got to accurately 'grab' the right ammount if i had grated loads more for the family.

Lol at this Mum23!

I suspect I would be the same for me if I measured.

You are being remarkably good humoured.

"25 gratings from a block of cheese", pmsl.

{wink} minty!

Thing is- I have OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder)... and have had counselling for binge eating... so this portion malarky is becoming my latest 'obsession'!!!

Thing is.... its a good obsession...as long as i eat 'normally' but in smaller ammounts....when i saw a dietician last summer she said its not WHAT i eat...but HOW MUCH I EAT...but she admitted 'defeat' as she does not 'work with people with mental health/psychological issues'.....so i was reffered back to the mental health team- and am still waiting for more 'eating disorder' advice!!!

alot of my OCD is about 'control' and though I am the complete opposite of 'anorexic'...I understand alot of anorexia is about 'control' ...

I am aware that some reading this will think my 'weighing' and 'counting' of food is totally ridiculous... and IF i were doing it in TINY ammounts...yes, would appear very WORRYING.... but I weigh 13st2lb and am only 5'2".... and am still likely to be eating 2000+ calories a day on my reduced diet!!!!

I've been calorie counting since Monday . I am targeting 1200 calories per day.

It is a revelation to realise what a portion size is. I don't really like cereal, but am having Raisin Bran every morning to keep me away from bread or from being ultra hungry mid morning. 30g is just fine for me .

I've been weighing everything I make at home and logging the nutritional information onto Food Focus (which was linked here last week and what inspired me to get started). The kids think I am bonkers, but it has got them reading food labels which is no bad thing.

Just started calorie counting too and am gobsmacked at how little I knew about the actual calorie content of things, despite thinking I did. It was silly things like the number of calories in a piece of baguette. I used to have foot long ones with egg mayo and salad. Yikes!!

Now understand why my "healthy" salad lunches of crusty bread, houmous, coleslaw, potato salad, avocado etc were not helping me lose weight and have joined Food Focus to keep me on the straight and narrow!

eating slowly really really helps too

I weighed out a portion once nas dwas equally amazed at how much I had been eating. I think recommended calorie intake guides on the sides of food packets are a waste of space. They should have a picture of how big the portion should be.

The mutipack boxes you buy for children are like this. They are titchy and ds is still hungry after eating one, he's not a big boy and his weight is normal for his age and size. I think they are packing too much sugar in them and making the portion size smaller to make up for it, knowing no one will eat a 30g portion. Sneeky!

I use a ramekin as a breakfast bowl

BALD are you a munchkin

do you sleep in a matchbox

heh heh heh

It's my way of staying slim(ish)

rofl at munchkin

I also use a ramekin.

I read that special K got in trouble for some advertising last year when they said their cereal kept you 'fuller for longer'.

Turned out they were using a 50g portion instead of the usual advertised 30g portion!

So, hey 1/3 box should keep you full till at least supper time

Bear in mind that the smaller the portion size on the pack, the less salt and sugar the food appears to contain at a glance (box on front). I always check the per 100g values on the back to make a proper comparison...

So often the "portion size" used is IMVHO a touch on the small side for a normal person!

Like if you buy a ready meal for two people which has "only 3 g fat" or something emblazoned all over it. Then you get it home and open it and there is about enough food for a semi-weaned baby...

MUM23ASD - fruit is healthy in that it contains fibre and vitamins. However, it also has a huge amount of sugar. Even if this is natural sugar, too much of it is not good for you. As an IBS sufferer, one of the things that is a trigger for me is too much carbohydrate.

Also, for any of you approaching the menopause, too much sugar can trigger hot flushes. Cutting down on the sugar will therefore also help in this regard!