Portion sizes

How much are you eating at a meal? How many calories a day are you consuming?

Hi there Ruth! I track everything on sparkpeople.com and I usually average around 870 calories on a good day. Sometimes I go more than that and sometimes I'm under that but that usually is the "magic" number! For portions, it totally depends ... last night I ate some chili and I measured out 1/2 a cup but then I added some shredded cheese to it and about 10 Frito chips (eeeks!). But I was very full after that. As far as meat, I don't really measure it but I would guess I get 1-2 ounces depending on how tough it is. One day for lunch I had 1.5 ounces of tuna mixed with mayo and relish and put it on half a slice of toasted bread. That fills me up completely. How much are you eating? I'd love to compare and see how much everyone else is eating! Deanna

It depends on what I am eating. Chill I can eat about 4 oz and I am full thats not counting the cheese. I can eat about 1 1/2 cups of salad. I can eat 1 cup of soup. I think we should be somewhere between 1/2 cup and a cup. My doctor dosen't want us to go over a cup per meal. I am not quite there yet. Lorraine

I'm averaging around 700 calories a day. Portion sizes...For me they still seem pretty small. But it has been improving. Today I had a South Beach diet wrap sandwich kit (Sesame chicken YUMMY). It comes with two wraps..but i only used one. I was able to eat all but one bite of it. I can't wait to hear all the responses for this one!

Ruth, These are good questions!!!I will be interested to see what everyone else is doing!!!Me, I have not been measuring anything-I usually eat until I feel full-I do take the 15-30 min to eat. I usually guestimate(is that a word??)the size- for breakfast I usually have 1 scrambled egg with cheese or 1 package of quaker weight control oatmeal(some days I can eat the whole package other only half the package).Today I had last nights chili for lunch & It was maybe 1/2 to 3/4 cup. I feel really full right now.The other day I ordered steak from Steak Out(a delivery place) & they have a 1 & 1/2 oz steak cup & a small side salad-was able to eat all the meat & half the salad.So I think I am doing ok on the portion sizes!!What do you think???I go to see my dr Nov 9th & this is one of my questions. As far as calories go I really don't count-I just try to make sure I get 60gm protein & 64 oz water/fluid.I am still losing I lost 11lbs last month. So as long as it keeps coming off I am ok if it really slows down then I might start counting everything. For the last 2 wks I lost nothing, nada then yesterday I cheated with a half a piece of original crust pizza & lost 2 lbs. go figure!!Anyways Good Post!!Can't wait to see the responses. ~Missy~

Hey Ruth and everyone else! I have been averaging 700-900 calories a day for a month or two. The amount I eat depends on the type of food. But, generally I know that I can eat 6-8 ounces of chili like substance if I take awhile to eat it. But I can't eat more than 4 ounces of meat at one time...baked chicken, steak or even meatloaf. I guess it's more dense. My nut. recommended 3 oz. of meat and 1 oz. of veggie. Gives a bit more variety I guess. Rachael

I am eating max. 1 cup of food for a main meal, depending on it's consistancy. For breakfast I can eat 1 english muffin with Peanut Butter - only half if it has melted cheese, or half to full portion of oatmeal (pre-packed stuff) or 1 egg and for lunch hardly anything at all - 1 cracker, with tuna. I stopped major snacking a few weeks ago, but very occassionally have a 100 calorie pack. I think I average around 500 - 800 calories a day. I wasn't sure how I compared to others in how much I am eating and wondered if I was eating too much which is why I did this post . I've been really interested in reading the other replys. Very helpful. Thanks everyone

i track everything i eat on fitday.com. my avg calorie intake is 1000 per day. serving size depends on how hungry i am and how dense the food is, also what time of the day it is. i'm usually less hungry at breakfast, little more at lunch and by dinner i'm usually really hungry. it seems like i eat more calories than many of you. my dr wants me to be up to 1200 by 6 months, so i thought i was doing pretty good. ???? who knows, we are all so different. today is my 5 month date and 63 pounds down. Deb 229/166/129 (38 pounds to go- will i ever get there?????)

I haven't been counting calories or carbs. At six weeks, I began having such eating issues, I didn't think it was really that important. Although, now lately, I'm able to eat some new foods and keep them down and I've noticed that I eat anywhere between 1/4-1/2 cup of whatever/meal. When I eat the Weight control oatmeal, I measure out 1/4 cup and then I add FF half and half. Sometimes I cut up 1/4 of a small banana with my oatmeal, when I do, I take a least one spoonful of the oatmeal out of my bowl to compensate for the banana. Overall, I'm trying to limit my portion size to no more than 1/2 cup/meal.

I try and eat 3 oz of chicken and some days I can. I can eat a Wendys chili small, and sometimes eat an egg for breakfast. I average about 800 calories or under. Deanna, I went to sparkpeople.com and really liked it. It great for ideas and tracking food intake