ATD: How do I Measure Meat in Ounces?
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Question:
How can you tell how to measure meat in ounces when you’re new at learning how to eat healthy? What can you substitute a diet with if you don’t like eggs of any kind? — Yvonne S.
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Answer:
Dear Yvonne,
There are three ways you can measure how many ounces of meat your eating: First of all, when you buy meat in the grocery store it says on the label how many ounces are in the package. If you buy one pound of ground beef and plan to make four patties out of it, you will be eating a four ounce portion of meat. We usually allow for about 25% shrinkage when cooking, so you’ll end up with a three ounce portion.
Another way is to estimate your portion size based on household objects. A deck of cards is the size of three ounces of meat. So eye a piece of chicken breast, a filet of fish, or a steak and figure how many decks of cards it would stack up against.
And, finally, you can get a kitchen scale and literally weigh the meat just before you eat it. This is a good measure until you get an eye for how much you are eating.
In the end, you will have a much better idea of when you are eating four ounces, versus twelve ounces of meat, which will make a huge difference; whether or not you are eating 3.4 or 3.7 ounces really isn’t of a great consequence so there isn’t a need to get compulsive about weighing and measuring everything you eat for every meal–just until you get a good idea of how to eyeball an approximation.
Regarding eggs: if you are following a specific diet plan that says: “have an egg for breakfast” this can be substituted calorie-wise with an ounce of low-fat cheese, 1/3 cup of cottage cheese, 6 ounces of low-fat yogurt, or even an ounce of lean meat such as turkey. Peanut butter will work once in a while, but has a bit more fat than an egg (if you are also allowed a fat serving at that meal, such as a teaspoon of margarine) you can substitute the peanut butter (2 tbsp) for the margarine + the egg combined.
Happy dieting
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About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a Related posts:
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