calories Counting Calories Dessert

What’s REALLY a Serving Size?

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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29 Comments

  1. Karen P

    I stopped eating ice cream- even the low fat stuff. Total binge food for me. I was hooked on the sugar.

    I switched over to weighing food in grams rather than measuring cups (no junk food) during weight loss and maintenance.

    I know you know that you can make a mini-mountain out of a half cup measure! Mine would look more like Mt. Hood than a level half cup. And a half cup always lead to more eating for me.

    A good food scale cured all slippery slope measuring thinking. 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Oh I totally know what you mean about the mountain of ice cream and bingeing. Ice cream was my trigger food for a long time. Sometimes I go through phases where I buy it often and it doesn’t stick around very long. Then I’ll go through phases where I won’t buy it for months. I really like the individual serving size ice cream containers when I feel like I might not be able to control the binge tendencies!

  2. Robyn

    Yeah ice cream is so tricky like that! I wasn’t a big ice cream eater to begin with but once i realized how tiny a “service size” was I realized it just wasn’t worth it for me, ice cream treats on sticks or in little cups tend to work better for me than trying to scoop such a small amount from the carton and being happy with it

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I agree! The single servings or the “treat” type sandwiches that are individually wrapped are good ideas.

  3. Cindy

    Most of the time if I want ice cream I go get a small cone or a tiny single serving sized ice cream. Sometimes we do end up with a bigger container of ice cream, and there is no way we get the correct amount of serving sizes out.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Yes! I love those. And you can buy a few that are different flavors, which is nice when your craving changes. 🙂

  4. Michelle @ Eat Move Balance

    I remember being so disappointed the first time I learned what a serving size of ice cream is supposed to be. What a bummer, right!?

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Totally a bummer! And sometimes it would make feel guilty because I knew it wouldn’t last how many serving sizes it said it was…

  5. Lori

    I don’t eat a lot of ice cream. It’s not something I crave. I do like frozen yogurt and we bike for that quite often. I actually took a digital scale with me once to weigh their serving size because they touted the Only 8 as having 35 calories, which is does in a 1 ounce size – and they were serving 5 ounces! That way I could ballpark the calories from then on.

    I actually find that when I weigh stuff out, I don’t always get the specified amount out of the carton of anything. Not sure what is up with that. Occasionally it will be extra, but usually not.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s cool you took a scale with you. Smart!

      And I agree, weighing things gets a way different result than measuring it out.

  6. Carrie @ Season It Already!

    I recently bought a pint of Coconut “Ice Cream” that was non-dairy and made with coconut milk. I was intrigued because I had a coupon. There were four 1/2 cup servings in that baby, but the servings were 240 calories each!

    It was soooooo good though. I have dishes that measure to the half cup, so I made sure to have the right serving size. It’s difficult for me, though, because I grew up eating big bowls of ice cream as a snack in the evening!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Oh man, I want that ice cream! I love coconut. It’s definitely higher in calories than I’d normally get but it sounds so good. Maybe as a one time only treat….

  7. I ❤ 2 Eat

    I don’t buy ice cream very often…in fact, I don’t remember the last time I bought it, but I ate it at a dinner party a couple of weeks ago. And it was two scoops. Not huge scoops, but still more than just one serving!

  8. Trevor

    I’d say that tub looks to be about a serving . . . for me anyway. Seriously, I rarely eat ice cream, but when I do I will eat an entire pint in one sitting. And more if I made the mistake of buying two pints.

    The serving sizes listed on food labels are unrealistic and ridiculous. They are not based on any sort of reality other than trying to keep the calories looking small. Serving sizes are just another mindgame, courtesy of the food industry.

    Cheers!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      You are not far off, Trevor. Back in the day a serving size of ice cream for me was also the entire carton. It was a very VERY hard habit to break. I didn’t eat ice cream for 2 years while I was losing my weight and it took a long time after I reached goal weight to allow ice cream in my house. I was nervous that I’d fall back into bad habits. Thankfully that hasn’t been the case in the last few years.

  9. Jessie

    Great post! I’ve always found ice cream to be one of those foods that seem to get you all the time when it comes to how much you truly are eating.

    Have a wonderful weekend
    <3

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thanks, Jessie, I agree!

  10. Stacie @ Snaps and Bits

    I love the slow churned ice cream! 1/2c is not enough. Luckily, I only want ice cream when it’s hot out (although then I want it bad).

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I agree, half a cup is nothing.

  11. Nick Goodall

    12?! Seriously? I’m impressed that you’d be getting 6 out of it normally! These ‘serving suggestions’ can be crafty little buggers, it gets to the point where you can’t eat because 1 serving of everything just doesn’t suffice.. Maybe that’s just ice cream though. Ever tried making your own ice cream? Maybe you could add an extra scoop to your serving calorie wise, depending on how you make it.

    Thanks Lisa!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’ve never tried making my own ice cream but it’s something I’ve wanted to do–especially seeing so many recipes for your own frozen yogurt on pinterest. Have you made your own?

      1. Nick Goodall

        Yeah! We have an ice cream maker, simply put in the ingredients, then stick it in the freezer (simplified version), can also make sorbets etc. Tastes amazing! 🙂

        1. Lisa Eirene

          That sounds great! And so much healthier.

      2. Christi in MA

        homemade ice cream and frozen yogurt is really easy and yummy! my mom gave my DH a cuisinart ice cream maker one year for Christmas so he’s our ice cream maker. Is there a cool word like barrista for an ice cream creator? Like a cowista or a coneista?

        1. Lisa Eirene

          Haha! Cowista. I like it!

  12. Logan @ Mountains and Miles

    Ha, 1. I just do not keep things like ice cream or chips in the house. I have 0 self control. When I am craving ice cream (which isn’t actually that often), I usually just by the little mini single-serving ones they have at the grocery store. It still amazes me that they are like 200+ calories for such a little container!!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’ve been doing similar…not keeping ice cream in the house and instead going out for frozen yogurt once in awhile.

  13. Christi in MA

    If I buy ice cream at the supermarket, it’s the good stuff like Talenti gelato. A spoonful or two is completely satisfying. I don’t buy it often because for me ice cream is a summer food. I like to go out for ice cream at the local dairy. I get the big 3 scoops in a cup and it lasts in the freezer for about a week. I just have a little every night.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I haven’t had gelato in years. I need to give it another try.

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