Cup confusion!

I know it sounds really stupid please don't laugh at me!

I don't have a kitchen scale so i rely on my measuring cup for the portion. for things like rice or fluid i know how to measure, but how should i measure chucky stuff like... say potato. the way i chop the potato can make a lot of difference in volumn. if i chop them in chunks, 1 medium potato can fill up 2 cups. if they are in really fine pieces they are about 1 cup. and i'm sure a cup of potato mash weighs differenly than a cup of potato pieces. i mean... potato is easy because the site gives me a measure of" medium potato" so i can make reference to that.but for other stuffs, like i decided to cut the snap beans into small bits and i realise they only filled up half the volume as usual( i usually don't cut them). It's just very confusing...

am i too obsessed?

Try using grams instead. I use grams for everything, because it's much more accurate.

the problem is that i don't have a scale and not planning on buying one...

^^^yeah, but if she doesn't have a scale, that still won't help.

If you're talking low cal vegetables such as snap beans, spinach, etc, try not to sweat it. The difference is going to be negligible. Take this coming from a person who is in recovery from her obsessive measuring and counting...give yourself a break. You're developing better habits and getting a better idea of portion sizes. Are you going to measure vegetables forever? At least try and stick to focusing your obsessive measuring on rice and more calorie dense things.

Oh. Haha. It's so late here and I can hardly read, apparently.

Redflag has a point, with things like fruits and vegetables close enough is fine because a cup of grapes may weight slightly different each time you measure one out but the difference can be very little.  Most things I can think of that you would chop up are fruits and veggies or meat.

When measuring stuff like the rice, or cereal or things like that, they can be measured in a measuring cup fairly easily.  If you're talking meat, what I did before I had a scale was use the weight listed on the package and divide it by however many servings I thought that meat would make.  Another option for meat is a 3 ounce serving size looks like it's about the size of a deck of cards.

go to a grocery store with scales. buy some calorie dense vegetables that would be important for you to know the weight of like potatoes. get potatoes of the size you usually use. weigh them buy them and take them home, then cut them up to the size you usually cut them into, and put into you measuring cup for a more accurate measure.  You could do the same with any pre measured small packages. fussy but may be worth the work. 

if really fussy - try and pick potato's of the same size. peal one and not peal the other.  Compare , see how much smaller the pealed potato is.

With some foods you could use water displacement to check for percentage volumes too. More fun if you can view it as a practical science experiment you should have been taught at school. Note any teachers,parents ,etc who may be reading this. Help out a science -impaired, (or time and money deprived)Aunt or Uncle.(may be someone will have a bright Idea and surprise you with a scale for a present someday) For those gung ho about science experiments ,bring alon a scale - it will act as a check. adds more rigor to the science experiment of how accurate the measures were.

life would be simpler with a scale especially if you are serious about using calorie counting. It make all the difference to KNOW you were really under, and thats why you have been steadily losing weight.  Also it allows the sneaking in of treats on days that you happen to eat less than the limit. That helps in not feeling deprived when confronted with a with a weight loss goal in the 100lb range that will take a year to achieve since a nessary lifestyle change is best.

It is not too obsessive if you NEED to lose (or gain) weight , or have serious doubts about how well you are following a medically necessary meals.   For all I know, it might even convince ED people to become healthy if they can know for certain 1200 calories is NOT going making them "fat" if they exercise.

I used to measure obsessively, even veggies like cabbage or lettuce. After a while, you pick up the ability to 'eyeball' the measurements of foods. Like, I'll dice two small potatoes, estimate a cup, and I'll be over or under by just a few pieces.

But if it's veggies and fruits you're talking about, don't sweat it. Just get a somewhat accurate measure and move on. Calories shouldn't be obsessively counted, but smartly educated. :)