My friend has a good idea - i always just dash to olive oil in the pan, she says measure it out (teaspoon, tablespoon) and then use a set amount, you'll use a lot less - i tried it, and she was right!

The simplest ideas are the best - my friend finally got her husband to eat less by buying smaller plates!

That's a good point - i think people in general are not aware of quantities.  Many overweight people eat far more than they actually realise.

most of the time i prefer not to know how much oil i'm using!

If you have to measure how much oil you are using, it sounds like you are using way too much, or else you are getting way too obsessive about your food.

I hate measuring stuff, but it does make sense.

I'm a real recipe person, so it helps me anyway to know I'm getting the right amounts.

I think it's a good idea to measure oil - at least if you're trying to lose weight and need to re-train yourself what constitutes healthy portion sizes.  It's true that over weight people tend not to realize how much they eat - and tend to think larger portions are normal.  I kept a food diary to re-train how I thought about food, and it's worked wonders - now I don't have to measure so much because I have a better idea what makes a healthy portion!

It reminds me of that BBC food show where the overweight woman swore it was because of her metabolism, but when they analysed her eating, she was eating 50% more per day than she thought.