Who *actually* measures and weighs everything?

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Replies

  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
    I weigh when I am preparing something at home. I was GROSSLY underestimating my measurements for my oats, blueberries, and apples. The 1/2c measuring cup I used had probably close to 50g of oats when I filled it up verses the 40g that make up the 1/2c measurement on the package. Also, I was buying loose apples versus bagged apples and found them to be WAY to much - 200+ grams verses 150-180g for the packaged. Not to mention that measurements of small, medium, and large when applied to pieces of fruit are all relative; meaning that what is medium to one person may be large to another.
  • ChrisM32205
    ChrisM32205 Posts: 218 Member
    I do when it comes to meat and other things where I don't consume the entire portion (such as servings from large containers.. like cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.)
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    edited November 2014
    I'm not an elite athlete nor am I working with a razor thin margin with my calories so no, I don't weigh everything. I'm still losing so I'm happy. If I stop losing, then I'll reevaluate.

    It's really important to me that this losing weight thing for not become a burden or get too complicated. Weighing every single thing, especially prepackaged stuff, crosses that line for me. I accept that a margin of error exists and that's OK with me. I weigh stuff like meats and veggies. Like I said, if I stop losing then maybe I'll start weighing more stuff, but till then what I'm doing seems to be working.
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
    rioricorick wrote: »
    I have weighed everything for the 4 years I have been dieting. Especially at restaurants where they don't even give you their estimates of the calories in their food.
    One thing this site could add that would save me and many other LOTS of time (at work especially!!!) is to add a "calories per gram" attribute to the foods. I throw the food on the scale on my desk, enter the grams, and boom! all done! Instead I find myself wading through website after website searching for how much one "serving" actually weighs.
    When I put in a food myself, I list the number of calories for 100 grams. When I eat some amount of that food, it takes me maybe 5 seconds to make my log entry. When someone gives me a slice of cake, I weigh the cake, then find that just about every listing for cake states the number of calories for "one serving". If that serving is 50 grams, or 500 grams, who knows??? This issue really need to be addressed. For example, on calorie count, EVERY food is listed in multiple ways to include grams. I switched because that site was becoming very slow and many times not even loading from my work computer. Oh and MFP's ability to scan barcodes from a smartphone! Love it!!

    Well if you ate a generic piece of cake that someone else made wouldn't it still be an estimation any ways unless you knew the exact ingredients they used?

    If you eat ice cream and the grams on the carton are listed at 67 & you have 72 all you need to do is use a calculator & divide 72 by 67 & you have your serving size.
  • Tea_Mistress
    Tea_Mistress Posts: 105 Member
    I weigh most things unless I'm going to eat the whole container of something in one sitting or day( eg. a small tub of cottage cheese) , or if it's separated into servings, then I just go by what the nutrition says for each serving (eg. sachets of porridge) .
    But I weigh things that are less exact, like fruit, condiments, meat, pasta etc :)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    segacs wrote: »
    Yeah I use those when I can find them, too. But I would *love* the ability to filter results in the database to display only those that are entered in grams.

    I'd just love the ability to filter to get only the non-asterisk'd entries (which would give you the gram options). It seems to have gotten more difficult since the recent changes, too.
    That is the one enhancement I'm surprised they've never made. There must be a reason because from a database perspective, it would be easy.

  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    ksuh999 wrote: »
    brittanyoneill37 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    I do. Not EVERYTHING but most things. Like, I don't weigh bananas, I just bloody well refuse to do it. Or apples. I just can't. But most everything else.
    I never used to weigh bananas either and assumed they were all around 150g I bought a banana today and it was 212g so I was off 62g and it does make quite a big difference if you're trying to lose weight

    That's incredible. I've never gotten a banana that weighed more than 105 grams.

    I have trouble believing that was a peeled banana's weight (212g). I just weighed an in-peel banana and it was 163g.

  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    Often, just to check.
  • Smoothguy67
    Smoothguy67 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm thinking of getting a food scale to weigh food portions. Was curious if any of you had any suggestions on what machines work best. Thanks in advance!
  • kimiebee
    kimiebee Posts: 62 Member
    I do....with everything!!!
  • shartran
    shartran Posts: 304 Member
    I had to stop - I became obsessed with weighing every little piece of food item. I have struggled with ED (guess I still am) and it became a very unhealthy practice for me...I started to eat the exact same thing and portion size everyday so that I knew I would come in under 800 calories that day and if by chance I went over by a few, I would restrict the following day or meal...unfortunately I remember how much calories are in foods and freak out if I consume too much of a 'high calorie' item.
  • Snip8241
    Snip8241 Posts: 767 Member
    I got sloppy, sometimes yes, sometimes no. My progress was slow before and now it has stopped. I made my diary private this morning....I am going to weigh and measure everything for the next week eating just like I have been. I think it's going to be eye opening. I believe if your weight loss has stopped you are eating too much. I will probably prove it. I must see it in my food log I must see those red numbers.
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    I don't actually find it that difficult. But one thing that does drive me crazy is that so many of the foods in the database are in US and not metric measurements. I know, I know, most users on the site are American. But as a Canadian, I don't know nor do I care about ounces and cups, and would prefer to see things in millilitres and grams. The conversions aren't intuitive for me, so it's just sort of frustrating to keep having to calculate conversions.

    This is more of a rant about countries *coughs* USA that don't adopt the ridiculously simple metric system, and not a rant about MFP. But just putting that out there.

    metric-system.png
    Metric is for sissies... :p
  • 3Alice3
    3Alice3 Posts: 36 Member
    I weigh pretty much everything. It's something that makes me feel in control of at least one thing in my life haha :)
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    I weigh E V E R Y T H I N G that is within my ability to weigh. Meat, cheese, salad greens, even packaged items such as protein bars.. I mean it - EVERYthing that I eat goes on the scale first. The only times I don't weigh my foods are at restaurants and in other people's homes.
  • sati18
    sati18 Posts: 153 Member
    I pretty much do. the only things i dont really are small portions of salad mix / very lo cal salad items that might go inside a sandwich. And fruit / veg with a stone. Because i always forget to weigh it after i take the stone out :neutral_face:
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    I do! I HAVE to, since I'm not a person with good estimation capabilities, lol. Heck, I put milk in my coffee every single morning (multiple times, too), and you'd think after all this time I'd know what 1/4 cup looks like. Nope. Not even close.

    You have no idea what my "eyeballed" serving of butter or peanut butter would look like, lol.

  • emilypink573
    emilypink573 Posts: 133 Member
    I weigh everything when im at home. When I eat out i try my best to eyeball it.
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  • theroserunner
    theroserunner Posts: 3 Member
    I don't all the time but if I haven' t had something for a while then I'll weigh it again to remind myself of what the portion size looks like. It is ALWAYS less than I thought except when it's something nearly calorie free like tomatoes!
  • oceangirl37
    oceangirl37 Posts: 37 Member
    I don't weigh anything. I measure most things and log everything as best I can. I know that it's not going to be 100% accurate, or even 90%, however I've lost 38 lbs this way, with only 10 more to go.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    never ever would I become that obsessed. ever.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Smoothguy67 wrote: »
    I'm thinking of getting a food scale to weigh food portions. Was curious if any of you had any suggestions on what machines work best. Thanks in advance!

    I love mine. $15 on Amazon and it weighs up to 10 kg (or 22 lb) so I can put a bowl on it and weigh my entire recipe as I am putting the ingredients together. http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity®-Digital-Accuracy-measurement-Supported/dp/B00FE8QXT0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1415111143&sr=8-4&keywords=etekcity+scale

    Regarding the metric/imperial system. I make my own lotions, shampoos, etc so I am really used to using grams because it is much easier developing and altering formulas. It becomes intuitive so quickly that I do my food in grams too and don't bother switching my scale between the two. Once ounce is 28 grams (OK it really is 28 and 1/3 grams but sticking with 28 works out just fine).

    58841349.png
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    It's funny how irrational a mind can be. At least, mine. I dislike kilograms for weight because they mean nothing to me, I have to do the math in my head to have any idea and they just seem wrong (the numbers are too small to be meaningful). I do realize this is nothing but prejudice based on what I'm used to. However, I love grams and see no purpose to using ounces at all anymore for food. Grams are so much easier. When I first started I'd use the ounce option for meat, but now it's all in grams, for everything.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Smoothguy67 wrote: »
    I'm thinking of getting a food scale to weigh food portions. Was curious if any of you had any suggestions on what machines work best. Thanks in advance!

    I have this one, also from Amazon, and it's great -- currently on sale for $19.95 for us Canadians, or Amazon.com has it on sale for $14.95 for you Americans. (Yeah, your prices are always lower... grrr.)

    71OmTTtdh1L._SL1280_.jpg

    I like that it will switch back and forth from grams to ounces (though I always use grams), and the tare function is really convenient since I can zero out a plate or container and just measure the food on it. Also, it's really small and looks good in my kitchen.

    Really, most any little kitchen scale will pay for itself many times over. Not only do you log your food more precisely and get a better idea of portions, but scales are also *great* for cooking or baking.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    segacs wrote: »

    Really, most any little kitchen scale will pay for itself many times over. Not only do you log your food more precisely and get a better idea of portions, but scales are also *great* for cooking or baking.

    I have not gotten into using a scale for baking, only because all of my recipes have the ingredients listed with measurements instead of weights.

  • Maquillage_
    Maquillage_ Posts: 194 Member
    I do. Anything solid is weighed on a scale and anything liquid in cups. Sometimes I get lazy with veg and will guess, but it's veg so it's low cal anyway and won't make that much of a difference if I'm a few calories off.
  • feralkitten1010
    feralkitten1010 Posts: 219 Member
    edited November 2014
    I do! I was actually underestimating when I first started... I couldn't figure out why I kept getting light headed. It has made a world of difference! :smile:
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  • lmr0528
    lmr0528 Posts: 427 Member
    I definitely weigh and measure anything that I make at home. If I go out somewhere or eat something that I didn't make, I typically don't log it. I want my log to be exact. I've even been changing a lot of my foods listed to go by weight instead of by cups, etc.

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