Eyes opened, weigh your food!

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  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
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    gotobedhungry wrote: »
    I need this explained to me. How can measuring cups/spoons be wrong?? If you're using them correctly and leveling it off with a knife, how can this be?

    I was shocked when I weighed out my oats. I had been using a 1/2c measurement and its associated calorie count. But when I weighed the measuring cup (used the tare function) and then put my oats in (and leveled it out), it was WAY more than 40g (which is 1/2c).

    This morning for the first time, I weighed out 2TBSP of peanut butter. I put the measuring spoon on the scale, used the tare, and then put the peanut butter in the spoon. A heaping TBSP was actually 32g (2TBSP).

    When it came down to the oats and PB measurements, using a measuring cup/spoon was not close to accurate.

  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    edited March 2015
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    gotobedhungry wrote: »
    I need this explained to me. How can measuring cups/spoons be wrong?? If you're using them correctly and leveling it off with a knife, how can this be?
    Food can also settle/break into smaller pieces during shipping. My oats say a serving is150 calories-- 40 gm or 1/2 cup. If I weigh out 40 grams and put it in a half cup measure, it is more than 1/4 inch below the top. If I weigh out a level 1/2 cup of oats, it's almost 200 calories. That's how it can be.

  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
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    gotobedhungry wrote: »
    I need this explained to me. How can measuring cups/spoons be wrong?? If you're using them correctly and leveling it off with a knife, how can this be?


    Along with food settling, breaking, being smaller, larger, etc., there is also no true weight/measurement standard that measuring cups and spoons HAVE to be. I have 2 sets of each and with one set of cups, the 1 cup measurement is very accurate almost all the time, the other is wayyyyy off, and it goes on with the different cups and spoons. 1 of my tablespoons is perfect and the other is actually under, etc....

    I saw an episode of I think Test Kitchen(?) that did a test of cups and spoons and most were wrong.....
  • abbeyjones1994
    abbeyjones1994 Posts: 188 Member
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    I am exactly the same way! I fought the urge to weigh for so long because I lost the majority of my weight without having to. But, I asked for a food scale for Christmas to weigh things like fruits and veggies, meat, etc., with no intention of weighing things like oatmeal, pretzels, etc. However, as I got down to the last 10 lbs., I was stalling big time, so I decided to give weighing those other things a shot. It has made a huge difference. I'm now down to only 2 lbs. left to goal, and I've even cut my exercise a little bit to make the inevitable change to maintenance more sustainable, so this is definitely mostly coming from intake.

    And as someone said above, I've been pleasantly surprised to find that I get more bang for my calorie buck by weighing some foods. Not a bad situation to find yourself in. :)
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    gotobedhungry wrote: »
    I need this explained to me. How can measuring cups/spoons be wrong?? If you're using them correctly and leveling it off with a knife, how can this be?

    Here's a video to explain. The guy is a little annoying, but the video is valid. He actually shows how two different 1/2 cup measuring cups give you different amounts.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpHykP6e_Uk
  • Erfw7471
    Erfw7471 Posts: 242 Member
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    My food scale is the best weight-management tool I own. I'm now maintaining and continue to use my scales every single day.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    I've recently started trying to get a high amount of fiber, so I started weighing certain foods. Most have weighed less than the package or USDA database says for the volume. I thought perhaps my scale was off, because I see these types of posts on here so often, so I checked it on another and got the same result.

    Since, I've started weighing a lot more stuff. The only thing that has been higher than I thought was meat. 3 oz of meat is less than I thought. Except for fish. Fish was pretty spot on.
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
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    JoRumbles wrote: »
    Can I ask a question? Do people weigh EVERYTHING? For example- for lunch I am having an apple- do you weigh that? With or without the core? A pitta bread- it says 151cals on the packet but I can see they are all very slightly different sizes. Would you weight that?

    I always weigh out fruits and vegetables, the edible part only after I've cut it up. Pretty eye opening to see what I was logging as a medium apple could be close to 300 grams - granted it's an apple, but that can still be a big difference in calories.
  • spoonyspork
    spoonyspork Posts: 238 Member
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    My most eye-opening thing after getting a scale was that I was eating way LESS pasta than I thought! Weighed out the first time after cooked, just going with what I'd normally scoop out for my portion. I was shocked to see I seemed to be eating 3x more than a serving of cooked pasta. Next time I weighed it out dry first, and after cooking it was like 2x more than my usual portion.

    I'd actually been pretty accurate with eye-balling things otherwise, though 'pretty accurate' can still end up with WAY more calories with more calorie-dense stuff!
  • guinevere96
    guinevere96 Posts: 1,445 Member
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    My food scale was the best decision I ever made. Meats were always easy for me, my dad is a butcher and could eyeball any meat almost as accurately as a food scale lol, but fruits and veggies were always so hard to log because I was never sure EXACTLY HOW MUCH I was getting. Anything homemade was difficult. Its so easy to be sure now, and im sure my logs are much more accurate now.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
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    When I first started using a scale instead of measuring cups/spoons it was like a slap to the face. With all of my measuring I was still eating around 1.25-1.5 more than I thought I was. I dont use it as much now since i've gotten relatively good at eyeballing things (except for things like meat, cheese, nut butters, oils etc) but it was a total game changer for me in terms of helping to reach my weightloss goal.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    spoonyspork wrote: »
    My most eye-opening thing after getting a scale was that I was eating way LESS pasta than I thought! Weighed out the first time after cooked, just going with what I'd normally scoop out for my portion. I was shocked to see I seemed to be eating 3x more than a serving of cooked pasta. Next time I weighed it out dry first, and after cooking it was like 2x more than my usual portion.

    I'd actually been pretty accurate with eye-balling things otherwise, though 'pretty accurate' can still end up with WAY more calories with more calorie-dense stuff!
    You should weigh pasta BEFORE it's cooked.

    Otherwise agree 100% with you!!
  • cmoll520
    cmoll520 Posts: 60 Member
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    I just bought one Monday- though really I was being pretty accurate. I was actually generally under. When I was a teenager I weighed everything, so I think that most have done well at training my brain with portion sizes.

    I'll continue to use the scale though.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    spoonyspork wrote: »
    My most eye-opening thing after getting a scale was that I was eating way LESS pasta than I thought! Weighed out the first time after cooked, just going with what I'd normally scoop out for my portion. I was shocked to see I seemed to be eating 3x more than a serving of cooked pasta. Next time I weighed it out dry first, and after cooking it was like 2x more than my usual portion.

    I'd actually been pretty accurate with eye-balling things otherwise, though 'pretty accurate' can still end up with WAY more calories with more calorie-dense stuff!

    Yeah pasta was an eye-opener for me as well. I was grossly underestimating that.
  • holzeeg123
    holzeeg123 Posts: 14 Member
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    I have one of those digital scales where it doesn't come with a bowl and you just zero everything and my god it's brilliant. Like, I'll put the pack of butter on it, zero, use butter then weigh to see how much I used and it's so quick. Although I have a set of measuring spoons and it turned out that for weeks I'd been using the dsp instead of the tsp for oils. Silly me!
  • spoonyspork
    spoonyspork Posts: 238 Member
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    Serah87 wrote: »
    spoonyspork wrote: »
    My most eye-opening thing after getting a scale was that I was eating way LESS pasta than I thought! Weighed out the first time after cooked, just going with what I'd normally scoop out for my portion. I was shocked to see I seemed to be eating 3x more than a serving of cooked pasta. Next time I weighed it out dry first, and after cooking it was like 2x more than my usual portion.

    I'd actually been pretty accurate with eye-balling things otherwise, though 'pretty accurate' can still end up with WAY more calories with more calorie-dense stuff!
    You should weigh pasta BEFORE it's cooked.

    Otherwise agree 100% with you!!

    Yeah I know! The very first time I didn't think to weigh it out til after it was cooked, so spooned out what I usually eat, looked up what a portion of cooked pasta was 'supposed' to weigh, and weighed what I picked up to compare. Thought I was eating way too much and so sad about my portion. Much happier to see the portion when I cooked it after measuring dry (which ends up being more than I usually eat). Apparently pasta wasn't where I was going wrong, other than the wrongness of way over-cooking it. Oatmeal is similar. 40g of oatmeal ends up filling my large cereal bowl to the brim after cooking it, due to the large amount of water I like to use (it's more of a thick drink than cereal, after adding the protein powder)
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    I've recently started trying to get a high amount of fiber, so I started weighing certain foods. Most have weighed less than the package or USDA database says for the volume. I thought perhaps my scale was off, because I see these types of posts on here so often, so I checked it on another and got the same result.

    Since, I've started weighing a lot more stuff. The only thing that has been higher than I thought was meat. 3 oz of meat is less than I thought. Except for fish. Fish was pretty spot on.

    Food loses weight during shipping, due to evaporation.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    spoonyspork wrote: »
    My most eye-opening thing after getting a scale was that I was eating way LESS pasta than I thought! Weighed out the first time after cooked, just going with what I'd normally scoop out for my portion. I was shocked to see I seemed to be eating 3x more than a serving of cooked pasta. Next time I weighed it out dry first, and after cooking it was like 2x more than my usual portion.

    I'd actually been pretty accurate with eye-balling things otherwise, though 'pretty accurate' can still end up with WAY more calories with more calorie-dense stuff!

    Yeah pasta was an eye-opener for me as well. I was grossly underestimating that.

    Or maybe I was over-estimating. At any rate, I was eating less than I thought.
  • twinteensmom
    twinteensmom Posts: 371 Member
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    Also, things like chicken thighs. I weigh them AFTER I cook them and take the meat off the bone. After all, I am not going to be eating the bones. So, why count the weight of them?
    If I am making a peanutbutter sandwich, for instance, I will weigh the bread and then zero out the scale with the bread still on it. Then slowly add the peanutbutter. I love my scale.
    I never knew that about weighing pasta before it is cooked, by the way. Makes perfect sense, though.
  • 9Rounder
    9Rounder Posts: 40 Member
    edited March 2015
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    SingRunTing wrote: »
    gotobedhungry wrote: »
    I need this explained to me. How can measuring cups/spoons be wrong?? If you're using them correctly and leveling it off with a knife, how can this be?

    Here's a video to explain. The guy is a little annoying, but the video is valid. He actually shows how two different 1/2 cup measuring cups give you different amounts.

    That video was very eye opening! Thanks so much for posting it! I have a food scale at home and recently bought another one for work. I have snacks at my desk and it's always helpful to measure out my portions instead of counting out the number of chips the bag says I can have. Sometimes I get more, sometimes I get less, but at least I know it's accurate. Love this thread!

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