SO CONFUSED

sarab260

Okay, my head is officially spinning. I am very confused.

This morning, I wanted to eat granola with my yogurt, and I opted for KIND Peanut Butter Whole Grain Clusters. Maybe not the healthiest choice in the world, but it's gluten free and has peanuts in it for protein — and it's really delish .

Anyway, I cannot for the life of me figure out the calories that I consumed. The bag says that 1/3 cup is 120 calories. I ate a half of a cup, which should be 180 calories, right? Because three thirds in a cup is 3 times 120 (360), divided by 2 is 180.

BUT, the bag says that 1/3 cup is 29g, and to get a half of a cup, I measured 4 ounces on the food scale. Then I poured it into a measuring cup and they aligned. But that means if 29g (aka 1 ounce) is 120 calories and I ate 4 ounces, I actually ate 480 CALORIES?!

Their math is not adding up, and my brain hurts. Please someone help me.

Thanks!!!!

successgal1

gram is a weight, cups are volume. Edited, that probably didn't help. I doubt a half cup was 480 calories. Ok wait maybe it was. I'm confused too. I'd stay away from that bag, sounds like a lot of sugar.

ValerieMartini2Olives

Because you put it in a measuring cup. Measuring cups go by volume. Not weight. Use a scale and weigh to the gram

sarab260

No, but I started out with the food scale (that's how I got 4oz), and then it translated evenly to half of a cup. It doesn't make sense that this aligned, but the calories are so different.

blueboxgeek

I'd just weigh everything. If they say that 29g is 120 calories then I would weigh out 29g and eat that.

Granola is generally pretty high in calories which is a shame as I love most versions of it!

sarab260

Okay so I thought I was eating 180 calories, and ended up eating 450. Rough start to the day haha.

DaddieCat

Yes it does... volume and weight are two different measures. Weight is a measure of gravity and it's influence on a body (in this case, granola)... volume is a measure of how much space something occupies. The two are not equal by any means.

To get accurate calorie counts you need to measure by weight, preferably in grams, not ounces as grams are a much smaller measure ensuring more accuracy.

sarab260

Thank you all for your responses. What perplexes me is that the volume and weight aligned (4 ounces on my food scale measured out to half a cup in my measuring cup), but the caloric values are supposedly so drastically different.

MommyL2015

4 oz would be accurate for 1/2 cup of liquid, not necessarily solids. If 4oz of solids is 1/2 cup, that would be four servings of 29 grams, so, yeah, 450 calories sounds right if 29 grams is 120 calories.

VisofSer

Blue has the right of it, weight everything and trust no other means.
It's also a particle size issue where the amount of space a substance takes up is not relevant to how much it weighs. Just look at popcorn.

sarab260

Ah, I see. So when they say "half a cup," how are they measuring it, if not by measuring cup?

HeidiThe9

For simplicity, let’s say 1 oz. = 29 grams exactly.
then 4 oz. = 116 grams.
If the bag says 29 grams= 1/3 of a cup, then a whole cup should only = 87 grams. Half of a cup should only be 43.5 grams. or 1.5 oz.’s
the 4 oz.’s you poured out would have been closer to a cup and a half.

It probably says somewhere on the box that the contents may have settled, and that it is weighed by mass, not volume.

Fail on the manufacturer, they should clarify the nutrition label and only list weight. But this was most likely meant for the uneducated masses who cannot google a metric conversion

sarab260

Thank you! That's very helpful!

I am one of the uneducated masses, lol. But I am learning! (Or at least trying to )

VisofSer

Points for Heidi and the excellent, clear explanation.

cathipa

sarab260 wrote: »

Okay, my head is officially spinning. I am very confused.

This morning, I wanted to eat granola with my yogurt, and I opted for KIND Peanut Butter Whole Grain Clusters. Maybe not the healthiest choice in the world, but it's gluten free and has peanuts in it for protein — and it's really delish .

Anyway, I cannot for the life of me figure out the calories that I consumed. The bag says that 1/3 cup is 120 calories. I ate a half of a cup, which should be 180 calories, right? Because three thirds in a cup is 3 times 120 (360), divided by 2 is 180.

BUT, the bag says that 1/3 cup is 29g, and to get a half of a cup, I measured 4 ounces on the food scale. Then I poured it into a measuring cup and they aligned. But that means if 29g (aka 1 ounce) is 120 calories and I ate 4 ounces, I actually ate 480 CALORIES?!

Their math is not adding up, and my brain hurts. Please someone help me.

Thanks!!!!

Don't use cups or spoons to measure. Use a scale. It is the most accurate way to figure out how much you are eating. As you found your cup measure is off and you end up eating more.

sarab260

VisofSer wrote: »

Points for Heidi and the excellent, clear explanation.

Agreed! Very grateful.

sarab260

cathipa wrote: »

sarab260 wrote: »

Okay, my head is officially spinning. I am very confused.

This morning, I wanted to eat granola with my yogurt, and I opted for KIND Peanut Butter Whole Grain Clusters. Maybe not the healthiest choice in the world, but it's gluten free and has peanuts in it for protein — and it's really delish .

Anyway, I cannot for the life of me figure out the calories that I consumed. The bag says that 1/3 cup is 120 calories. I ate a half of a cup, which should be 180 calories, right? Because three thirds in a cup is 3 times 120 (360), divided by 2 is 180.

BUT, the bag says that 1/3 cup is 29g, and to get a half of a cup, I measured 4 ounces on the food scale. Then I poured it into a measuring cup and they aligned. But that means if 29g (aka 1 ounce) is 120 calories and I ate 4 ounces, I actually ate 480 CALORIES?!

Their math is not adding up, and my brain hurts. Please someone help me.

Thanks!!!!

Don't use cups or spoons to measure. Use a scale. It is the most accurate way to figure out how much you are eating. As you found your cup measure is off and you end up eating more.

Ugh, definitely learning my lesson with this! I need to be more accurate. Only scales from here on out.

P.S. At first I thought you started out by saying "Don't use caps," as in capital letters, and I was going to say, But how else can I convey how FRUSTRATED I am?! Haha

peleroja

This is exactly why you should always use a scale for solid food and cups/spoons only for liquids.

I feel your pain on the granola though. It's delicious and never worth it...sigh.

deluxmary2000

sarab260 wrote: »

Okay, my head is officially spinning. I am very confused.

...and to get a half of a cup, I measured 4 ounces on the food scale....

Snipped, because this was your mistake right here. You should have taken volume out of the equation. You knew 1 oz was 120 calories, and you had a food scale in front of you, so just use that.
But it sounds like their weight-to-volume conversion estimate for their granola is really far off

sarab260

deluxmary2000 wrote: »

sarab260 wrote: »

Okay, my head is officially spinning. I am very confused.

...and to get a half of a cup, I measured 4 ounces on the food scale....

Snipped, because this was your mistake right here. You should have taken volume out of the equation. You knew 1 oz was 120 calories, and you had a food scale in front of you, so just use that.
But it sounds like their weight-to-volume conversion estimate for their granola is really far off

You're definitely right. I didn't think about looking at grams until later, I was just judging based off of volume. But thank you for acknowledging that their phrasing was misleading as well as the mistake being on my part! I know that I am to blame, but they definitely played a role in deceiving me.

Noreenmarie1234

Wow, the difference is scary. No wonder most people who don't weigh their food eat way more than they think!

sarab260

Haha apparently

Derf_Smeggle

sarab260 wrote: »

Okay, my head is officially spinning. I am very confused.

This morning, I wanted to eat granola with my yogurt, and I opted for KIND Peanut Butter Whole Grain Clusters. Maybe not the healthiest choice in the world, but it's gluten free and has peanuts in it for protein — and it's really delish .

Anyway, I cannot for the life of me figure out the calories that I consumed. The bag says that 1/3 cup is 120 calories. I ate a half of a cup, which should be 180 calories, right? Because three thirds in a cup is 3 times 120 (360), divided by 2 is 180.

BUT, the bag says that 1/3 cup is 29g, and to get a half of a cup, I measured 4 ounces on the food scale. Then I poured it into a measuring cup and they aligned. But that means if 29g (aka 1 ounce) is 120 calories and I ate 4 ounces, I actually ate 480 CALORIES?!

Their math is not adding up, and my brain hurts. Please someone help me.

Thanks!!!!

The nutrition label for this product.

Assuming that your measurement of 4 ounces was the weight measurement, and not a fluid ounce measurement.

29 grams = 1 serving = 120 calories

4 ounces = 113.4 grams

113.4g / 29g = 3.91 servings

120 calories X 3.91 = 469.2 calories

Jruzer

Yes, @Derf_Smeggle has it right. You're confusing fluid ounces and ounces of weight.

If you weigh on a scale you are measuring ounces of weight. If you use a measuring cup you are measuring fluid ounces. The label that says 1/2 cup implies 4 fluid ounces, not 4 ounces of weight. Fluid ounces are NOT the same as weight ounces except for water. A fluid ounce of water weighs one ounce of weight. This is only true for water.

An international avoirdupois ounce is 28.35 grams, so when you weighed out 4 ounces you had 113.4 grams, as stated above.

When in doubt I ALWAYS use grams just for this reason. Ounces are not a trustworthy measurement. Also, as you can see granola is an incredibly energy dense food. Great when you're backpacking and need to minimize weight and space, not so great when you can eat handfuls in the kitchen!