Food scale and wrappers

dmsl977

When those of you who use food scales bring your meals out, do you bring back wrappers and packaging to measure again to subtract (i.e. the jif to-go cup)? My husband told me I was crazy and becoming obsessed. I just want accuracy in my accounting.

dutchandkiwi

I tend to weigh out in a tared bowl on the scale So when the food is out of the wrapper. I agree with you about not logging the wrapper too!

Gallowmere1984

I will for certain things. My immediate trigger is if serving counts say "About (insert number here". Unfortunately, some foods you just kind of have to trust, because there's so much variable moisture in them, that 100% accuracy is impossible. Canned fish one example of this. You'll never squeeze that water out quite the same, twice. Well, not unless you decide to turn it to jerky every time. :-o

RainaProske

Hmmm. In my opinion, accuracy is directly connected to success. For me, when I get sloppy regarding one issue, I tend to excuse sloppiness in other connected issues.

CurlyCockney

I'm not sure that I would bring containers back, but I don't think you're crazy or obsessed! I keep a list inside my cupboard door of the weights of my pots, pans and dishes (for when I'm creating recipes on MFP), could you keep a list of the weights of containers that you use? It would mean weighing them only once, which may appease your husband.

AnnPT77

Personally, I wouldn't bother. The Jif to-go cup has a contents weight on the packaging. That's probably close enough, especially if the situation doesn't happen lots and lots. When I'm eating at home, I weigh the banana, later the skin, subtract and log the edible part. If I eat a banana at the coffee shop, I log "1 medium banana". I somehow managed to lose over 1/3 of my body weight doing this.

Accuracy - precise accuracy - is impossible. 150-gram apple #1 has more (or fewer) calories than 150-gram apple #2. One 4-oz piece of beef has more or less fat embedded in it than the next one. You can get close, but you can't be 100% accurate.

I vote that you accept that as fact, log as accurately as you can without major fuss, then let it go. Obsession is a very real possibility.

Alatariel75

I use the app, so I don't really need to bring back wrappers because I can log it right there and then. But consistency is key, and logging everything is what's led to my success (and conversely, not logging everything has led to a 5 month standstill), so I say whatever works.

dlkfox

If it's something you eat all the time, make a note of how much the wrapper weighs. That way you don't have to always save them. Just weigh the whole package and throw out the wrapper wherever you are.

Francl27

Typically yes. But after a while you know how much the stuff weighs, so you can just subtract 1g for the wrapper and 4g for the box or something (that's for Graze snacks, lol).

I admit that I don't weigh yogurt cups, as every time I did, it was less than it was supposed to be (does anyone have a different experience?), but some things are just much heavier and are worth weighing (again, Graze snacks. Ugh).

Elise4270

I do it with my oatmeal at work. I pour out what I eat then weigh the container, subtracting the last weight to get my serving. You can be as precise as you want!

pebble4321

I wouldn't bother... all the numbers we are dealing with are estimates anyway.

You might subtract 7.54g worth of wrapper, but if the item you ate happened to be made slightly differently today, if the subway girl added a few grams more avocado or dropped a wee bit of chicken, or it was a pre-packed product that was a bit over- or under-weight you might have 5 or 10 or 25g difference in the weight of the food and who know how much variation in calories.

No matter how much you want to be perfectly accurate, it's just not possible, so that makes this kind of activity seem like busy work to me.

KetoneKaren

Depends on the wrapper. Foil is heavy, cellophane isn't...but it's your choice. There is something to be said for doing it the same way every time. And being more precise helps keep me honest and feeling in control...

Christine_72

Francl27 wrote: »

Typically yes. But after a while you know how much the stuff weighs, so you can just subtract 1g for the wrapper and 4g for the box or something (that's for Graze snacks, lol).

I admit that I don't weigh yogurt cups, as every time I did, it was less than it was supposed to be (does anyone have a different experience?), but some things are just much heavier and are worth weighing (again, Graze snacks. Ugh).

Me too. My yogurt is supposed to weigh 125g, but when i weigh it, it's always 110-111g. Next time I'll weigh it tub and all, then I'm sure it will be around 125g. (i usually pour it into a bowl).

ClarissaMcDaniel

I weigh everything, even things packaged as single servings. I used to trust the single serving packages but got curious one day and weighed a fiber one brownie and found that it was way more than the single serving it claimed to be. So now everything gets weighed before it goes in my mouth.

Francl27

ClarissaMcDaniel wrote: »

I weigh everything, even things packaged as single servings. I used to trust the single serving packages but got curious one day and weighed a fiber one brownie and found that it was way more than the single serving it claimed to be. So now everything gets weighed before it goes in my mouth.

All those 'low calories' foods are the worst offenders. Those 60 calories slices of bread or wraps? Always 65-70 calories.

Matt1447

Things at grocery stores like meat (steak, chicken, pork chops, etc) and store made items (sandwiches, salads) are weighed with Tares to account for the packaging. If the label has a weight on it they are not allowed to add extra weight for the packaging, and they do not want a tare that is too large either because that costs money so they are pretty accurate.
Keep in mind if you start weighing it all yourself it may not add up to what is on the label, and here is why: Meat is put on a foam tray with a soaker pad and put on the wrapping machine, first it is weighed and the tare for the tray and pad is subtracted and THEN it is wrapped in the plastic wrap and the label applied. Weights for wrap and label are therefore never accounted for, so if you weigh your steak and all the packaging it will be higher than what is on the label.