What a nitwit!

CynthiasChoice

I've had a major light bulb moment with weighing my food. I can't believe how long it took me to figure this out and it's embarrassing, but funny at the same time.

Can you believe that I would put a measuring cup on the food scale, zero it out, then fill the cup with yogurt, record the number of grams, scrape out the measuring cup into my bowl, and then look at my spoon and wonder how many grams of yogurt were on my spoon that didn't get weighed? Then I'd have to clean the measuring cup.

Now, I usually think of myself as a smart person, but wow! I did this for months!

Is it just me? Just in case you're a nitwit too (lol).... 1. Put the BOWL AND THE SPOON on the scale.
2. Zero out the scale. 3. Fill bowl with yogurt. 4. Place the spoon back in the bowl. 5. Record the grams of yogurt you're eating. 6. Enjoy not having to clean the measuring cup.

I used to do that with nut butter in a measuring spoon too. I would first weigh the spoon, zero it out....and all the rest. I would try to scrap out that rounded spoon - so hard to do! Why did it never occur to me to just use a regular spoon?

Can you please make me feel better by sharing your own personal nitwit story?

Alatariel75

Hahahahah! Sorry, but that's funny because it's something I'd do.

For me, I spent 5 minutes trying to peel a stuck off cutter off a box of cling wrap so I could stick it to the new box.


When I could have just put the new roll in the old box, with the cutter attached.

cordney

You could also put the whole container of whatever you're eating on the scale, tare, then take out what you want and just use the negative amount.

CynthiasChoice

Alatariel75 wrote: »

Hahahahah! Sorry, but that's funny because it's something I'd do.

For me, I spent 5 minutes trying to peel a stuck off cutter off a box of cling wrap so I could stick it to the new box.


When I could have just put the new roll in the old box, with the cutter attached.

That's hilarious! Are you a Three Stooges fan?

CynthiasChoice

cordney wrote: »

You could also put the whole container of whatever you're eating on the scale, tare, then take out what you want and just use the negative amount.

If I've already had my morning coffee that would work. I don't know if I want to subtract when I'm half asleep though.

L1zardQueen

Ahhh. Measure the spoon too. A duh moment for me. Thanks.

PaulaWallaDingDong

CynthiasChoice wrote: »

cordney wrote: »

You could also put the whole container of whatever you're eating on the scale, tare, then take out what you want and just use the negative amount.

If I've already had my morning coffee that would work. I don't know if I want to subtract when I'm half asleep though.

Good news! Most digital scales actually show you the negative number.

Alatariel75

CynthiasChoice wrote: »

Alatariel75 wrote: »

Hahahahah! Sorry, but that's funny because it's something I'd do.

For me, I spent 5 minutes trying to peel a stuck off cutter off a box of cling wrap so I could stick it to the new box.


When I could have just put the new roll in the old box, with the cutter attached.

That's hilarious! Are you a Three Stooges fan?

Haahaa I am, actually.

azulvioleta6

CynthiasChoice wrote: »

cordney wrote: »

You could also put the whole container of whatever you're eating on the scale, tare, then take out what you want and just use the negative amount.

If I've already had my morning coffee that would work. I don't know if I want to subtract when I'm half asleep though.

There is no actual math involved in this...ignore the minus sign and the number on your scale is the weight of what you have consumed.

leanjogreen18

I was weighing individual ingredients on different plates when I realized I can put them on the same plate tare each time. Uggg.

malibu927

It took a month or so for me to learn what the tare button did. Whenever I added ingredients I got frustrated because the scale kept jumping or I had a lapse on what the beginning weight was.

Alatariel75

The tare button is a lifesaver. I recently got a new scale and took it back because it didn't do negative numbers, so I couldn't tare to 0 and then measure what I took out.

DeficitDuchess

I don't use, the tare feature because the measurement never, stays long enough for me to; copy them & I'd be unable to remember all of, the measurements to; copy when my measuring's done! So I just remove the container, then add something; then return the container to the scale! Often having to, turn the; scale on again!

CattOfTheGarage

DeficitDuchess wrote: »

I don't use, the tare feature because the measurement never, stays long enough for me to; copy them & I'd be unable to remember all of, the measurements to; copy when my measuring's done! So I just remove the container, then add something; then return the container to the scale! Often having to, turn the; scale on again!

To keep the scale awake long enough to measure multiple ingredients, just poke it with your finger at intervals, it will treat that as if the weight had changed and will reset the sleepy timer. That's what I do. You get used to how quickly your scale falls asleep and over time it will become automatic to remember to poke it.

sugaraddict4321

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

You get used to how quickly your scale falls asleep and over time it will become automatic to remember to poke it.

If only poking the scale worked when we were weighing ourselves instead of our food:
No! I said drop a pound today, not go up 3! poke-poke-poke That's better!

In terms of your approach, OP, it wasn't bad and probably taught you more than just the tare feature. Many people use only measuring cups and don't realize how much variance there can be from one measurement to the next. Maybe you noticed one day your "cup" of yogurt weighed 100 grams and the next day 120. If you're like me and in a small deficit, those extra 20 grams add up fast.

Glad you sorted it out!

DeficitDuchess

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

DeficitDuchess wrote: »

I don't use, the tare feature because the measurement never, stays long enough for me to; copy them & I'd be unable to remember all of, the measurements to; copy when my measuring's done! So I just remove the container, then add something; then return the container to the scale! Often having to, turn the; scale on again!

To keep the scale awake long enough to measure multiple ingredients, just poke it with your finger at intervals, it will treat that as if the weight had changed and will reset the sleepy timer. That's what I do. You get used to how quickly your scale falls asleep and over time it will become automatic to remember to poke it.

Much appreciated, thank you!

DeficitDuchess

sugaraddict4321 wrote: »

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

You get used to how quickly your scale falls asleep and over time it will become automatic to remember to poke it.

If only poking the scale worked when we were weighing ourselves instead of our food:
No! I said drop a pound today, not go up 3! poke-poke-poke That's better!

In terms of your approach, OP, it wasn't bad and probably taught you more than just the tare feature. Many people use only measuring cups and don't realize how much variance there can be from one measurement to the next. Maybe you noticed one day your "cup" of yogurt weighed 100 grams and the next day 120. If you're like me and in a small deficit, those extra 20 grams add up fast.

Glad you sorted it out!

While I do use measuring cups, I also weigh all of my liquids; except water because of, surface tension! The thicker the liquid the, more it's able to pile above; the cup & without spilling over!

VintageFeline

My main question here, is when using the original method, why not lick the excess off the spoon/cup? If I've weighed it you're damn straight I'm eating it!

emhorn625

Fellow nit wit here! When I first got my keurig I wanted to see if I could use it to make a cup of tea. So I stuck a tea bag in the spot where k-cups normally go. . .
Instead of, you know, just putting it in the cup and adding the hot water.

<slinks away in embarrassment >

Sara1791

I love that you're sharing your own silly story. I aspire to being able to laugh at myself more.

Machka9

I put my bowl on the scale, zero it (tare), and then put just shy of the amount I want. If I'm aiming for 175 grams, I'll put 172 grams in.

Tacklewasher

emhorn625 wrote: »

Fellow nit wit here! When I first got my keurig I wanted to see if I could use it to make a cup of tea. So I stuck a tea bag in the spot where k-cups normally go. . .
Instead of, you know, just putting it in the cup and adding the hot water.

<slinks away in embarrassment >

They also make tea in Keurig pods, but yeah. Put the tea bag in the cup.

These things don't count as mistakes until after you've finished your morning coffee.

Lounmoun

How much yogurt were you leaving on your spoon?
I don't worry about the tiny amount of yogurt on my spoon. I do put the yogurt into the bowl on the scale.

I suppose my moment was with salad dressing. So much easier to put the salad on the scale and add the salad dressing than measure it separately.

lightenup2016

Mine would have to be forgetting to weigh my pan/dish before putting the meal into it, and just not taking advantage of the whole weigh-the-dish/meal-at-the-end-and-then-weigh-your-portion thing. For instance, my family loves 7-layer dip with chips for dinner. I meticulously weighed all ingredients as I added them, but separately, not in the dish. Then later realized that instead of guesstimating the amount I would take out to eat, say 1/6th of it, I could have weighed the whole thing and accurately weighed what I removed. Oh well, maybe next time!!

cerise_noir

lightenup2016 wrote: »

Mine would have to be forgetting to weigh my pan/dish before putting the meal into it, and just not taking advantage of the whole weigh-the-dish/meal-at-the-end-and-then-weigh-your-portion thing. For instance, my family loves 7-layer dip with chips for dinner. I meticulously weighed all ingredients as I added them, but separately, not in the dish. Then later realized that instead of guesstimating the amount I would take out to eat, say 1/6th of it, I could have weighed the whole thing and accurately weighed what I removed. Oh well, maybe next time!!

This was me! What I did one one cozy Sunday was weigh all the typical pans/containers/pots and write the weight down on a piece of paper. One less derp moment for me!

RAinWA

This morning I was weighing peanut butter. Scale says 50 grams. Didn't look like that much to me but it was early and I hadn't had enough coffee. Went to weigh something else and realized the scale was on ounces instead of grams. Duh.

Tacklewasher

RAinWA wrote: »

This morning I was weighing peanut butter. Scale says 50 grams. Didn't look like that much to me but it was early and I hadn't had enough coffee. Went to weigh something else and realized the scale was on ounces instead of grams. Duh.

See. No coffee yet so it doesn't count as a D'uh!

snickerscharlie

I don't attempt to do anything in the morning before my coffee.

Except making my coffee.

Tacklewasher

snickerscharlie wrote: »

I don't attempt to do anything in the morning before my coffee.

Except making my coffee.

I've put a mug full of water under the Keurig, put a new pod in and pushed the button, then wondered why my coffee wasn't working. Hint. Put the water in the machine, not leave it in the mug.

DeficitDuchess

snickerscharlie wrote: »

I don't attempt to do anything in the morning before my coffee.

Except making my coffee.

Which's why I make, iced coffee since otherwise I; might get burned!

Sara1791

snickerscharlie wrote: »

I don't attempt to do anything in the morning before my coffee.

Except making my coffee.

I make mine after I've had it. I mean I set up the maker the night before so I just flip the switch in the morning. Otherwise I'd have to switch to tea.