Wow, weighing food sure is an eye-opener!

Options
Monklady123
Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

Just a tip for anyone who's new... get a kitchen scale and use it! I know you old-timers already know this, but so often I see people saying things like "help, I'm not losing" or "not eating more than xx calories but I'm gaining!" etc.

Well, now that I understand how the "tare" function works on my kitchen scale I have been weighing EVERYTHING. Weigh bowl, tare, add chopped hard boiled eggs, tare, add mayo, tare. Wow...just using "two eggs" as your guide doesn't take into account that eggs are different weights. And then adding mayonnaise...well that sure adds up quickly! lol

I've done this weight loss thing before but never was this careful with weighing. I'd weigh some things but not others...like I'd try to measure out "2 T" of peanut butter. lol.

Anyway, that's my omg moment for today and my tip for new folks. :smile:

Replies

  • Javagal2778
    Javagal2778 Posts: 74 Member
    Options
    Isn't it crazy?! I was also amazed at the difference in my eyeballing vs. actual weight.
  • Aisling826
    Aisling826 Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    I definitely get more food when I weigh everything. After I started weighing everything, I learned I was over estimating all my portions, so was probably under eating by a good bit. I assumed it would have been the other way around.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Options
    I weigh about 90% of my food (or measure the volume in measuring cups). The only things I don't weight are leafy greens. I love them, so I always know I'm getting enough. As they average 10 calories a cup - I just leave a 100-200 calorie wiggle room on my diary, because I will eat the entire bag of 50/50 baby greens mix family sized bag in one sitting (usually movie night). I never have to worry if I'm getting enough vegetables, interestingly enough MFP doesn't have "whole bag" when I scan in the package.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Options
    Monklady123 wrote: »
    Just a tip for anyone who's new... get a kitchen scale and use it! I know you old-timers already know this, but so often I see people saying things like "help, I'm not losing" or "not eating more than xx calories but I'm gaining!" etc.

    Well, now that I understand how the "tare" function works on my kitchen scale I have been weighing EVERYTHING. Weigh bowl, tare, add chopped hard boiled eggs, tare, add mayo, tare. Wow...just using "two eggs" as your guide doesn't take into account that eggs are different weights. And then adding mayonnaise...well that sure adds up quickly! lol

    I've done this weight loss thing before but never was this careful with weighing. I'd weigh some things but not others...like I'd try to measure out "2 T" of peanut butter. lol.

    Anyway, that's my omg moment for today and my tip for new folks. :smile:

    Creamy peanut butter weighs, on average (depends on brand) 16.5g/Tablespoon. If you prefer one brand exclusively, you're going to need to ruin some peanut butter.
    1. Tare a tablespoon measuring cup
    2. Fill a small bowl with what looks like a bit more than a tablespoon of peanut butter
    3. Microwave the peanut butter until it's very liquidy.
    4. Pour exactly one Tablespoon into your measuring cup and weigh it. Be careful, as the PB will be very hot....I found out the hard way.

    Now you know how much PB to weigh out for 1 Tablespoon!!!!
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
    Options
    Yes, mayo in particular is an absolute shocker. We tend not to think about it, it gets ladled around freely as if it were a reasonable thing to stuff into your face in quantity. It's not.

    If we think of the calories at all, I think most people assume it's somewhat similar to cream (~40% fat by weight) but in fact it is far more like butter (~80% fat by weight) and packs a staggering calorie punch. Most people would never eat butter in the quantities they eat mayo in.

    I'm personally very conservative with it now - eg I don't make potato salad with mayo, I make it with vinaigrette and put a squirt of mayo on top.

Categories