Is it just me or is counting calories in NZ/Australia a huge headache? (Grams, kJ)
purple4sure05
Posts: 287 Member
Hey everyone! Accidently deleted this post once so the sum it up - I've moved to New Zealand and am finding calorie counting tedious and near impossible. Not only is everything in kJ rather than calories forcing me to divide by four-point-whatever, but then the serving size is only in GRAMS. Not cups, never tablespoons, never "pieces," but always grams. How am I meant to know how many grams of yogurt I'm eating without carrying a food scale in my purse? I feel like I'm losing my mind! How many grams are in a tbsp of butter? Help! Lol.
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Replies
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grams are much more accurate than cups or pieces, I always use grams. I'm surprised that things aren't labelled in both kCal and kJ though - that sounds a bit tricky13
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If you've moved moved there, it might just be time to use and get your head round the KJs. You can set your diary to kilojoules, I've seen posts in my feed as such.6
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sytchequeen wrote: »grams are much more accurate than cups or pieces, I always use grams. I'm surprised that things aren't labelled in both kCal and kJ though - that sounds a bit tricky
I love using grams when I can since it's more accurate, but it's just hard when you're out and grabbing a snack, or dishing out granola or cereal, and theres no point of reference for how many grams you're consuming. Maybe I'll get used to it but for now I feel like I have no idea.0 -
MelanieCN77 wrote: »If you've moved moved there, it might just be time to use and get your head round the KJs. You can set your diary to kilojoules, I've seen posts in my feed as such.
Fine! Lol. I have never once heard someone say "kilojoule" out loud here though. Always calories. Makes me wonder why they use kJ in the first place.0 -
I am in Australia and I have used MFP for 5 years and I dont find it hard.
You can set your app to use calories or kilojoules - if you set it to kilojoules things you scan in will show their kj amount or if you set it to calories they will show in calories.
I left mine in calories as my mindset thinks that way and smaller numbers so less maths.
But I enter weights in grams.
If I eat yoghurt I scan the container in and enter it as that many servings.
If I eat yoghurt any other way and i cant weigh/measure it, I just estimate how much it is by comparing to my usual size container - ie my usual yoghurt container is 200ml, and this seems about half of that.
Or, if I must, use a data base entry for xxx, 1 cup
Like I do with any foods.
and like you would have to do whether you were using metric or imperial or cups or pieces.
Not really getting what the problem is?2 -
paperpudding wrote: »I am in Australia and I have used MFP for 5 years and I dont find it hard.
You can set your app to use calories or kilojoules - if you set it to kilojoules things you scan in will show their kj amount or if you set it to calories they will show in calories.
I left mine in calories as my mindset thinks that way and smaller numbers so less maths.
But I enter weights in grams.
If I eat yoghurt I scan the container in and enter it as that many servings.
If I eat yoghurt any other way and i cant weigh/measure it, I just estimate how much it is by comparing to my usual size container - ie my usual yoghurt container is 200ml, and this seems about half of that.
Or, if I must, use a data base entry for xxx, 1 cup
Like I do with any foods.
and like you would have to do whether you were using metric or imperial or cups or pieces.
Not really getting what the problem is?
I guess my problem is I'm not sure how to have any point of reference for how many grams what I'm eating weighs. To me, 100 grams means nothing, and with different sizes and densities for different foods I feel like its challenging to wrap your mind around what is 100 grams, 200 grams, etc. If a bag of pretzels says one serving is 13 pieces, that's much easier to keep track of then if it said one serving is 150 grams. Does that make sense?2 -
Ah, ok.
Yes, in Australia (and i presume NZ ) all foods/drinks must show the kj amount per 100mg or 100ml - eg a can of coke and a 2L bottle of coke would show the same.
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purple4sure05 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »I am in Australia and I have used MFP for 5 years and I dont find it hard.
You can set your app to use calories or kilojoules - if you set it to kilojoules things you scan in will show their kj amount or if you set it to calories they will show in calories.
I left mine in calories as my mindset thinks that way and smaller numbers so less maths.
But I enter weights in grams.
If I eat yoghurt I scan the container in and enter it as that many servings.
If I eat yoghurt any other way and i cant weigh/measure it, I just estimate how much it is by comparing to my usual size container - ie my usual yoghurt container is 200ml, and this seems about half of that.
Or, if I must, use a data base entry for xxx, 1 cup
Like I do with any foods.
and like you would have to do whether you were using metric or imperial or cups or pieces.
Not really getting what the problem is?
I guess my problem is I'm not sure how to have any point of reference for how many grams what I'm eating weighs. To me, 100 grams means nothing, and with different sizes and densities for different foods I feel like its challenging to wrap your mind around what is 100 grams, 200 grams, etc. If a bag of pretzels says one serving is 13 pieces, that's much easier to keep track of then if it said one serving is 150 grams. Does that make sense?
The UK also labels nutrtion in grams too. Usually the total grams of the container is listed somewhere on the packaging so If I don't have scales to hand I use this. So if I've used about a quarter of the packaging divide by 4 etc. It's not exact but neither are tbsps and cups really.
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In aus it will have the kj for "per serve" and "per 100g". It also states the amount of serves per pack, so I will know the amount for "one serve" will be one half, or one quarter, or one tenth etc.
If it doesn't have that over there, I would look at the weight of the total package and mentally split it into 100g amounts to judge whether it is worth spending calories on.
The kj versus cal thing is annoying though. About a quarter of our foods list calories in brackets after the kilojoules. Don't know why we bother with kj.2 -
purple4sure05 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »I am in Australia and I have used MFP for 5 years and I dont find it hard.
You can set your app to use calories or kilojoules - if you set it to kilojoules things you scan in will show their kj amount or if you set it to calories they will show in calories.
I left mine in calories as my mindset thinks that way and smaller numbers so less maths.
But I enter weights in grams.
If I eat yoghurt I scan the container in and enter it as that many servings.
If I eat yoghurt any other way and i cant weigh/measure it, I just estimate how much it is by comparing to my usual size container - ie my usual yoghurt container is 200ml, and this seems about half of that.
Or, if I must, use a data base entry for xxx, 1 cup
Like I do with any foods.
and like you would have to do whether you were using metric or imperial or cups or pieces.
Not really getting what the problem is?
I guess my problem is I'm not sure how to have any point of reference for how many grams what I'm eating weighs. To me, 100 grams means nothing, and with different sizes and densities for different foods I feel like its challenging to wrap your mind around what is 100 grams, 200 grams, etc. If a bag of pretzels says one serving is 13 pieces, that's much easier to keep track of then if it said one serving is 150 grams. Does that make sense?
Yes, I can understand it. had to wrap my head around those odd miles when I moved to the UK. But you'll get used to it. And believe me: weighing in grams is much more accurate than using pieces or cups. I mean, you can put a very huge strawberry into a cup and it's full. Or you can use tiny forest strawberries and you get a much higher calorie amount into this cup. Also rasped cheese lightly and densly packed as a different amount of calories. 100gr are also 100gr.1 -
I’m in Hong Kong, but we import a lot from AUS / NZ and yes, the different labelings from various sources drive me bananas!0
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purple4sure05 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »I am in Australia and I have used MFP for 5 years and I dont find it hard.
You can set your app to use calories or kilojoules - if you set it to kilojoules things you scan in will show their kj amount or if you set it to calories they will show in calories.
I left mine in calories as my mindset thinks that way and smaller numbers so less maths.
But I enter weights in grams.
If I eat yoghurt I scan the container in and enter it as that many servings.
If I eat yoghurt any other way and i cant weigh/measure it, I just estimate how much it is by comparing to my usual size container - ie my usual yoghurt container is 200ml, and this seems about half of that.
Or, if I must, use a data base entry for xxx, 1 cup
Like I do with any foods.
and like you would have to do whether you were using metric or imperial or cups or pieces.
Not really getting what the problem is?
I guess my problem is I'm not sure how to have any point of reference for how many grams what I'm eating weighs. To me, 100 grams means nothing, and with different sizes and densities for different foods I feel like its challenging to wrap your mind around what is 100 grams, 200 grams, etc. If a bag of pretzels says one serving is 13 pieces, that's much easier to keep track of then if it said one serving is 150 grams. Does that make sense?
but doesn't it tell you how many grams are in the whole thing? so you would just divide that by however many servings you are having to know grams per serving? I think grams are far more accurate and wish everything was this way!3 -
Muscleflex79 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »I am in Australia and I have used MFP for 5 years and I dont find it hard.
You can set your app to use calories or kilojoules - if you set it to kilojoules things you scan in will show their kj amount or if you set it to calories they will show in calories.
I left mine in calories as my mindset thinks that way and smaller numbers so less maths.
But I enter weights in grams.
If I eat yoghurt I scan the container in and enter it as that many servings.
If I eat yoghurt any other way and i cant weigh/measure it, I just estimate how much it is by comparing to my usual size container - ie my usual yoghurt container is 200ml, and this seems about half of that.
Or, if I must, use a data base entry for xxx, 1 cup
Like I do with any foods.
and like you would have to do whether you were using metric or imperial or cups or pieces.
Not really getting what the problem is?
I guess my problem is I'm not sure how to have any point of reference for how many grams what I'm eating weighs. To me, 100 grams means nothing, and with different sizes and densities for different foods I feel like its challenging to wrap your mind around what is 100 grams, 200 grams, etc. If a bag of pretzels says one serving is 13 pieces, that's much easier to keep track of then if it said one serving is 150 grams. Does that make sense?
but doesn't it tell you how many grams are in the whole thing? so you would just divide that by however many servings you are having to know grams per serving? I think grams are far more accurate and wish everything was this way!
Maybe I'm just an idiot but I struggle to accurately figure out what 1/8th of a tub of yogurt looks like. Sounds like there is no answer though and I'll have to practice with a food scale to get a better idea of what all the food items I eat usually like like in grams. I still think it's annoying though Haha.0 -
well, yes - eyeballing portions can be tricky.
Not getting how that relates to grams or metric though - wouldnt it be exactly same issue if you were in imperial measurements?0 -
Cups are very inaccurate anyway. Use your scale when possible, if you can't, find an entry in cups and use that I guess.
Doesn't MFP have an option to use Kj instead of calories?1 -
I live in NZ and use calories, if you scan the product into the app then it will give you calories instead of kjs. I've never had any issues.1
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I have my diary set for kilojoules as that is the easiest way to see if the food I enter is correct according to the nutrition label. I can understand that gram would mean very little to you at the moment but the more you use a scale to measure your food the more success you will have with guesstimations when scales are not available. Also, if you are the only one eating the yoghurt it won't matter a huge amount if a guesstimate is out a bit here or there for a serving size, as long as the total servings from that tub are about the same as the total number of grams on the label. A bit more one day and a bit less the next won't make a blind bit of difference in the long run.
Also, I think once you get used to metric you will find it much easier to work with than imperial.3 -
purple4sure05 wrote: »Hey everyone! Accidently deleted this post once so the sum it up - I've moved to New Zealand and am finding calorie counting tedious and near impossible. Not only is everything in kJ rather than calories forcing me to divide by four-point-whatever, but then the serving size is only in GRAMS. Not cups, never tablespoons, never "pieces," but always grams. How am I meant to know how many grams of yogurt I'm eating without carrying a food scale in my purse? I feel like I'm losing my mind! How many grams are in a tbsp of butter? Help! Lol.
I quit using the old imperial system back in Grade 4 when Canada switched to the metric system. So when I moved to Australia, I found counting calories pretty straightforward.
Once you get onto it, you'll never want to go back to the imperial system.
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sytchequeen wrote: »grams are much more accurate than cups or pieces, I always use grams. I'm surprised that things aren't labelled in both kCal and kJ though - that sounds a bit tricky
Some are.
For the rest, it's a quick and easy calculation ... just divide by 4.
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Muscleflex79 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »I am in Australia and I have used MFP for 5 years and I dont find it hard.
You can set your app to use calories or kilojoules - if you set it to kilojoules things you scan in will show their kj amount or if you set it to calories they will show in calories.
I left mine in calories as my mindset thinks that way and smaller numbers so less maths.
But I enter weights in grams.
If I eat yoghurt I scan the container in and enter it as that many servings.
If I eat yoghurt any other way and i cant weigh/measure it, I just estimate how much it is by comparing to my usual size container - ie my usual yoghurt container is 200ml, and this seems about half of that.
Or, if I must, use a data base entry for xxx, 1 cup
Like I do with any foods.
and like you would have to do whether you were using metric or imperial or cups or pieces.
Not really getting what the problem is?
I guess my problem is I'm not sure how to have any point of reference for how many grams what I'm eating weighs. To me, 100 grams means nothing, and with different sizes and densities for different foods I feel like its challenging to wrap your mind around what is 100 grams, 200 grams, etc. If a bag of pretzels says one serving is 13 pieces, that's much easier to keep track of then if it said one serving is 150 grams. Does that make sense?
but doesn't it tell you how many grams are in the whole thing? so you would just divide that by however many servings you are having to know grams per serving? I think grams are far more accurate and wish everything was this way!
Yes!0
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