measuring veggys
2baninja
Posts: 519 Member
OK, here's a thought.
A serving size for a vegetable, we'll use Broccoli, is 1 cup, which is a fine amount, but if you weigh it to be exact, 8 oz weighed is a lot, I was only able to get to 4 oz to get to the amount that I'd be able to eat, so I'm curious, does everyone eat a weighed out 8 oz serving, or a measured cup?
Most veggys are so light that 1 cup is a lot less then 8 oz.
A serving size for a vegetable, we'll use Broccoli, is 1 cup, which is a fine amount, but if you weigh it to be exact, 8 oz weighed is a lot, I was only able to get to 4 oz to get to the amount that I'd be able to eat, so I'm curious, does everyone eat a weighed out 8 oz serving, or a measured cup?
Most veggys are so light that 1 cup is a lot less then 8 oz.
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Replies
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8 oz. by volume (liquid measurement) doesn't equal 8 oz. weight for most items. Weight of items is more accurate as a measurement for how much you are eating. Look for measurements by weight in grams or ounces and weigh the food you want to log.5
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8 oz in a cup is a volume measurement, not weight. There are (unfortunately) two different types of ounces - fluid ounces that are a volume measurement (8 FL oz in a cup) and ounces that are a weight (16 oz in a pound). One has nothing to do with the other.
Most veggies have a serving size of @ 85-95 grams. That usually looks like around 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup6 -
A 8 oz cup of water weighs 8 oz. Items with a lot of air in them, like broccoli, will weigh less. Dense items will weigh more.2
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Weigh them. As others said fluid ounces and weight ounces are different types of measures.
Here's the good news: A lot of the MFP database entries that show "1 Cup" as the default quantities, offer lots of other serving size measures if you click the serving size drop-down. This is especially true for entries titled with the stilted bureaucrat-speak that suggests they came from the USDA (for example: "broccoli, raw". "tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average" - no regular human talks like that!
).
More good news: Weighing these things is quicker and easier than using cups, as well as more accurate.
Food weighing efficiency tips are in this thread (ignore the jokey thread title): https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive5 -
Don't confuse the liquid volume ounce with an ounce in weight, they are not the same thing at all. A measuring cup is ok for liquid measure or granulated ingredients for baking, not for irregular things like broccoli.
Get a food scale. Use it.2 -
Additionally, you don’t have to eat exactly the amount defined as a “serving.” You can eat 20 grams of broccoli or 200 grams of broccoli, as long as you like it and it fits your goals. Sounds obvious, but it took me a long time to realize that using a scale freed me from worrying about what constitutes a “serving.”8
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i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.4 -
The 1 cup = 8 oz thing isn't valid for foods, it's for water. Liquid oz are irrelevant -- weigh foods (in g or oz, I prefer g) and measure liquids.
Re veg, in my head 100 g = a serving since it's a good round number, but I think it's really something like 80 g. (8 oz would be 224 g -- I sometimes will eat that much of a single veg, but more often I'll eat smaller amounts of multiple different veg that add up to more than that amount total.) Personally, I generally aim for 10+ servings per day but don't actually count servings, it just fits with what I tend to prefer in terms of forming a meal.2 -
i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.
"Cucumber, peeled, raw" or "Cucumber - With peel, raw". Use the quantity drop-down to get grams. (They're some of the ones where default quantity is cups, but dropdown has evvvverrrrything.
Still the next best thing to zero calories, though. Lummesome cukes. 
1 -
Weigh them. As others said fluid ounces and weight ounces are different types of measures.
Here's the good news: A lot of the MFP database entries that show "1 Cup" as the default quantities, offer lots of other serving size measures if you click the serving size drop-down. This is especially true for entries titled with the stilted bureaucrat-speak that suggests they came from the USDA (for example: "broccoli, raw". "tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average" - no regular human talks like that! ).
More good news: Weighing these things is quicker and easier than using cups, as well as more accurate.
Food weighing efficiency tips are in this thread (ignore the jokey thread title): https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive
I have never weighed my veggys except for that 1 time, because I was measuring it out and taking it to work with me, which is where the question started....
I've always just done the "1 cup is about a fist size" thing.
I figured most veggy are so low in calories, that it really didn't matter that much...0 -
Don't confuse the liquid volume ounce with an ounce in weight, they are not the same thing at all. A measuring cup is ok for liquid measure or granulated ingredients for baking, not for irregular things like broccoli.
Get a food scale. Use it.
I have a food scale and I use it, but when the only serving size you can find on an item is 1 cup, it's rather useless.0 -
i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.
"Cucumber, peeled, raw" or "Cucumber - With peel, raw". Use the quantity drop-down to get grams. (They're some of the ones where default quantity is cups, but dropdown has evvvverrrrything.
Still the next best thing to zero calories, though. Lummesome cukes.
I guess I picked the wrong Broccoli to log, my drop down only has, millimeter, cup, 1/2 cup....0 -
All the good vegetable (or other whole food) entries should have 100 g options, as well as many others. They are the ones that were input by MFP from the USDA. When I search "broccoli, raw," it's the first one that comes up for me.4
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i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.
"Cucumber, peeled, raw" or "Cucumber - With peel, raw". Use the quantity drop-down to get grams. (They're some of the ones where default quantity is cups, but dropdown has evvvverrrrything.
Still the next best thing to zero calories, though. Lummesome cukes.
I guess I picked the wrong Broccoli to log, my drop down only has, millimeter, cup, 1/2 cup....
I hope you meant milliliter, because, if someone entered a millimeter measurement for food, that would be odd (not that it would surprise me, given how bloated and error riddled the food database is). How many calories in this foot of peas?
As already suggested, for accuracy, you can find entries that have gram options, I usually type the item and USDA in the search field.6 -
Weigh them. As others said fluid ounces and weight ounces are different types of measures.
Here's the good news: A lot of the MFP database entries that show "1 Cup" as the default quantities, offer lots of other serving size measures if you click the serving size drop-down. This is especially true for entries titled with the stilted bureaucrat-speak that suggests they came from the USDA (for example: "broccoli, raw". "tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average" - no regular human talks like that! ).
More good news: Weighing these things is quicker and easier than using cups, as well as more accurate.
Food weighing efficiency tips are in this thread (ignore the jokey thread title): https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive
I have never weighed my veggys except for that 1 time, because I was measuring it out and taking it to work with me, which is where the question started....
I've always just done the "1 cup is about a fist size" thing.
I figured most veggy are so low in calories, that it really didn't matter that much...
That may work for you or others.
I often eat literally hundreds of calories daily of low-cal veggies, as a veggie-loving vegetarian volume eater. I log them because they're 1/4-1/3 of my calories a lotta days, and to track nutrients. Since I know the scale tricks, time investment is near zero: Sooo worth it.
YMMV.4 -
I just dump my veg in and don’t measure but that may not be advisable.0
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i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.
"Cucumber, peeled, raw" or "Cucumber - With peel, raw". Use the quantity drop-down to get grams. (They're some of the ones where default quantity is cups, but dropdown has evvvverrrrything.
Still the next best thing to zero calories, though. Lummesome cukes.
I picked up a jar of sugar free (spenda flavored) sweet gherkin pickles yesterday, (so baby cucumbers I guess, lol). I stared at the label for the longest time in the store because a serving of two of them is 0 calories. First time I've ever seen a food listed as '0' lol.
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Either weigh OR measure. Don't try to combine the two. They are separate measurements. Like everyone else said. The most accurate would be to weigh them, and choose an entry that is logged in a weight measurement like grams. If using oz, make sure it does not say fluid oz, as they are different.0
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Weigh them. As others said fluid ounces and weight ounces are different types of measures.
Here's the good news: A lot of the MFP database entries that show "1 Cup" as the default quantities, offer lots of other serving size measures if you click the serving size drop-down. This is especially true for entries titled with the stilted bureaucrat-speak that suggests they came from the USDA (for example: "broccoli, raw". "tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average" - no regular human talks like that! ).
More good news: Weighing these things is quicker and easier than using cups, as well as more accurate.
Food weighing efficiency tips are in this thread (ignore the jokey thread title): https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive
I have never weighed my veggys except for that 1 time, because I was measuring it out and taking it to work with me, which is where the question started....
I've always just done the "1 cup is about a fist size" thing.
I figured most veggy are so low in calories, that it really didn't matter that much...
80g sweetcorn, 78 kcal
80g peas, 67 kcal
80g carrots, 34 kcal
80g red peppers, 26 kcal
80g cauliflower, 20 kcal
There's quite a variation there. So if we call that selection my five-a-day, that's 225 kcal of vegetables. Which is definitely enough to matter.
And actually, I more usually get ten-a-day...7 -
Weigh them. As others said fluid ounces and weight ounces are different types of measures.
Here's the good news: A lot of the MFP database entries that show "1 Cup" as the default quantities, offer lots of other serving size measures if you click the serving size drop-down. This is especially true for entries titled with the stilted bureaucrat-speak that suggests they came from the USDA (for example: "broccoli, raw". "tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average" - no regular human talks like that! ).
More good news: Weighing these things is quicker and easier than using cups, as well as more accurate.
Food weighing efficiency tips are in this thread (ignore the jokey thread title): https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive
I have never weighed my veggys except for that 1 time, because I was measuring it out and taking it to work with me, which is where the question started....
I've always just done the "1 cup is about a fist size" thing.
I figured most veggy are so low in calories, that it really didn't matter that much...
That may work for you or others.
I often eat literally hundreds of calories daily of low-cal veggies, as a veggie-loving vegetarian volume eater. I log them because they're 1/4-1/3 of my calories a lotta days, and to track nutrients. Since I know the scale tricks, time investment is near zero: Sooo worth it.
YMMV.
I was literally gonna say the same thing. My diet is mostly vegetables and I could easily overeat on them if I didn't weigh them.3 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.
"Cucumber, peeled, raw" or "Cucumber - With peel, raw". Use the quantity drop-down to get grams. (They're some of the ones where default quantity is cups, but dropdown has evvvverrrrything.
Still the next best thing to zero calories, though. Lummesome cukes.
I guess I picked the wrong Broccoli to log, my drop down only has, millimeter, cup, 1/2 cup....
I hope you meant milliliter, because, if someone entered a millimeter measurement for food, that would be odd (not that it would surprise me, given how bloated and error riddled the food database is). How many calories in this foot of peas?
As already suggested, for accuracy, you can find entries that have gram options, I usually type the item and USDA in the search field.
Yes it was milliliter.....or milli something, I zoned out aver that...lol1 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.
"Cucumber, peeled, raw" or "Cucumber - With peel, raw". Use the quantity drop-down to get grams. (They're some of the ones where default quantity is cups, but dropdown has evvvverrrrything.
Still the next best thing to zero calories, though. Lummesome cukes.
I guess I picked the wrong Broccoli to log, my drop down only has, millimeter, cup, 1/2 cup....
I hope you meant milliliter, because, if someone entered a millimeter measurement for food, that would be odd (not that it would surprise me, given how bloated and error riddled the food database is). How many calories in this foot of peas?
As already suggested, for accuracy, you can find entries that have gram options, I usually type the item and USDA in the search field.
Yes it was milliliter.....or milli something, I zoned out aver that...lol
I figured it was, I wasn't taking a poke at you. It just tickled me.
0 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »i weigh and log all vegetables in grams. ok except cuccumber. just because i haven't bothered to find an accurate entry that has grams and it's pretty low cal, i should fix that one day.
not cups or servings.
"Cucumber, peeled, raw" or "Cucumber - With peel, raw". Use the quantity drop-down to get grams. (They're some of the ones where default quantity is cups, but dropdown has evvvverrrrything.
Still the next best thing to zero calories, though. Lummesome cukes.
I guess I picked the wrong Broccoli to log, my drop down only has, millimeter, cup, 1/2 cup....
I hope you meant milliliter, because, if someone entered a millimeter measurement for food, that would be odd (not that it would surprise me, given how bloated and error riddled the food database is). How many calories in this foot of peas?
As already suggested, for accuracy, you can find entries that have gram options, I usually type the item and USDA in the search field.
Yes it was milliliter.....or milli something, I zoned out aver that...lol
I figured it was, I wasn't taking a poke at you. It just tickled me.
lol, did think you were, all those measurements give me a headache...1 -
Weigh them. As others said fluid ounces and weight ounces are different types of measures.
Here's the good news: A lot of the MFP database entries that show "1 Cup" as the default quantities, offer lots of other serving size measures if you click the serving size drop-down. This is especially true for entries titled with the stilted bureaucrat-speak that suggests they came from the USDA (for example: "broccoli, raw". "tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average" - no regular human talks like that! ).
More good news: Weighing these things is quicker and easier than using cups, as well as more accurate.
Food weighing efficiency tips are in this thread (ignore the jokey thread title): https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive
I have never weighed my veggys except for that 1 time, because I was measuring it out and taking it to work with me, which is where the question started....
I've always just done the "1 cup is about a fist size" thing.
I figured most veggy are so low in calories, that it really didn't matter that much...
80g sweetcorn, 78 kcal
80g peas, 67 kcal
80g carrots, 34 kcal
80g red peppers, 26 kcal
80g cauliflower, 20 kcal
There's quite a variation there. So if we call that selection my five-a-day, that's 225 kcal of vegetables. Which is definitely enough to matter.
And actually, I more usually get ten-a-day...
Me too, my little challenge to myself is to see how many '5 a day' I can eat. Today was 8, as was yesterday. I log all the veg at 100g, that way I overestimate a bit. It all adds up. Even before I had added my protein to my dinner today, the calories just from the veg was 269, thats a lot to leave out1
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