Don't Trust Labels. Weigh your protein bars.
Replies
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A big thick piece of steak, purchased from the nearby grocer, stated that it had 320 calories per ounce.
When I tried to log it using the gold standard USDA database, I couldn't find any raw meat with 320 calories per ounce. I had 15.89 ounces, so I wanted accuracy. I eventually found that the mfp database listed the wal-mart ribeye steak for 320 calories per ounce and used that.3 -
I always buy the smallest bananas I can find. I used the data base and logged them at 110 calories. I have been weighing them now, and they come in at about 75 calories. Weighing food can make a difference both ways.3
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I dont bother with protein or granola bars, really. Reason being you're still going to be off because the number of chocolate chips, oats, swirls, nuts, etc. from bar to bar varies significantly. They determine the calorie content by taking the sum of the batch and dividing it by the number of bars made. I've gotten some quest bars that are almost all cookie or chocolate and some that only have one or two chunks. I just take it as it is and assume it'll even out. Now, bread! That's another story. I don't think I've ever gotten a slice that does weighmore than it's supposed to.3
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For some of us this matters, others 50 calories here or there is not the problem, it is the complete lack of control, or the complete unhealthiness of what we eat. Though in the big picture how many people know exactly how many calories they actually burn in a day, and how many go, well MFP says 1,200, 2,500 or 2,700 and go with that? Personally, I focus on portion sizes and better food choices, if my Quest Bar is over or under by 20-50 calories, I cannot lose sleep over that.3
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I'm a lazy weigher for pre-packaged, individual portioned items. The only things I do weight are things like rye bread which has all sorts of different sized slices in the package, otherwise I don't weigh and go with what the package says. So far my weight loss has progressed as predicted but I know where I will have to tighten up my logging when I get down to those last stubborn pounds.1
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Watched an interesting documentary a couple of weeks ago. A random food calorie test. The label said 474 calories. Turns out it actually tested at over 1700 calories in the lab. Can't trust any calorie count but hey..it's all we have.2
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After weighing food for 5 years I'm kinda a sloppy weigher these days. I'll totally weigh every gram of veggies but don't weigh most packaged foods. There was a time that I weighed everything, even eggs. I really didn't see the huge package differences that people claim. I still check my bread every so often and really never see much more than a gram or two different.
I will continue to be a sloppy weigher of food for now. When my weight loss slows I will probably have to become more diligent.2 -
lalalacroix wrote: »After weighing food for 5 years I'm kinda a sloppy weigher these days. I'll totally weigh every gram of veggies but don't weigh most packaged foods. There was a time that I weighed everything, even eggs. I really didn't see the huge package differences that people claim. I still check my bread every so often and really never see much more than a gram or two different.
I will continue to be a sloppy weigher of food for now. When my weight loss slows I will probably have to become more diligent.
I wish I could get away with not weighing eggs. I get mine fresh from my mom and shes got one chicken that lays eggs over 60g (poor chicken) and a couple that lay eggs in the 40s lol.3 -
lalalacroix wrote: »After weighing food for 5 years I'm kinda a sloppy weigher these days. I'll totally weigh every gram of veggies but don't weigh most packaged foods. There was a time that I weighed everything, even eggs. I really didn't see the huge package differences that people claim. I still check my bread every so often and really never see much more than a gram or two different.
I will continue to be a sloppy weigher of food for now. When my weight loss slows I will probably have to become more diligent.
As long as people recognize the bolded, I think that is what is important.6 -
You have to weigh everything. Those Quest bars that are labeled as 190 calories could be as high as 240 if you weigh it. While it may not seem like much 50 calories here, another 50 there, really adds up.
What are some other things that should be weighted and not estimated that you are guilty of?
Me im guilty of assuming every Banana is 105 calories.
Be honest everyone look at yesterday's journal and see if there is something that may not be 100% accurate. Pre packed items are likely culprits. Or protein that you scoop as opposed to weigh.
I don't really agree with this.
Sure, if weight loss is not progressing as expected, one strategy is to weigh everything and log more accurately.
But the blanket idea that everyone has to weigh everything - no, I don't agree
I never weighed any packaged food and I eat quite a bit of it.
People could look in my journal and find lots of things that are not 100% accurate. Possibly nothing in there is.
But law of averages evens it out - 50 calories here adds up, 50 calories there subtracts.
But that doesnt matter - my weight is doing what is expected.
IMO the aim is not to weigh everything to the nth degree of accuracy - the aim is to do it well enough for it to work, that's all.
Calorie counting is a means to an end, not an aim in itself.11 -
Off to weigh all my Quest bars...2
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Okay, I have 6 Quest bars in the house. Just weighed them all (in the wrapper). Two were exactly the correct weight as stated on the wrapper. One was 2 grams under. Three were 2 grams over. Not gonna sweat a 2-gram difference for protein bars. That’s 6-7 calories. Gonna weigh them all from now on, though!5
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Okay, I have 6 Quest bars in the house. Just weighed them all (in the wrapper). Two were exactly the correct weight as stated on the wrapper. One was 2 grams under. Three were 2 grams over. Not gonna sweat a 2-gram difference for protein bars. That’s 6-7 calories. Gonna weigh them all from now on, though!
That's my thought process too. If it tends to average around the same amount, I don't bother adjusting. It's only when they're consistently over, and some companies like to do that because it can become a legal issues if they're underfilling below the stated weight, whereas there's little issue with overfilling.6 -
paperpudding wrote: »You have to weigh everything. Those Quest bars that are labeled as 190 calories could be as high as 240 if you weigh it. While it may not seem like much 50 calories here, another 50 there, really adds up.
What are some other things that should be weighted and not estimated that you are guilty of?
Me im guilty of assuming every Banana is 105 calories.
Be honest everyone look at yesterday's journal and see if there is something that may not be 100% accurate. Pre packed items are likely culprits. Or protein that you scoop as opposed to weigh.
I don't really agree with this.
Sure, if weight loss is not progressing as expected, one strategy is to weigh everything and log more accurately.
But the blanket idea that everyone has to weigh everything - no, I don't agree
I never weighed any packaged food and I eat quite a bit of it.
People could look in my journal and find lots of things that are not 100% accurate. Possibly nothing in there is.
But law of averages evens it out - 50 calories here adds up, 50 calories there subtracts.
But that doesnt matter - my weight is doing what is expected.
IMO the aim is not to weigh everything to the nth degree of accuracy - the aim is to do it well enough for it to work, that's all.
Calorie counting is a means to an end, not an aim in itself.
I agree. I have never had a problem losing weight despite using cups and teaspoons for measurements or even eyeballing. I doubt my calories attributed to exercise are accurate either but everything seems to be close enough.2 -
where do i find this show?
This is a bit off-topic but as OP mentioned it's on youtube and it's BRILLIANT. They intersperse the stories with scientific experiments examining how behavior relates to food choices - it's honestly so well put-together. I love it.
Plus, those accents, I mean...
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I came looking for a thread about weighing food this morning, because I looked at my pre sliced sourdough loaf that had a single slice (not serving) had 111 calories. I'm not stupid, and can see that in a boule shaped loaf, the outer slices are significantly smaller than the middle, and it turns out a middle slice is double the weight of the average packet "slice" weight. Averages only even out if you eat the whole batch.4
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Protein powder - the scoop was actually less than a serving.
I was surprised - I'd think they'd manage it the other way so you'd go through it faster - needing to buy sooner.0 -
sheloves89 wrote: »
where do i find this show?
This is a bit off-topic but as OP mentioned it's on youtube and it's BRILLIANT. They intersperse the stories with scientific experiments examining how behavior relates to food choices - it's honestly so well put-together. I love it.
Plus, those accents, I mean...
The host of Secret Eaters is the host of so many UK shows that sometimes I hear her in my head, snarkily chastising me for my poor choices in life.3 -
Protein powder - the scoop was actually less than a serving.
I was surprised - I'd think they'd manage it the other way so you'd go through it faster - needing to buy sooner.
My protein powder scoops, if I fill them completely, are always significantly over the serving listed on the packaging. Two-thirds full scoop is closer to serving size.2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Protein powder - the scoop was actually less than a serving.
I was surprised - I'd think they'd manage it the other way so you'd go through it faster - needing to buy sooner.
My protein powder scoops, if I fill them completely, are always significantly over the serving listed on the packaging. Two-thirds full scoop is closer to serving size.
Same here. And my PB2 always comes out to be way over unless I shake the container a lot to fluff it up. Always weigh my PB2.2 -
I'm a very inconsistent and lazy weigher most of the time. With that said, I don't think there is anything quite as depressing as looking at a 20 gram serving of peanut butter. It just makes me sad, lol.
If left unchecked, my typical serving size would be closer to 4x the amount.1 -
I'm a very inconsistent and lazy weigher most of the time. With that said, I don't think there is anything quite as depressing as looking at a 20 gram serving of peanut butter. It just makes me sad, lol.
If left unchecked, my typical serving size would be closer to 4x the amount.
Off topic from the original post but I too am deeply saddened by what a "true" serving of PB looks like. If you add a serving of powdered PB and a bit of water to the real stuff you get a bit more but it's still got that creamy, sticky goodness that just cant be replicated by powdered PB alone.1 -
Teabythesea_ wrote: »I'm a very inconsistent and lazy weigher most of the time. With that said, I don't think there is anything quite as depressing as looking at a 20 gram serving of peanut butter. It just makes me sad, lol.
If left unchecked, my typical serving size would be closer to 4x the amount.
Off topic from the original post but I too am deeply saddened by what a "true" serving of PB looks like. If you add a serving of powdered PB and a bit of water to the real stuff you get a bit more but it's still got that creamy, sticky goodness that just cant be replicated by powdered PB alone.
Yep, I've resorted to that method to help cover the 75g( roughly 3/4) of banana that I consume each morning.
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »A big thick piece of steak, purchased from the nearby grocer, stated that it had 320 calories per ounce.
When I tried to log it using the gold standard USDA database, I couldn't find any raw meat with 320 calories per ounce. I had 15.89 ounces, so I wanted accuracy. I eventually found that the mfp database listed the wal-mart ribeye steak for 320 calories per ounce and used that.JeromeBarry1 wrote: »A big thick piece of steak, purchased from the nearby grocer, stated that it had 320 calories per ounce.
When I tried to log it using the gold standard USDA database, I couldn't find any raw meat with 320 calories per ounce. I had 15.89 ounces, so I wanted accuracy. I eventually found that the mfp database listed the wal-mart ribeye steak for 320 calories per ounce and used that.
Even pure oil doesn't have 320 calories per ounce (9 X 28 = 252), so you were massively overcounting.7 -
I came looking for a thread about weighing food this morning, because I looked at my pre sliced sourdough loaf that had a single slice (not serving) had 111 calories. I'm not stupid, and can see that in a boule shaped loaf, the outer slices are significantly smaller than the middle, and it turns out a middle slice is double the weight of the average packet "slice" weight. Averages only even out if you eat the whole batch.
Not sure about your bread in particular
But most things - Or they even out over time as a law of averages.
Bananas for example - every one I eat is logged as a small banana ( I always buy small ones so they fit in my lunchbox for work ) - they look around the same size but I'm sure some are bit bigger, some bit smaller - but differences average out.
Same with standard things like slices of bread in regular loaves - not much difference between them and will average out.
That works for me.
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Recently I have been buying some vegan sausage rolls which are fabulous. I then saw the same make but mini ones. I was rather puzzled when I came to log them, as it said the pack was 180 grams and that there were 8 in a pack each 22.5 grams. But there were only 6 in my packet. I weighed the two that I was going to eat and they weighed 75 grams. So the whole label was completely wrong...2
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Watched an interesting documentary a couple of weeks ago. A random food calorie test. The label said 474 calories. Turns out it actually tested at over 1700 calories in the lab. Can't trust any calorie count but hey..it's all we have.
God almighty, what was the food?
I started a thread a while back which wasnt that interesting to others judging by the lack of replies about why so many 'basic' foods ( I think I was trying to search for raw salmon) are different according to different supermarkets. So I think Tesco was different to Sainsburys, was different to Aldi, to Lidl, to Morrison and so on and so on.
How can this be when this is not a processed food?
Most posters advised to use the label and the manufacturers calculation but quite honestly I dont know if I can trust them0 -
Watched an interesting documentary a couple of weeks ago. A random food calorie test. The label said 474 calories. Turns out it actually tested at over 1700 calories in the lab. Can't trust any calorie count but hey..it's all we have.
God almighty, what was the food?
I started a thread a while back which wasnt that interesting to others judging by the lack of replies about why so many 'basic' foods ( I think I was trying to search for raw salmon) are different according to different supermarkets. So I think Tesco was different to Sainsburys, was different to Aldi, to Lidl, to Morrison and so on and so on.
How can this be when this is not a processed food?
Most posters advised to use the label and the manufacturers calculation but quite honestly I dont know if I can trust them
When in doubt look on the USDA standard reference database, that will be most accurate. Personally I dont notice too much of a difference on fresh or frozen produce or meats. Even salmon is around the same, typically its 100-110 calories for 112 grams or so. It also depends on whether its skin on or skin off.1 -
FWIW
The FDA allows food companies wide latitude in the accuracy of the calories listed on package labels—20 percent in either direction. That means if a label says 200 calories per serving, it could be 240 calories or 160 calories or anything in between.
https://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/nutrition/article/can-you-trust-calorie-counts3
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