Weighing or measuring??

deezhd67

Is it better to weigh everything and track in grams rather than use a measuring cup? Ex. shredded cheese or chopping up onion or tomatoes?

WholeFoods4Lyfe

Measure liquids, weigh everything else.

LyndaBSS

It's more accurate to weigh anything you can. I use measuring cups for liquid items like pasta sauce.

quiksylver296

deezhd67 wrote: »

Is it better to weigh everything and track in grams rather than use a measuring cup? Ex. shredded cheese or chopping up onion or tomatoes?

Yes.

Check out the video in this thread. It shows why.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

MikePTY

Weighing. Even though US labels seem to be obsessed with them, "cup" isn't really an accurate measurement unit for solid foods.

deezhd67

Thank you!

kami3006

Most of the labels in the US have grams for liquids. I weigh them too. Quicker, cleaner.

deezhd67

Makes total sense! Thanks again!

COGypsy

Measuring cups leave too much wiggle room to be an accurate estimator of calories. I can stuff a LOT of shredded cheese into a measuring cup--probably twice as much tamped down as compared to loosely piled in. But hey--it's still just a cup of cheese, right? How much of something chopped goes into a measuring cup would depend on how finely it's chopped and again, how densely it's packed.

Even going by package measurements, there can be a huge difference between weighing and measuring. A while back I was curious about how far off one method could be from the other. I was making grits and the package said that the serving size was something like 1/3 cup dry (50 g). I measured out my third of a cup. Since it was just cornmeal there wasn't any packing it in to do or anything. I poured that precise-as-I-could-make-it third of a cup into a bowl on my food scale and it weighed closer to 75 grams than the 50 that the package equated to 1/3 cup. That's an additional half serving that wouldn't have been accounted for!

AnnPT77

Here's the thing: Not only is it more accurate to weigh than measure with cups/spoons, it's also quicker and easier (once you learn the tricks): Double win!

This thread has tips from a lot of people (ignore the clickbait title, I promise it's really about making weighing things easier ):

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive

LyndaBSS

There's a lot of effort and math involved in the first poster's helpful hints. Weighing, eating, weighing again. Sounds a lot more difficult and time consuming, in my opinion. 😯

AnnPT77

LyndaBSS wrote: »

There's a lot of effort and math involved in the first poster's helpful hints. Weighing, eating, weighing again. Sounds a lot more difficult and time consuming, in my opinion. 😯

There's only math when it involves something with inedible residue, like corn on the cob. That involves subtraction. Otherwise, it's just weighing and reading what the scale says, in order to log it. No math.

deezhd67

I just want to thank you all again for the info. I've come across several items that I would have tracked incorrectly, had I not weighed them. Thanks!

Danp

Always weigh if it's an option, even liquids if you can.

One benefit of weighing is there is less clean up as you're not dirtying cups and spoons.

You just place the container on the scale and start adding ingredients, zeroing the scale between each different food if your scale allows it or just keeping a running tally.

yirara

Danp wrote: »

Always weigh if it's an option, even liquids if you can.

One benefit of weighing is there is less clean up as you're not dirtying cups and spoons.

You just place the container on the scale and start adding ingredients, zeroing the scale between each different food if your scale allows it or just keeping a running tally.

Or the other way around: put the container with food on the scale, switch on, take food out, read off the negative number. I usually do that with liquids that I weigh.