I've got a smidge of a complaint....

knittnponder

It drives me crazy when all the measurements are in cups, tablespoons, etc. I weigh things by gram or ounce because it's much more accurate. I use a kitchen scale for baking because scooping up a cup of flour will give you a different measurement each time but weighing it gives you consistency. I'm not obsessing over every gram but I do like knowing that if I'm logging 50 grams of something it's actually 50 grams. When you're talking something like whipping cream or almond flour those few grams can make a big difference!

curly1986

Cups drive me bonkers. They are fairly american thing and I know this site has a lot of americans... But I'm scottish! I want grams for stuff. And a pet hate is things listed by quantity... 4 Strawberries? Is that 4 big ones, 4 little ones, a mixture... Just give me the grams!!

(I do own a set of measuring cups and spoons as I have a couple of cookbooks by american writers/cooks, but thats the only time I use them)

Shell_7609

I was entering a serving of Cheerios the other day, and one of the options was "One bowl". What size bowl?

candifeola

I have to agree with you on this I love cup tbsp. etcetera when I'm out I'm not traveling with a scale

tootoop224

'smidge' - i like that word! :P

Me too!!!!

Makes me think of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL7hkMkqAsk

MakingAChoice

It drives me nutty when founds are listed by the ounce or some other measuring....If I'm having salsa and chips, I measure out by tablespoons my salsa and a number of chips (for example)...I don't measure out x many ounces of chips....who does that?! Why in sam's hill can't they put an estimated quantity? I don't always want to weight my lunch meat, or chips, or dry pasta. I do have a scale but it's not always convenient.

*phew* glad you let me get that off my chest. Feel free to share your complaint

Well up until now myfitnesspal was bootstrapped (supported of the side of a few people's desks). They were just able to raise 18 million though in funding. So things like that measurement annoyance might get fixed in the future. Either way prepare to see a lot of changes coming (hopefully to the inaccurate database).

Oh and to get around that annoyance you can create a 'meal'. Add the entry you like to use for your chips and salsa and it will save it, then you just select a 'meal' when you eat those and adjust the quantity in your log.

ARoseinDecember

I'm the opposite, I hate it when stuff isn't entered by weight. A cup of carrots, or apples? Am I being stingy with my cup or should I cram in as much as possible?

I just really like weighing everything.

This. How much spinach is a cup of spinach? Should I pack it down, or leave air in there? I want every damn spinach leaf I'm counting. I guess it depends on how stringent you're trying to be about the count. Weighing is more accurate.

faely

I don't like the database anymore really. There's too many people "sharing" the recipes and incorrect nutrition information they put in and so we have 10k options to have to review and choose from.

I now weigh everything I can, as often as I can. I have a digital scale that cost less than $20. I carry it with me in my purse. I don't care if I look like one of "those" ppl. I need accuracy because I have a problem with portion sizes. A portion to skinny people is not the same as a portion to someone with a food addiction. We need the visual. It's definitely hard to do that when eating out, but I try not to do that too much, for that specific reason.

If you pull a spoon out of your cutlery drawer and expect that to be a tablespoon or teaspoon, you are wrong.

I create my foods (as tedious as that is) by going to Google or NutritionData or Caloriecount.com (for full recipes cuz recipe building on MFP sucks), and then I DON'T share them. I keep them all to myself so that I don't have to sift through a bunch of incorrect information in the database. I put it all in grams, except liquids.

It's been a real eye opener.


@ whoever said they were going to leave because of the snarky responses...most internet forums are like that because they're full of people's opinions. I didn't see any but at any rate, it's easy to ignore that if you don't like it and just take the information.

tootoop224

It annoys me when I have a recipe that gives amounts in ounces when the food I buy is listed in grams.

1oz. = 28g.

tootoop224

This is one of the reasons why I weigh every chance I can: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

and specifically this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY



I recommend that people do weigh where possible and not measure, unless liquid, or eyeball.

You know I really like the second link, but people have told me that most people really don't round up a scoop, and I agree, so I think the message is kinda lost because they are really overdoing it.

Personally, I want grams. Heck I want my liquids to show in grams too... it drives me nuts when I want to use milk and I have to get the measuring cup out instead of being able to just weigh it (maple syrup is even worse!).

I agree, For liquids, I measure out the amount in cups, then weigh it and keep track that way. 1/2 a cup of 2% milk = 117g.

tootoop224

In Houston, I find that a portion served in a restaurant is 2 to 10 times what I would eat at home with few exceptions. I order appetizers most of the time for lunch, seriously.

Houston, we have a problem...

LOLZ!!!:laugh:

BeachIron

I don't like the database anymore really. There's too many people "sharing" the recipes and incorrect nutrition information they put in and so we have 10k options to have to review and choose from.

I now weigh everything I can, as often as I can. I have a digital scale that cost less than $20. I carry it with me in my purse. I don't care if I look like one of "those" ppl. I need accuracy because I have a problem with portion sizes. A portion to skinny people is not the same as a portion to someone with a food addiction. We need the visual. It's definitely hard to do that when eating out, but I try not to do that too much, for that specific reason.

If you pull a spoon out of your cutlery drawer and expect that to be a tablespoon or teaspoon, you are wrong.

I create my foods (as tedious as that is) by going to Google or NutritionData or Caloriecount.com (for full recipes cuz recipe building on MFP sucks), and then I DON'T share them. I keep them all to myself so that I don't have to sift through a bunch of incorrect information in the database. I put it all in grams, except liquids.

It's been a real eye opener.


@ whoever said they were going to leave because of the snarky responses...most internet forums are like that because they're full of people's opinions. I didn't see any but at any rate, it's easy to ignore that if you don't like it and just take the information.

^ I really wish more people were honest with themselves like this.

Once you have a real idea for what a portion size looks like, you can actually make reliable guesses, but for many of us that time may never come. I can easily "eyeball" a 24 ounce steak as a portion. lol

jenifr818

I'm the opposite, I hate it when stuff isn't entered by weight. A cup of carrots, or apples? Am I being stingy with my cup or should I cram in as much as possible?

I just really like weighing everything.

I am the same at the moment, I mean what size cup do they mean. I am also finding that you have to be careful of some of your selections from the database as well, for example some eggs have cholesterol listed and others don't

I will continue weighing and checking listings against packets/tins for now

what size cup? When it says 1 cup that means "1 measuring cup" as in not 2 cups or half a cup or 3/4's of a cup.. 1 cup.

edited to add visual for better understanding of what a cup is.
To me this is funny because several years ago the kids asked my husband to make kool aid and when he asked how much sugar I said 1 cup. I went into the kitchen to see him putting sugar into a tall drinking glass. I said OMG what are you doing? He said well you said one cup. I couldn't believe I had to explain to him what a cup is. ugh!!

:blushing: In all fairness, for the longest time I thought that too. What, it's a "cup" .... :blushing:

feelin_gr_8

*Sigh*.....I guess I'm *almost* alone in my feelings. I'm done looking at the comments. Thank you for your recommendations, I'm glad we can all lose weight how we feel we need to, whether it's vegan or paleo or shakes and supplements....by weighing our food or "eyeballing" it. I will say for future reference, that it's a bit harsh to say that someone isn't "serious" about weight loss because they don't prescribe to your methods. We're here to motivate each other and I'm very serious about my lifestyle change

cwolfman13

I don't measure out x many ounces of chips....who does that?! Why in sam's hill can't they put an estimated quantity?

I do that....I measure pretty much everything. It is the most accurate way to do things. There have been studies that indicate that people on average underestimate their consumption by 20-30% when they just eyeball. You do a bit better by measuring our counting out the quantity...but weight is by far the most accurate.

KenosFeoh

Oh horsefeathers; weighing is only as inconvenient as you make it.

neandermagnon

I'm the opposite, I hate it when stuff isn't entered by weight. A cup of carrots, or apples? Am I being stingy with my cup or should I cram in as much as possible?

I just really like weighing everything.

I am the same at the moment, I mean what size cup do they mean. I am also finding that you have to be careful of some of your selections from the database as well, for example some eggs have cholesterol listed and others don't

I will continue weighing and checking listings against packets/tins for now

what size cup? When it says 1 cup that means "1 measuring cup" as in not 2 cups or half a cup or 3/4's of a cup.. 1 cup.

edited to add visual for better understanding of what a cup is.
To me this is funny because several years ago the kids asked my husband to make kool aid and when he asked how much sugar I said 1 cup. I went into the kitchen to see him putting sugar into a tall drinking glass. I said OMG what are you doing? He said well you said one cup. I couldn't believe I had to explain to him what a cup is. ugh!!

:blushing: In all fairness, for the longest time I thought that too. What, it's a "cup" .... :blushing:

that's because it's a standard measurement in the USA, but not in a lot of other places. Everywhere else, a cup is not a unit, it's something you drink out of, and they come in all different sizes. I was not aware of the "cup" as a standardised American unit of volume until I was in my 30s. British people do use volume measurements, usually, teaspoons, tablespoons, fluid ounces, millilitres or cubic centimetres.

So a non-American not realising that "a cup" refers to a specific, standardised unit is understandable. British people have a weight measurement of a "stone" which is 14lb... if an American didn't know how much weight a "stone" is and thought... well what kind of stone? A big stone or a little stone? How am I supposed to know how big a stone they mean? .... that'd be exactly the same thing.

Fullsterkur_woman

I see that as an opportunity for learning about other cultures then; I don't look at it as bothersome or inconvenient. I was raised on standard American volume measures, but I've been weighing my food in grams for so long now that I have the number of grams memorized for 0-3 oz. in 1/2 oz. increments, and 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 16 oz.

I'd also prefer it if everything had the option to be logged in grams, because it's so much easier to weigh everything as you're adding it to a mixing bowl. Plus, you don't have to dirty up all those extra dishes!

Kanuenue

I weigh my food. It's accurate and simple. My scale just sits on the counter and voila! Easy-peasy. Solids I think are easier weighed, since unlike liquids they don't take the form of a measuring cup unless you dice them.

strongmindstrongbody

I measure in grams whenever possible. Totally love the foods listed that have the 1 gram option. Makes it easier to put in fractional servings.