Do you weight food even when the serving size is stated?
weight3049
Posts: 72 Member
I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
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Honestly I don't, but it's probably the best way to do it, as pieces are not always sized the same. It really depends on how accurate you find you need your logging to be to see results. I've generally found success being a little looser.1
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weight3049 wrote: »I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
I never did...a lot of people do. I only ever weighed meat, and calorie dense items like nuts, nut butters, cereals, pasta, etc.3 -
Nope
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I weigh if I have a scale. If I'm out and about I just log them at label value.3
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i generally don't. but for kicks, i weighed my 2 slices of bread yesterday and they were about 5 grams over what the package stated. not enough for me to care, but it might matter to some people.1
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I use to. I found a lot of items did not weight what the package said. My yogurt was almost an entire ounce less than what the container said. Depends how OCD I get.
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weight3049 wrote: »I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
I have gotten boxes of frozen fish fillets that say a serving is 1 piece (49g). And I found pieces that were 35g, 57g, one giant piece that was two servings. I have bought loaves of bread where the slices in the middle weighed almost double what the slices on the end weighed.
So I do because I'm the type of person that feels like, if I'm going to record data, I want it to be accurate. Other people don't, because that level of effort would make them not want to log at all.
If you are losing weight as expected and are happy with what you're doing, stick with it. If you get to a point in the future where you aren't losing as expected, just make a mental note that getting more accurate is the first troubleshooting you should do. If you're just starting out, I would suggest taking a couple of weeks to weigh every damn thing, just to get straight right away what common foods you eat can be a little dicey. Then settle into whatever level of day to day detail orientation you're comfortable with.7 -
weight3049 wrote: »I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
Depends. If the pieces are really uniform like Pringles or Cheez-its the answer is no. If it is highly irregular like normal potato chips and steak fries I absolutely weigh them. The variances can be huge.
It doesn't matter what other people do. You don't lose weight by committee. The people who don't weigh those types of items may rarely ever eat them and the calorie difference has no impact. Frequency matters. If you can lose weight at the pace you want with loose logging go for it. If you can't it you need to tighten down.7 -
I'll weigh it if it's a new thing, just to check if they're an egregious overfiller (some are, because it's cheaper to overfill than it is to underfill and get caught ripping people off). Once I confirm that, I just go by the package or add a % extra for the average amount it tends to be overfilled by. Normally it's not that much.2
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RelCanonical wrote: »I'll weigh it if it's a new thing, just to check if they're an egregious overfiller (some are, because it's cheaper to overfill than it is to underfill and get caught ripping people off). Once I confirm that, I just go by the package or add a % extra for the average amount it tends to be overfilled by. Normally it's not that much.
Yep. I find some things are really standardized as to their weight - my tortillas, for example - and some things are really random. If they are pretty standardized, I don't weigh them any more. If they're more random and calorific, I continue to weigh them.3 -
Yeah, it’s really just a habit to weigh everything at this point and I like to be as accurate as possible.1
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RelCanonical wrote: »I'll weigh it if it's a new thing, just to check if they're an egregious overfiller (some are, because it's cheaper to overfill than it is to underfill and get caught ripping people off). Once I confirm that, I just go by the package or add a % extra for the average amount it tends to be overfilled by. Normally it's not that much.
^^ This. When I buy a new product, I check their suggested serving weight versus actual product weight for the first *n* servings until I'm confident that I know the general margin of variability. Then I just use whatever number that average is.0 -
As others have said, it varies. If it’s a new product then I’ll weigh it the first 5 or 6 times and figure out what it averages to. Although if it’s something only I’m going to eat the entire pack of I worry (obsess!) less because the net weight of the pack will be close enough over the course of the package.
Basically I guess it depends on the calorie density of the item how much I bother about it. Having said that, I do weigh the exact grams of an apple, a tomato, a kiwi etc so I guess I’m not very consistent! 😂0 -
I don't, but that's only because I don't have to as I'm losing weight at a rate I'm comfortable with. If I did find my progress slowing, stopping or reversing then this is something I'd look at doing.
I like to take a path of least resistance. To do a minimum amount required in order to get results. If I'm able to get results spending 2 minutes a day eyeballing servings and logging rough guesses then that's all I'll do. If doing that wasn't yielding results then I'd up the diligence and effort enough for results to occur.
It's the outcomes that matter not the process. Doing just enough to get results is good enough.3 -
Fries, chips, or really anything more than 2 -3 per serving then absolutely. If it’s two sausage links or something similar then I don’t bother. It’s really all about preference and how strict you want to be.2
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The only think I really weight is my meat, and my chocolate. everything else I base on cup size / hand size portions.1
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I weigh veggies, but not anything else, really, especially not if it says something like "4 pieces." And for reference, I've continued to lose weight (got to my target this month!).2
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I don't, but that's only because I don't have to as I'm losing weight at a rate I'm comfortable with. If I did find my progress slowing, stopping or reversing then this is something I'd look at doing.
I like to take a path of least resistance. To do a minimum amount required in order to get results. If I'm able to get results spending 2 minutes a day eyeballing servings and logging rough guesses then that's all I'll do. If doing that wasn't yielding results then I'd up the diligence and effort enough for results to occur.
It's the outcomes that matter not the process. Doing just enough to get results is good enough.
This is me as well. I have lost 37 pounds by following package data and MFP food data. I am averaging 1.35 pounds per week, which I am happy with. However, I still have another 35-50 pounds to lose and am fully aware that my weight loss may slow down, or even stall, as I get closer to goal. I have no intention of lowering my calories, so I am mentally prepared to switch to weighing all my food if and when this time comes.3 -
I weigh new things once to get an idea of what the correct portion size should look like, then estimate based on that. Sometimes if something is very irregular I check it off and on to be sure my estimates haven’t crept.0
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It depends. For something that I haven't weighed before or know if frequently way off from the package claim, I will. For instance, I buy Sprouts whole wheat sandwich bread every week. Almost every slice is at least 10g more than the package claims, so I weigh those every time. I will also weigh things that easily broken, like chips.0
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I am OCD and weigh everything. Down 80 lbs as of today.1
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No - I just go by what it says on the packet. But I'm sort of in maintenance and log fairly loosely.0
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I don't weigh items that are packed and labeled with calorie counts, but I have noticed that many calorie counts on the boxes and containers seem to be rounded off numbers (ending in 0 or 5). I am sure these are not as accurate as they should be. Guess the manufacturer decides an estimate is good enough.0
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What irritates me, is when you look at the panel and check out 1 serving and it looks like it will easily fit in your goal for the day only to check out the 'servings per package' and see that it's 1.8 or 1.3 servings per package.
That so deceptive. They've clearly done it so that they can make the 'per serve' figure appear to be lower in calories (and therefore more appealing). I mean who opens a packet of something and thinks "oh yes. I'll definitely only eat a weird percentage of this and leave an odd fraction of the stuff for next time"3 -
What irritates me, is when you look at the panel and check out 1 serving and it looks like it will easily fit in your goal for the day only to check out the 'servings per package' and see that it's 1.8 or 1.3 servings per package.
I bet this often is an artifact of how package sizing changes. The physical size of the box may not change, but they put less in so they don't have to raise the price. The serving size stayed the same, but now there's no longer a full two servings in the box, just 1.8GreenValli wrote: »I have noticed that many calorie counts on the boxes and containers seem to be rounded off numbers (ending in 0 or 5). I am sure these are not as accurate as they should be. Guess the manufacturer decides an estimate is good enough.
I have some sugar free gum that says one piece is <5 calories; no actual number. I was playing around with the MFP calorie goal estimator for maintaining my weight at a number of very slightly different weights. The calorie goal stays steady until it changes by 5 (or was it even ten) calories, so it's not just the food producers that round to five.
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I weigh veggies, but not anything else, really, especially not if it says something like "4 pieces." And for reference, I've continued to lose weight (got to my target this month!).I weigh veggies, but not anything else, really, especially not if it says something like "4 pieces." And for reference, I've continued to lose weight (got to my target this month!).
I am just curious. Why do you weigh veggies and nothing else?0 -
I weigh everything since I want my records to be accurate. (It's also surprising how many packages don't contain the number of grams the label says it should!)0
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Weigh everything. I just saw a post on r/1200isplenty today where a person looked at the serving size of frozen french fries. The serving size said: 84 grams (about 27 pieces). They weighed out 83 grams and it was 15 pieces. That is 130 calories per serving, and they would get TWICE what they thought they would if they went off the "27 pieces" serving. If you're not using a food scale, you WILL be eating more than you think you are, and it will affect your progress. I guarantee you that 99% of all the people on here and complaining everywhere that they've stalled or plateaued, are just not weighing their portions, and are therefore eating more than they believe they are.4
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Weigh everything. I just saw a post on r/1200isplenty today where a person looked at the serving size of frozen french fries. The serving size said: 84 grams (about 27 pieces). They weighed out 83 grams and it was 15 pieces. That is 130 calories per serving, and they would get TWICE what they thought they would if they went off the "27 pieces" serving. If you're not using a food scale, you WILL be eating more than you think you are, and it will affect your progress. I guarantee you that 99% of all the people on here and complaining everywhere that they've stalled or plateaued, are just not weighing their portions, and are therefore eating more than they believe they are.
I'd add to that, that's often why a lot of women think "1200 is plenty". Because they're logging volume or pieces and are really eating more like 1500+
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