Converting food entry to mass instead of volume

MyIdaho54

Many of the items I track list a serving in cups rather than mass. It is so much easier to simply weigh rather than get out the measuring cups... How do you handle this situation? Set up custom foods with mass servings? Use a conversion table (example you can find a conversion table for zuchini)? Please a help a newb!

_TastySnoBalls_

99.9% of the items I enter have both mass and volume listed, such as:

1/4 cup (28g)

Where are you located?

Huffdogg

Are you referring to food labels? IMO best thing you can do is weigh the listed volume and then modify the entry to include the mass as an optional serving size.

MyIdaho54

I live in Idaho but that doesn't matter. I am referring to data in the myfitnesspal.com food library. For example, I like to eat cantalope and most of the entries list serving size in cups but not in weight. So yeah, I can get off my fat *kitten* and cut up some cantalope to weigh a cup full. But, the measured weight is going to vary depending on how finely I cut it up. I would like to set it up so I only have to weigh. Is there a way to do this without scrolling through a long list of foods in the food library to find the one with serving size in weight? I was able to find a conversion table for some of the foods but need to set something up to speed up entry. Is the best solution to make a new food with serving size in oz or grams?

chezjuan

I live in Idaho but that doesn't matter. I am referring to data in the myfitnesspal.com food library. For example, I like to eat cantalope and most of the entries list serving size in cups but not in weight. So yeah, I can get off my fat *kitten* and cut up some cantalope to weigh a cup full. But, the measured weight is going to vary depending on how finely I cut it up. I would like to set it up so I only have to weigh. Is there a way to do this without scrolling through a long list of foods in the food library to find the one with serving size in weight? I was able to find a conversion table for some of the foods but need to set something up to speed up entry. Is the best solution to make a new food with serving size in oz or grams?

Search for items with USDA in the entry title. Most of the entries that are from the USDA database are based on 100g servings, and you can just enter a decimal value for the item (for example, a 224 g apple is 2.24 servings).

I have been able to find every fruit, vegetable, and meat that I have searched for in grams in USDA entries.

For packaged foods, I weigh out one serving based on the nutritional label - it is generally there after the volume - for example my breakfast cereal says 3/4 cup (55g). Then, if I find an MFP entry that says 3/4 cup and the numbers are accurate with the box, I use that entry.

MyIdaho54

I live in Idaho but that doesn't matter. I am referring to data in the myfitnesspal.com food library. For example, I like to eat cantalope and most of the entries list serving size in cups but not in weight. So yeah, I can get off my fat *kitten* and cut up some cantalope to weigh a cup full. But, the measured weight is going to vary depending on how finely I cut it up. I would like to set it up so I only have to weigh. Is there a way to do this without scrolling through a long list of foods in the food library to find the one with serving size in weight? I was able to find a conversion table for some of the foods but need to set something up to speed up entry. Is the best solution to make a new food with serving size in oz or grams?

Search for items with USDA in the entry title. Most of the entries that are from the USDA database are based on 100g servings, and you can just enter a decimal value for the item (for example, a 224 g apple is 2.24 servings).

I have been able to find every fruit, vegetable, and meat that I have searched for in grams in USDA entries.

For packaged foods, I weigh out one serving based on the nutritional label - it is generally there after the volume - for example my breakfast cereal says 3/4 cup (55g). Then, if I find an MFP entry that says 3/4 cup and the numbers are accurate with the box, I use that entry.

Thanks! Is there a way to save the USDA entries so I don;t need to scroll through all the search entries?

chezjuan

I live in Idaho but that doesn't matter. I am referring to data in the myfitnesspal.com food library. For example, I like to eat cantalope and most of the entries list serving size in cups but not in weight. So yeah, I can get off my fat *kitten* and cut up some cantalope to weigh a cup full. But, the measured weight is going to vary depending on how finely I cut it up. I would like to set it up so I only have to weigh. Is there a way to do this without scrolling through a long list of foods in the food library to find the one with serving size in weight? I was able to find a conversion table for some of the foods but need to set something up to speed up entry. Is the best solution to make a new food with serving size in oz or grams?

Search for items with USDA in the entry title. Most of the entries that are from the USDA database are based on 100g servings, and you can just enter a decimal value for the item (for example, a 224 g apple is 2.24 servings).

I have been able to find every fruit, vegetable, and meat that I have searched for in grams in USDA entries.

For packaged foods, I weigh out one serving based on the nutritional label - it is generally there after the volume - for example my breakfast cereal says 3/4 cup (55g). Then, if I find an MFP entry that says 3/4 cup and the numbers are accurate with the box, I use that entry.

Thanks! Is there a way to save the USDA entries so I don;t need to scroll through all the search entries?

I am not sure if there is a way to save them, other than the fact that they will show up under your "recent" and/or "frequent" lists. Generally, I use them enough that they are on one of those lists. For items that I don't use enough to be on the lists I try to remember the phrasing to get the USDA entry to come up on top of the search.