Weighing food VS Measuring... WOW!

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  • Amestris
    Amestris Posts: 152 Member
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    I meant to quote this in my original reply
    I bought a scale a few weeks ago at Aldi's when they were on sale... love it! LOVE IT!

    Like the OP, I've had surprises where what I was measuring and using was double what I was counting. And others, like someone mentioned, shredded cheese, where I actually get more than I was using.

    It really shines when it comes to making my lunches. For example, this week I did a cabbage, black bean, corn, pepper, onion, tomato salad marinated in sugar free balsamic vinaigrette. The entire batch weighed in at 1,908 grams so I put it in as 19.08 servings. When I dish it out, if I serve myself 267 grams, I will record it as 2.67 servings. So much easier and more accurate than cups and measuring spoons!
  • fatbitt
    fatbitt Posts: 24
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    Bump

    I didn't even think about packaged foods. How rude!
  • eating4me
    eating4me Posts: 239 Member
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    In the beginning, I swore I never would be "one of those" who weighed their food. Then, I made a purchase of a new digital scale, and with it came a free food scale. I decided to give it a try, and compare what I had been eating, for example, in a 1/4 cup of nuts to the actual weight. I was shocked to see that I could have been eating more nuts than what I had been, and also found that I had been eating far too much of other foods without being aware of it. From then on, I was sold. Weighing is so much more accurate. Although I no longer need to lose weight, I still weigh whenever I can, to ensure I'm getting the macros I require to stay healthy. Food scales rock!
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
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    Okay...so my TDEE calculated amount of calories minus the 20% for weight loss is about 1700. But on MFP I am doing 1200 a day.

    I do not have a food scale so I do everything by measuring cups or some items I eat so much I can eyeball. Since there is a 500 calorie difference between my TDEE and my allowed on MFP, wouldn't I still be losing weight regardless if I am off by a few couple hundred calories using measuring cups over weighing?

    Just wanting to make sure I am understanding all this. I have only ever been on WW successfully and MFP is similar but a lot different.
  • Losing_Sarah
    Losing_Sarah Posts: 279 Member
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    There is a big difference. Plus, I surprisingly discovered that some measuring cups & spoons are not the same as others. I measure almost everything, and use the grams vs ounce setting because it is even more accurate. The things I do use a measuring spoon for are things like olive oil, vinegar, and similar things. Plus, I tested out my measuring spoons by measuring, then weighing it to check the accuracy and one of the two sets I have is way off, so I only use the correct ones.

    Good luck.
  • thehka
    thehka Posts: 74 Member
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    I discovered a horror earlier this week. I weighted out my special K with strawberries. 1 cup is 28g on the nutritional panel. I started with 1/2 cup and it already hit about 25g. I measured a bit of a generous helping of 1/2c of the cereal and it went OVER 28g. That day I said screw it and threw in 2 half cup scoops into my bowl LOL. 28g is so pitiful...
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Okay...so my TDEE calculated amount of calories minus the 20% for weight loss is about 1700. But on MFP I am doing 1200 a day.

    I do not have a food scale so I do everything by measuring cups or some items I eat so much I can eyeball. Since there is a 500 calorie difference between my TDEE and my allowed on MFP, wouldn't I still be losing weight regardless if I am off by a few couple hundred calories using measuring cups over weighing?

    Just wanting to make sure I am understanding all this. I have only ever been on WW successfully and MFP is similar but a lot different.

    TDEE deficit method included exercise averaged out to a daily level. Then minus 20%. 1700.

    MFP method is non-exercise maintenance with deficit. So 1200. But then you are supposed to log and eat back exercise calories. Now how much does that equal on average?

    And no, most sloppy food logging isn't going to wipe out a big deficit. The big deficit is causing problems with your body so it's wiping out it's own deficit.
    Your TDEE isn't what it could be in other words, it's much lower now.
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
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    Okay...so my TDEE calculated amount of calories minus the 20% for weight loss is about 1700. But on MFP I am doing 1200 a day.

    I do not have a food scale so I do everything by measuring cups or some items I eat so much I can eyeball. Since there is a 500 calorie difference between my TDEE and my allowed on MFP, wouldn't I still be losing weight regardless if I am off by a few couple hundred calories using measuring cups over weighing?

    Just wanting to make sure I am understanding all this. I have only ever been on WW successfully and MFP is similar but a lot different.

    TDEE deficit method included exercise averaged out to a daily level. Then minus 20%. 1700.

    MFP method is non-exercise maintenance with deficit. So 1200. But then you are supposed to log and eat back exercise calories. Now how much does that equal on average?

    And no, most sloppy food logging isn't going to wipe out a big deficit. The big deficit is causing problems with your body so it's wiping out it's own deficit.
    Your TDEE isn't what it could be in other words, it's much lower now.

    I start with 1200. I am currently in Month 1 of the Insanity workout (6 days a week, one rest day). I would say on average 300 calories per workout. . I usually don't eat all the calories back because I like to allow a little wiggle room for inaccurate calories, etc. Usually I will have a total of about 1500 to eat for the day after a workout, but I still stay around 1200/1300 mark.
  • Hungry_Annie
    Hungry_Annie Posts: 807 Member
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    I have a scale but I tend to get lazy and just measure. I do weigh a lot of things but I think im gonna start weighing everything out!!
  • Hungry_Annie
    Hungry_Annie Posts: 807 Member
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    I discovered a horror earlier this week. I weighted out my special K with strawberries. 1 cup is 28g on the nutritional panel. I started with 1/2 cup and it already hit about 25g. I measured a bit of a generous helping of 1/2c of the cereal and it went OVER 28g. That day I said screw it and threw in 2 half cup scoops into my bowl LOL. 28g is so pitiful...

    That is horrific!! Maybe I should start weighing mine too. I eat It often! It was dinner tonight!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Okay...so my TDEE calculated amount of calories minus the 20% for weight loss is about 1700. But on MFP I am doing 1200 a day.

    I do not have a food scale so I do everything by measuring cups or some items I eat so much I can eyeball. Since there is a 500 calorie difference between my TDEE and my allowed on MFP, wouldn't I still be losing weight regardless if I am off by a few couple hundred calories using measuring cups over weighing?

    Just wanting to make sure I am understanding all this. I have only ever been on WW successfully and MFP is similar but a lot different.

    Because MFP expects you to exercise and eat your exercise calories back.

    Not weighing isn't a huge deal with a bigger deficit, but when you're closer to your goal weight, you want to be as accurate as possible, as your deficit is often smaller.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I discovered a horror earlier this week. I weighted out my special K with strawberries. 1 cup is 28g on the nutritional panel. I started with 1/2 cup and it already hit about 25g. I measured a bit of a generous helping of 1/2c of the cereal and it went OVER 28g. That day I said screw it and threw in 2 half cup scoops into my bowl LOL. 28g is so pitiful...

    Yikes. That's a huge difference.
  • mimiteh35
    mimiteh35 Posts: 486 Member
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    I think this information will help you too, gamer_geek.

    A cup, as in a measuring cup, is not easily convertible to weight because, as you probably guessed, everything does not weigh the same. To illustrate this, consider a measuring cup of grated/shredded cheese compared to a measuring cup of peanut butter. The peanut butter obviously weighs more, right? (Hint: yes :) haha)

    So, that doesn't help you much. What does help, though, is that most items include a weight in grams or ounces in the serving information. For example, my bag of flour says a serving is "1/4 cup (31g)". What I do is, place an empty bowl on my scale and press the "tare" button - this zero's out the scale so that it's not counting the weight of the bowl. Then, I spoon or scoop or pour (depending on the item haha) the ingredient into the bowl and measure out the weight in grams or ounces.

    If you have any other questions or need help with specific items, feel free to PM me or add me as a friend a comment on my wall. I'd be happy to help :)

    THANK YOU for putting this so easy to understand! I never realized how much of a difference it made, I just dutifully went by 1/4 cup, etc.... am now going to look into buying a food scale, an accurate one. I have an old one that is not digital, ya know, with springs and stuff, that I originally just used on foods that only mentioned ounces and not cups (i.e. meats, pasta, etc)... would that work "ok" for now until I get a digital one?

    A non-digital scale is perfectly fine to use (i.e. no need to get a digital one) as long as you:
    1. are comfortable with its unit of measure (whether it weighs in ounces, grams, etc.)
    2. understand that a traditional scale is not going to be as accurate as a digital one
    3.calibrate it using calibrating weights every so often, so you can make sure your scale is still accurate. You can buy them on Amazon in 50g, 100g, etc.

    Note that if your scale only weighs in ounces, you can easily convert to grams (using a calculator):
    1 ounce = 28.3495 grams
    So: weight in ounces x 28.3495 grams/ounce = weight in grams

    Example:
    You measure out 3 oz of something but you want to enter it as grams in MFP
    3 ounces x 28.3495 grams/ounce = 56.699 ~= 56.70 grams.

    Or, you just get a digital scale that has ounces/pounds and grams. :)

    Thanks! I am looking for a digital one that I'm comfy with, but for now have been using the scale I have been using for meats only, and what a difference already! Mine has grams on one side and ounces on the other and only goes up to 1 lb, but so far it makes a difference already, can't wait to see how much difference the digital scale is! :)

    Thanks for the info, appreciate it!!
  • Seabee74
    Seabee74 Posts: 314
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    I guess I am not very educated on this subject. This could be a really stupid question and probably learned during elementary school but, how do you know how much weight is in a cup or how much a serving size is in grams?
  • Seabee74
    Seabee74 Posts: 314
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    Let's see if I can explain this lol.. I'll use an example with oatmeal which I use. If you take your 1/2 cup, set it on the scale then turn the scale On ( this zeros out the scale and erases the weight of the cup so the reading with the cup on it should now be Zero).. Now fill the 1/2 cup up with, we'll use dry instant oatmeat. Now see what the scale reads ?! This is a half cup of oatmeal and you now know what it weighs ! Hope this helped !
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Let's see if I can explain this lol.. I'll use an example with oatmeal which I use. If you take your 1/2 cup, set it on the scale then turn the scale On ( this zeros out the scale and erases the weight of the cup so the reading with the cup on it should now be Zero).. Now fill the 1/2 cup up with, we'll use dry instant oatmeat. Now see what the scale reads ?! This is a half cup of oatmeal and you now know what it weighs ! Hope this helped !

    Yes and no, it will change every time depending how 'packed' your oatmeal is.

    I tried it once with 1/4 cup of flour... I got anywhere from 34g to 50g or something... You have to weigh every time.
  • asciiqwerty
    asciiqwerty Posts: 565 Member
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    bookmarking bump
  • bikinisuited
    bikinisuited Posts: 881 Member
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    Thanks for sharing. Sometimes I wonder if I am underestimating when no change on my weight.
  • twinteensmom
    twinteensmom Posts: 371 Member
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    I guess I am not very educated on this subject. This could be a really stupid question and probably learned during elementary school but, how do you know how much weight is in a cup or how much a serving size is in grams?
    [/quote

    actually, you took the words right out of my mouth! Help, please.]
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Read the package to get serving size in grams. If it says 1 serving = 1/4 cup (28g) 90 calories then 28g weight is 90 calories.

    Dry/solid foods don't work well in 'cup' measurements because you can pack different amounts into the cup, depending on how packed (or loose) your cup is holding the dry good. So you can't be consistent, and you don't know if the nutritional reading on the package label is packed solid or loose or somewhere in-between.

    But packages also give a weight in grams. (And/or ounces where 28g = 1 dry ounce.) 44 grams = 44 grams, no matter how you pack it. So using weight/scale keeps you consistent and allows you to match the nutritional information on the package.

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