1 cup = 8 oz but 8 oz is more than 1 cup???

mommabenefield

In advance ... Sorry! .... I might be over complicating this but when you have to ask you have to ask... :embarassed:

I love weighing my food and I thought I already understood how this works but all of a sudden confused myself.. so help me please

1 cup = 8 oz right? ....at least in liquids its supposed to ....

But what about something like Zucchini... say that a 'serving' is '1 cup' .... does that mean the serving should still measure out to equal 8 ounces even though an actual 'cup' of zucchini weighs much less....??

Whether sliced chopped slivered shredded or mashed... is 1 cup supposed to weigh 8 oz? of just fill 1 measure cup even if the weight is under 8 oz?

sudmom

Ounces Measure weight, cups measure volume. I think weight is more accurate.

mommabenefield

so if 1 'cup' of Zucchini is 100 calories

is it 8 oz of Zucchini 100 calories?
or is it the 3, 4, 5 ounces that it 'measures' actually the 100 calories?


that's what I thought at least... and if that's the case... why do serving sizes bother saying 'cups' :grumble: the more I think about it the more confused I get and the more I think I might be under eating my portions for some things but still counting the full calories for the item.... *oy* :embarassed: hope that makes sense

ofccat

Dry and liquid won't measure the same. So with dry out it in measuring cup and go with that. You can usually find a weight caloric count either on here or by googling and going to a valid site.

eyecandyrayce

The 8 oz = 1 cup is for liquids only really. Solids have different densities and my 1 cup of carrots is going to weigh more than my 1 cup of celery.

For liquids I use cups and for solids I use ounces. If the entry says "100 calories per cup" then I try to find the same item by weight. If I can't, then I'll enter it as cups if I have no other choice.

lmarshel

First, you have to understand that there are two different types of ounces. Fluid ounces are a measure of volume. Ounces on your scale are a measure of weight. And the two things are NOT the same. So use your measuring cup for fluids and your scale for everything else.

Measuring cups were intended to be used for things like flour and sugar when calculating quantities to use in recipes. If you pour sugar into your measuring cup, it will fill the cup completely. But your chunks of zucchini, obviously, are not. That's when you pull out the scale.

lmarshel

And according to the USDA, 100g of raw zucchini is 17 calories. That's about one whole small zucchini. You can eat a LOT of zucchini for 100 cals. :happy:

DonaldChadDavis

Volume vs weight. 1 cup = 8 fl. oz. it could weigh 1000 million billion pounds depending on how dense it is.

Ctrum69

as said above.. volume vs weight.

Now, water works out the same.. liquid oz of water is the same as weight oz.. but other things, not so much.

a quick google search shows that 1c sliced is about 113g, and one cup chopped is about 124g.

(I say about, because how you slice or chop changes the volume you can fit in a cup).

Get a decent scale (if you don't already have one, they aren't expensive at all.. about 18 bucks on AMazon), that measures in oz and g, and if it's not labeled, resort to googlery to get a figure.

And don't sweat a gram here or there.. it won't matter in the long run.

FredDoyle

Your confusion lies in not having adopted the metric system.

knra_grl

yup measure liquids - weigh the rest - unless of course you don't really care about minor differences (with certain veg ie: bell peppers, onion, celery I measure my chopped veg using a cup because it's close enough - not enough cals to make a difference to me) but with larger and whole pieces I weigh them - I could use a whole tomato in a salad so I weigh it. If you are measuring after cooking it is just as easy to weigh it.

MadTownD

Your confusion lies in not having adopted the metric system.

Pretty sure it wasn't her choice what the Gub'ment mandated be put on the nutrition labels in the U.S. Kudos to her for trying to work with the information available and get it right.

MadTownD

First, you have to understand that there are two different types of ounces. Fluid ounces are a measure of volume. Ounces on your scale are a measure of weight. And the two things are NOT the same. So use your measuring cup for fluids and your scale for everything else.

Measuring cups were intended to be used for things like flour and sugar when calculating quantities to use in recipes. If you pour sugar into your measuring cup, it will fill the cup completely. But your chunks of zucchini, obviously, are not. That's when you pull out the scale.

This is so helpful! ????

Morgaath

Your confusion lies in not having adopted the metric system.

Pretty sure it wasn't her choice what the Gub'ment mandated be put on the nutrition labels in the U.S. Kudos to her for trying to work with the information available and get it right.

Since 1992, US food packages are required to show both US Customary System, and metric. 20 years later most American's still have no clue what a gram is, a kg is something from Europe, and a liter is half of a 2 liter bottle of soda.

But yep, if you are not used to thinking about what is in a container, it is confusing. Even more so when they give you something like "Serving: 1/2 pack (5 oz/142.5 grams)" on a package of a soup like product (Channa Masala). Is it a liquid, or a solid? Grams = weight...so solid.

mommabenefield

Your confusion lies in not having adopted the metric system.

Pretty sure it wasn't her choice what the Gub'ment mandated be put on the nutrition labels in the U.S. Kudos to her for trying to work with the information available and get it right.

:laugh: :laugh:

and thanks

PaleoPath4Lyfe

In advance ... Sorry! .... I might be over complicating this but when you have to ask you have to ask... :embarassed:

I love weighing my food and I thought I already understood how this works but all of a sudden confused myself.. so help me please

1 cup = 8 oz right? ....at least in liquids its supposed to ....

But what about something like Zucchini... say that a 'serving' is '1 cup' .... does that mean the serving should still measure out to equal 8 ounces even though an actual 'cup' of zucchini weighs much less....??

Whether sliced chopped slivered shredded or mashed... is 1 cup supposed to weigh 8 oz? of just fill 1 measure cup even if the weight is under 8 oz?

1 cup = 8 oz in liquid measurement. 1 cup of zucchini (considered a dry measurement) you should use your measuring cups, not what you would measure liquid in.

charityldamron

Well, now I am even more confused. Hahaha. Just kidding.

mommabenefield

Ok so what I 'think' I understand is that for all of my solid foods I should be weighing in grams

I do have a scale measures in ounces and grams and that's why all the confusion lol

I thought that 1 cup = 8 oz no matter what but now i think i get it that ounces should really be used only for liquid measurements and grams for all my solids.

I feel cheated when it comes to measuring cups used for anything else besides baking really. A gram here or there is no big deal to me but I do want to make sure I am eating my proper portions so that I don't feel deprived later on... Does that make sense?

And yes I could eat a crap load of zucchini for 100 cals :laugh: :bigsmile: So if I'm gonna charge myself self for 100 calories of squash I want ALLL my squash :laugh: :laugh:

Thank you everyone! :drinker:

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Yeah, use grams for measuring. It's just easier. Most packages have grams as well as cups. For fruits and veggies use "raw" when searching. Look for the entry without the * and it'll have an entry for 100 grams. The entries without * are from the USDA database. I also use them for meats.

Francl27

In advance ... Sorry! .... I might be over complicating this but when you have to ask you have to ask... :embarassed:

I love weighing my food and I thought I already understood how this works but all of a sudden confused myself.. so help me please

1 cup = 8 oz right? ....at least in liquids its supposed to ....

But what about something like Zucchini... say that a 'serving' is '1 cup' .... does that mean the serving should still measure out to equal 8 ounces even though an actual 'cup' of zucchini weighs much less....??

Whether sliced chopped slivered shredded or mashed... is 1 cup supposed to weigh 8 oz? of just fill 1 measure cup even if the weight is under 8 oz?

1 cup = 8 oz in liquid measurement. 1 cup of zucchini (considered a dry measurement) you should use your measuring cups, not what you would measure liquid in.

Nobody should use measuring cups ever. Use a food scale.

mumblemagic

Cups are measured in fluid ounces, which are different from weight ounces - a fluid ounce is a unit of volume rather than weight. So 1 cup may be 8 fluid ounces, but that doesn't necessarily mean that if you fill the cup it will weigh 8 oz whatever, if that makes sense.

Also, cups vary in size, so unless you are using a specifically designed measuring cup you may not get the same size "cup".

I highly recommend measuring food in metric, i.e. ml, grams rather than pints, oz, fluid oz etc. There is usually more precision.