Help with measuring!

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StephanieKTerranova
StephanieKTerranova Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This is my first post here so I have to admit I am a bit nervous! Go easy on me since I know this is a pretty dumb question. :)

I am trying to weigh everything I eat since I know it's super important but I am confused about how to weigh things that only give measurements in cup form? For example, it says half a cup of frozen edamame is X amount of calories so that would be 4 oz but when I measure half a cup it's either a lot more or a lot less depending on the food item. Do I go by weight or by cup? I am so lost.

Sorry if this is a really dumb question!

Replies

  • ldula88
    ldula88 Posts: 169 Member
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    always go by weight, measuring cups are much less accurate than a food scale :) the only time I use cup measurements in my logging is when I know that a serving is listed as (for example): 1/4 cup (28 g). I weigh out 28 grams, but log it as a quarter cup, mainly because that's the measurement available in the database without creating a new entry :P hope this helps!!
  • StephanieKTerranova
    StephanieKTerranova Posts: 29 Member
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    That's what I thought but I wasn't sure. Thank you so much! :)
  • meca85
    meca85 Posts: 81 Member
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    I just bought a $15 food scale from Amazon, idk if there are cheaper ones, but yes they help a lot!
    I was first confused with this topic when measuring spinach. Is a cup of spinach a cup of loose spinach or firmly packed/squeezed spinach, so i just weigh items to be sure.
    What i assumed to be a cup of spinach turned out to be only about half.
    So except for liquids, there are severals foods that are just hard to measure and you're better off weighing because most time you will be pleasantly surprised at how much more you can allow yourself to eat. =)
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    Volume measure and weight measure aren't always the same....its confusing. (Half a cup of water does weigh about 4 ounces...but half a cup of dried oregano sure doesn't.....) When in doubt...the database here has multiple listings for many many items...some in cups, some in ounces, some in grams. Also check the packaging of what you're measuring. It will usually give you an ounces or grams listing somewhere....sometimes in small print, but it should be there.
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
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    ALWAYS try to go by weight , measure is not accurate, think baking and flour - packed or unpacked can be as much as 1/3 c difference.
  • petefromguelph
    petefromguelph Posts: 84 Member
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    Super frustrating when the entries in MFP are only in cups. Last night we made a "Clean Eating Shepherds Pie" and the measurement for a serving was 1.5 cups (from the recipe). We did not weigh everything out when we made the recipe so now we don't know how to weigh out a serving. Wonder why they would even do it in cups and not in Oz or Grams when it comes to something solid like shepherds pie. Next time I guess we will weigh everything as it goes in and do it ourselves.
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
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    when i cant find anything like i made something myself , i add it as a personal recipe, and then figure out servings etc from there.

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