Food scale

JengaJess
JengaJess Posts: 109 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I just recently got a food scale. Woo!
I realized I've actually been underestimating some the food I've been eating. Especially canned beans and pasta! Unfortunately, it's the opposite for cheese :(
But I guess I'm just a little confused. Let's take the can of chick peas I used the other day. A serving size is 1/2 cup (130g). When I was using cup measurements, this was about 1/3 of the can. I used my food scale, and 130gs ended up being almost half the can!
But the estimated amount of servings in the can is about 3... I only got about 2 servings out of the can. Same thing with a can of black beans.
Is this because I'm draining them? Or is my food scale off? Or are nutritional labels just plain silly?
I bought this food scale to really help me lose this last 10 lbs and help me with my biggest problem, portion control. I don't want to end up over eating because I might be misunderstanding or misinterpreting.
Any help/ suggestions?

Replies

  • tavenne323
    tavenne323 Posts: 332 Member
    I've always been told to go with weight rather than volume when measuring non-liquid foods.
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    I'd go off the scale weight, I'm British and don't get the hang of cups etc, so go in gms instead.

    I think food labels are often weird though. Like sneaky chocolate bars that say '150 cals' that only apply to half a bar. Or per 100g when the yogurt pot is 140g. If I don't eat the whole container, I weigh it. Lots of things on the database have 1g as a serving, so just multiply it by what you've eaten.

    I recently bought an electronic scale and have found I've been short changing myself on my old scales.

    Edit to add - you can add 'drained' to the description too for a lot of tinned stuff.
  • kwedman488
    kwedman488 Posts: 132 Member
    ALWAYS go by grams if you can; my only exception is to use oz for meats, and I only use measuring cups for liquids like milk because it is a measure of volume while grams is a measure of weight/mass. So for example you use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to measure out your oatmeal, you will find that instead of measuring out the 40g that it says is 1/2 cup or 1 serving, you will find that that measuring cup actually picked up between 60-70g, which is actually 3/4 cup to almost an entire cup. So if you always weigh by grams then you will be spot on, irregardless I how many servings they say there are-it's just an estimate.
  • angelicprettyy
    angelicprettyy Posts: 143
    When I got my food scale, boy, was I surprised. In my case, I've been OVERESTIMATING my food... by a lot.
  • angelicprettyy
    angelicprettyy Posts: 143
    I think food labels are often weird though. Like sneaky chocolate bars that say '150 cals' that only apply to half a bar.
    Those food labels are made by the devil himself.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    ALWAYS go by grams if you can; my only exception is to use oz for meats, and I only use measuring cups for liquids like milk because it is a measure of volume while grams is a measure of weight/mass. So for example you use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to measure out your oatmeal, you will find that instead of measuring out the 40g that it says is 1/2 cup or 1 serving, you will find that that measuring cup actually picked up between 60-70g, which is actually 3/4 cup to almost an entire cup. So if you always weigh by grams then you will be spot on, irregardless I how many servings they say there are-it's just an estimate.

    This.
  • JengaJess
    JengaJess Posts: 109 Member
    Thanks, everyone! Very helpful info, as usual.
    I guess I've just been depriving myself of beans for the past few months. I'll start going by grams from now on, as well.
    When I got my food scale, boy, was I surprised. In my case, I've been OVERESTIMATING my food... by a lot.

    For the most part, I've been under estimating because I've been SO terrified of over estimating.
    But 1 oz of cheese... man that is NOT a lot of cheese. I've been way over estimating what that looks like.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    I think food labels are often weird though. Like sneaky chocolate bars that say '150 cals' that only apply to half a bar.
    Those food labels are made by the devil himself.

    :laugh: you made me think of a friend from several years ago that didn't know the popcorn bag was three servings. "It's only 150 calories such a low calorie snack" (!!!)

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