Food Scale Users...Questions

GretaGirl8

Do you weigh (and if you do--do you find a difference) in prepackaged, portioned items...such as 100 calorie pop-corn bags, 100 calorie cookie packet (that sort of thing). To my knowledge these items are packaged based on weight. Do you weigh liquids? or is that an appropriate use of a measuring cup. Do you weigh liquidity foods? like a can of soup? pudding? yogurt? cottage cheese? if yogurt comes in a single serve container do you still weight it or take the label at face value. with soft items like butter, peanut butter, jam...a difference between weighing and measuring? (assuming you are leveling off if you use a measuring spoon/cup).

So, I guess what I am saying is that I get some of the basic stuff like cheese and meat (often time the labels don't even give you the option of measuring with a cup or spoon). And that makes sense. How could you really measure it in a cup anyway.

I also understand vegetables aren't at the top of the list to be weighed since they are very low in calories... you could be a half of a cup off and only be off by 15 calories.

oh, and do you ever question if the calories per weight stated on the label is incorrect?

sodakat

If I chew it I weigh it and if I drink it I measure it. Works for me!

I don't like (so far) anything that comes in a 100 calorie pack. Also prefer plain yogurt so I buy the large container of that which means weighing.

I've found several items that are a bit off from the package serving size, like frozen pasta which when cooked should equal a certain amount (with grams in parenthesis) but when I place a measuring cup on the scale and weigh the food as I place it in the measuring cup, it is often not close to the amount suggested. Normally a bit more, actually.

I've also noticed if I scan a certain salad dressing it will come up as another flavor of the same brand with a bit different calorie count. I do use measuring spoons for salad dressings most of the time.

OkamiLavande

I weigh everything, even my soups and milk. I have an average for how much most things weigh and their calorie count and it's much more reliable for me to weight everything. Even prepackaged stuff.

serindipte

with soft items like butter, peanut butter, jam...a difference between weighing and measuring? (assuming you are leveling off if you use a measuring spoon/cup).

This video shows very well how peanut butter measures differently than it weighs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

I take individual serving packages at face value. If it says one package is 120 calories, then that's what I log. The same with things that are already cut into pieces, like bread. I don't weigh each slice but log the number of slices.

I weigh everything else, including liquids, salad dressings, condiments, butter, oils, etc.

GretaGirl8

with soft items like butter, peanut butter, jam...a difference between weighing and measuring? (assuming you are leveling off if you use a measuring spoon/cup).

This video shows very well how peanut butter measures differently than it weighs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

I take individual serving packages at face value. If it says one package is 120 calories, then that's what I log. The same with things that are already cut into pieces, like bread. I don't weigh each slice but log the number of slices.

I weigh everything else, including liquids, salad dressings, condiments, butter, oils, etc.

Thank you. I do find the video interesting. However, the video makes a point of showing how using heaping scoops can really throw off the calorie content. Not to say if someone used leveled scoops it sill wouldn't be off--but not nearly as much. until i get a scale, I am going to be very conservative in my measuring.

SezxyStef

I weigh prepackaged items...I have even tested my yogurt...freshly opened 107g....suppose to be 100g of yogurt...ate it package was 7g...

If it is a solid I weigh it..weighing liquids is inaccurate.

I have found lots of items incorrect for example my canned crab is 120g, drained 100g per the label...but it's not it's 80g

_celesse

I used to measure my pb. Not heaping tablespoons full, just leveled. Then I started weighing it. Basically, I don't take one tbsp to mean an actual tbsp as far as pb goes anymore, lol. 1 tbsp is almost like two full servings in weight. I was way underestimating how much I was really getting.

I weigh pretty much anything that will fit in my scale. I guess I've been doing it long enough now that it feels weird if I don't. The only stuff I don't weigh is single serve things, or my strawberries (but I'm gonna start weighing those fruits, too).

earlnabby

If I chew it I weigh it and if I drink it I measure it. Works for me!

LOL. That is how I do things too although I never thought of it that way. The only things I eyeball are the non-starchy veggies, especially greens.

When I make a recipe, I weigh and measure all of the ingredients but eyeball the servings when I divide up the finished dish. I only do this because I live alone and if a dish makes four servings, I will divide it up into four and eat all four of them eventually. One might be a few calories higher but the next will be a few calories low so they balance each other.

GretaGirl8

I used to measure my pb. Not heaping tablespoons full, just leveled. Then I started weighing it. Basically, I don't take one tbsp to mean an actual tbsp as far as pb goes anymore, lol. 1 tbsp is almost like two full servings in weight.

wow...the equals to 190 calories per tablespoon of peanut butter. Greta...stay AWAY from the peanut butter!

rileysowner

On the labels where they give both the weight and some other measure, it is the weight that was used to determine the calories. The other measure is what would be more or less equivalent to the weight, but it is often an incorrect estimation which you find out quickly when weighting. Liquids, at least here in Canada, rarely give a weight but only a volume measure, so measuring cups or spoons are needed to measure them accurately.

Yes, I weigh or measure everything.

GretaGirl8

On the labels where they give both the weight and some other measure, it is the weight that was used to determine the calories. The other measure is what would be more or less equivalent to the weight, but it is often an incorrect estimation which you find out quickly when weighting. Liquids, at least here in Canada, rarely give a weight but only a volume measure, so measuring cups or spoons are needed to measure them accurately.

Yes, I weigh or measure everything.

okay, i might just switch to consuming only liquids. kidding. but, ugh, i have been avoiding purchasing a scale. i am a little worried about my husband's reaction, and well, i am a little worried I will become obsessed with it. but staying in the dark regarding calorie content isn't healthy either.

dmenchac

I weigh prepackaged items...I have even tested my yogurt...freshly opened 107g....suppose to be 100g of yogurt...ate it package was 7g...

If it is a solid I weigh it..weighing liquids is inaccurate.

I have found lots of items incorrect for example my canned crab is 120g, drained 100g per the label...but it's not it's 80g

Read that as you ate the package.

Was like whatttt

asarwe

As a sciency type of person: Weighing liquids is actually more accurate than measuring with a cup, provided the scale is properly calibrated (which, if it is not is gonna throw you off anyway). Most liquids you consume have the same density as water. That is 1ml=1g. Oil is slightly lighter, as evidenced by it "floating" on water, but the package should give you the nutritional value of 100g rather than 100ml anyway.

The reason for weighing being more accurate than measuring is that it eliminates the aspect of having to figure out whether the measuring cup/spoon is full or not. 5ml out of 100ml is hardly visible in some instances, but may make a difference in you intake.

As for how I personally do it: Veggies which are low cal (gotta love that cucumber...) I just eyeball the volume of. I could be quite a bit off without it having a big impact. Butter i weigh, chocolate I weigh the bar before starting eating, then I just average the squares so that in the end of it I have eaten the whole bar. Pasta, rice, potatoes I weigh before cooking, as it is the more accurate way of getting the nutrition right (they absorb slightly different amounts of water depending on cooking time). In short: The higher in calories the food is the more accurate I strive to be. Quite simple, really. But YMMV on that one.

magurski

I very rarely get pre-packaged foods in single servings, but when I do, I take them at face value. Anything where I'm just taking a portion of the whole, I'll weigh out, in grams (even though I'm in the US). That pretty much includes anything at least semi-liquid. I've been tempted to get graduated cylinders for full-on liquids, but since I drink mostly water, it seems pointless for that.

weird_me2

I don't eat a lot of 100 calorie packets, but most packaged stuff I do eat I take at face value if a portion size is easily recognizable (i.e. 1 piece, 2 slices, etc.). This would be bread, tortillas and pita bread mostly. All other stuff, I weigh. It's especially important to do this with packaged stuff that has "about" 2 servings or 2 1/2 servings and stuff like that.

For butter, peanut butter, salad dressing, etc., I find it easiest to put my bread or salad or whatever on the scale, zero it out, then add my oil/butter/peanut butter to the correct weight.

I have found that you will want to weigh the food as it's packaged or it doesn't match the NI. Might seem obvious, but I never thought about it with canned vegetables and beans until recently. Their weight per serving is calculated using the liquid it's packed in. I don't use the liquid, so now I drain the whole can, then weigh the result and divide that by however many servings are supposed to be in the can. Canned corn the other day I ended up with 80 g per serving instead of 120. If I had weighed my portion drained, I would have had 1 1/2 servings of corn instead of one.

StaciMarie1974

If nutritional info is provided in terms of weight (grams) then I weigh it. For something like olive oil (nutritional info is in tablespoons and ml) then I measure it. For liquid-like items, it depends. The salad dressing I use, for example, has weight in grams.

I tend to trust in single serve items like yogurt. I believe they are to be accurate within a certain percentage. And in reality, I figure I don't lick the cup clean so a minute amount of food (and calories) are left behind. I assume this covers any slight amount that its 'off'.

I weigh pretty much everything I can. Some situations its just not possible of course. I often get a salad from a salad bar at the grocery store near work. The only scale there is a produce scale (not digital, not in grams). So I throw in my variety of greens (lettuce, spinach, etc.) + tomatoes, cucumbers. I log the cherry tomatoes by quantity, but estimate on the greens & cucumbers. They are low cal items, so figure I'm pretty close on calories and being off by 10-15 is not significant. I then keep cheese & dressing at work, and use the postage scale to weigh as I add them.