Going for accuracy

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Hello everyone!

My new kitchen scale arrived today and so I am beginning my leap into accurate food measurement. I realised that I was putting in the same amounts in my log whether a piece of chicken or potato looked big or small. It has been going okay, but I would like to have a truer idea of what is going on.

My first lesson learned today is that I have been underestimating the calories in a chicken leg (quarter). Yesterdays was 190 calories and today's is 357 - they were definately of a similar size. That is 167 calories off! If I had one a day that works out to a third of a pound per week!

Okay, onwards and upwards!

Replies

  • mfpchris
    mfpchris Posts: 279 Member
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    I bought my first food scale in July and it has really opened my eyes on what is a portion
    what is 100g, what is 1oz. etc.

    Mine is analog, and at first I was disappointed because I really wanted to try and
    be very accurate. After awhile I've become comfortable with the +/- 5gm accuracy.

    What is funny is if a serving of something is 100gm, and I measure out around 95+gms
    I just won't stand for that and I'll add a little more. But if it is 105gms or so, I'll just round
    down to one serving. I really not fooling myself in the least. I'm not beating myself
    up, it really is close enough....and I kind of laugh at myself when I catch myself acting
    this way.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I love my food scale! I bought one from Wal-Mart that is digital, and it measured in both ounces and grams. It helps out tremendously since there are some pesky recipes that say things like "2 ounces of cheese" or "100 grams of chicken." Without a scale, I had no idea what that really was and I would curse the recipe writer for not saying something like "1/4 cup of shredded cheese" and "1/2 chicken breast" cause that's what I can measure with my eyes better, lol. :flowerforyou:

    I also like how my food scale can be "zeroed" after adding an ingredient to the plate so you can add another one and measure only that ingredient...and this is great because that means less dishes to wash from measuring everything separate, haha.