How obsessed are you with measuring food?

steach
steach Posts: 10
edited November 11 in Chit-Chat
I just counted every strand in a box of whole wheat sphagetti. By the way...it's 34 strands per ounce. There has got to be a better way! lol
«13

Replies

  • interceptor311
    interceptor311 Posts: 980 Member
    LOL. thats about when I get the eye roll from the wife LOL
  • steach
    steach Posts: 10
    LOL. thats about when I get the eye roll from the wife LOL

    Too funny. I guess people do think we are little crazy.
  • junyr
    junyr Posts: 416 Member
    LOL. thats about when I get the eye roll from the wife LOL

    Eyes are better rolled, than belly fat.
  • runnercheryl
    runnercheryl Posts: 1,314 Member
    I just counted every strand in a box of whole wheat sphagetti. By the way...it's 34 strands per ounce. There has got to be a better way! lol

    There is. They're called food scales. :happy:
  • steach
    steach Posts: 10
    There is. They're called food scales. :happy:
    [/quote]

    I have some, but they are not good enough to weigh dry pasta. Guess I need to invest in something better. I'll see what I can find.
  • juliecat1
    juliecat1 Posts: 3,450 Member
    get theyself a food scale!!!!

    Im obsessed with mine. And measuring cups. I have about 4 sets so I have clean ones at all times. It made a monumental change in my weight loss.
  • junyr
    junyr Posts: 416 Member
    Any digital one should do the trick. I can put a plate of pasta on a food scale, zero it, and sprinkle parmasean cheese on the place and watch the grams increase as the heavenly white sprinkles hit the sauce.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    I measure all my meals since to power the machine, you gotta know what is going in so when I cut, I now what to lower my food amounts by.
  • nathan6878
    nathan6878 Posts: 115 Member
    It's just easier for me to use weight watcher meals that way I know everything is measured out!!! lol
  • muffin_shufflin
    muffin_shufflin Posts: 239 Member
    I feel like i'm forever washing my measuring cups. I measure everything out. I even try to do it in my head if I go out to eat, my mom finds that annoying :tongue:
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
    I use my measuring cups way more now...

    I use a tablespoon measurement for my morning coffee creamer.

    Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup for my cereal...


    I just bought a digital scale since I'm not overly happy with my spring loaded option. I'm getting more precise. Not obsessive. Now excuse me, there is a light switch that I haven't flipped 33 times to keep the world from exploding. ;-)
  • Amazon_Who
    Amazon_Who Posts: 1,092 Member
    I need to be a little more obsessive about it. My husband couldn't believe it when I showed him what a servings of rice, past and cereal looked like. I use a digital scale and measuring cups/spoons
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
    that's a bit extreme, I have my moments, but spaghetti? :noway:
  • hongruss
    hongruss Posts: 389 Member
    I initially bought a digital scale to weigh my dried fruit & nuts(double entendres accepted) but I find I have started to weigh my meat, pasta, cereal etc They are brilliant & only cost around £5 from ebay.

    Russ
  • gehlerc
    gehlerc Posts: 651 Member
    Like some who have already posted, I measure obsessively. I have 4 sets of measuring cups (for dry measures such as cereal), 4 liquid measuring cups, 4 sets of measuring spoons. Yes, I use a tablespoon for my coffee creamer.

    I also have a digital food scale. It wasn't that expensive and it's been great to have.

    And, since I cook for my family as well as myself, I use the recipe builder on MFP a *lot*. I measure and weigh everything that goes into a recipe, then I measure the total recipe to find the volume of what it makes, so I can be accurate when I determine exactly how much a serving is.

    If I didn't measure obsessively I'd cheat. I'd give myself a little extra here and a little extra there, and I know it would add up. So, for now, I'm very obsessive and regimented.
  • Machdude
    Machdude Posts: 136 Member
    I measure everything, doing that is the reason I am losing weight. I never really realized how much I was eating. I do wing it on the coffee creamer in the morning though - livin' on the edge!
  • stevieb3052
    stevieb3052 Posts: 58 Member
    Any digital one should do the trick. I can put a plate of pasta on a food scale, zero it, and sprinkle parmasean cheese on the place and watch the grams increase as the heavenly white sprinkles hit the sauce.

    I do this with grated parmesan and also when I pour milk over breakfast cereal, spooning stuff from jars and the spread I use on toast!
  • Guardien
    Guardien Posts: 109 Member
    My wife and I feel that we are rather obsessed with weighing and mreasuring our food. The thing is that once we started doing it, we REALLY started seeing results! It's amazing how far off you can be when you estimate that deck of cards for your 3 oz of meat, or that baseball for a cup of rice. Precission is an amazing key to unlock the door to losing weight.
  • SueGremlin
    SueGremlin Posts: 1,066 Member
    Not at all. I weigh meats and pasta on my kitchen scale because they are more calorie dense, but I estimate things by the cup otherwise (if not using the package bar code). If not eating at home, I think it's important to be able to realistically estimate what you are eating so you can log accurately.
  • I'm forever using my food scale, I have one recommended by the Biggest Loser, and it's absolutely fantastic. It was $15 from Bed Bath and Beyond and worth every penny. My family thinks I'm crazy when they see me measuring out the food I eat, but it definitely works. :)
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    You def. need a good scale. Get one that you can tare ( set to zero after you put a bowl/plate on it). Make sure it's digital and weighs in lbs, oz and grams since some recipes call for food that way. And no you're not obsessed. You're measuring your intake and that's a good thing! Good luck!
  • StrongGwen
    StrongGwen Posts: 378 Member
    oh, yeah! definitely digital scale, and I've even gone to grams instead of ounces for more accuracy! My husband gives me the eye roll too, but at least he has started handing me a box or can and askiing if I would eat this (he's the cook). The other night he made gumbo and left the expty containers on the counter for me to get the nutritional info, but yet he thinks the whole "portion size" thing is just silly....of course, he is underweight and can't seem to gain enough and keep it on! :grumble:

    I hope that someday I will be able to eyeball portions with accuracy, but right now eating out is kind of stressful since I DO NOT pull out measuring cups at the table! but we don't often go out, so that's ok for now.

    and yes, I count almonds, weigh proteins, measure veggies, and keep a 1-serving size measuring cup stuck into the top of my cereal box.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I'm not the least big obsessed. I eyeball just about everything. I buy a 5# pack of chicken breasts, which is usually about 10 breasts. I cook two, about a pound's worth, chopped up, and figure that my husband typically eats about a third more than I do, so I log it as 6 ounces for myself. Same for pasta. I cook about half a box, and estimate about two ounces worth for myself and leave the rest for him. If I'm just cooking for me, I use a measuring cup for pasta. And it's worked just fine for me, but I do have a really good sense of proportions, thanks, I guess, to being an artist, seamstress and Ms. Fix-it. :laugh: I've been measuring things all my life.
  • I try to measure everything. There is a phrase that the eye is bigger than the tummy. Can't remember exactly how it goes but basically we can certainly, very easily, eyeball more than what we really need. I don't have a scale yet as most packages will tell you that 1/3 cup ect is a serving. There were several recipes I have that I question it on or have found I needed a scale but not many. I guess I just don't under stand the scale concept much yet. But measuring cups and spoons, yes I measure everything.
  • MargaretWalks
    MargaretWalks Posts: 38 Member
    I have been very religious about using my food scale. Sometimes it might be okay to eyeball it (like at someone's house), but at home I either use my measuring cups or the food scale. And I like weighing things in grams and ounces, depending upon the item.
    On a banana I like grams. There is one item in the food list that shows a 100 gram banana, so if your banana is 93 grams you'd enter it as 0.93. It becomes second nature after awhile.
  • mizjohnston
    mizjohnston Posts: 196 Member
    get theyself a food scale!!!!

    Im obsessed with mine. And measuring cups. I have about 4 sets so I have clean ones at all times. It made a monumental change in my weight loss.

    So its not just me. :happy: I do the same exact thing. :)
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    LOL. thats about when I get the eye roll from the wife LOL

    Eyes are better rolled, than belly fat.
    amen to that!
  • Very!! Can't go through the day without weighing and measuring everything I eat and drink.
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,359 Member
    My husband and I are so obsessed that we bring out food scale to the bakery with us when we eat lunch there. We put it right on the table and weigh the focaccia! If we get a cookie with our lunch, we weigh that too.

    We take the food scale on vacation with us.

    We even took it to a BBQ at a friend's home.
  • mizjohnston
    mizjohnston Posts: 196 Member
    The other thing I noticed with the scale is that when you buy tortillas or bread, a lot of slices weigh more then the actual serving. It can be anywhere from two to thirty calories more then what it says. Even 100 calorie packs are like that. To some that makes a difference if they eat more then one.
This discussion has been closed.