Food weight vs. volume: Eye openers!

TeenaMarina

SO I finally started using my food scale to get more accurate with my calorie count, and I really wish I'd done it sooner. It appears that when I've been guesstimating I've been ridiculously off. Especially when it comes to, say, fruit. I'll choose a size of apple from the options (ie. small, or medium, 3", etc.) and enter that, but in reality when I weigh the apple the calories are more. My biggest eye opener so far was with strawberries. I've been entering the 1/2 cup of strawberry halves, but boy can I pack a measuring cup with strawberries! If there was a Strawberry Tetris Championship I would win it. I was probably actually eating more than a cup, not a half-cup. It's only my second day of using the scale, so I'm sure I'll have more "doh!" moments to come.

What have been your "eye-openers" since using the scale? Foods that you used to eyeball or measure and are now weighing because you were way off on the actual calories?!

x

modernmom70

Bread often weighs more per slice than it says on the package. So I always weigh the bread to make sure.

Sapporo

an ounce of cheese is rather small

MelKut

definitely apples and pears! I guess we just have really big apples lol I don't know what is considered medium.

Also we buy the "green D'anjou pears" from Costco that say 166 grams is a pear and they are 100 calories. When I weigh them they are about 260 grams so calorie-wise more like 160 calories....

amandammmq

LOL at strawberry Tetris!

I was actually happy to find out how big an ounce of dark chocolate was. I refuse to deny myself dark chocolate!

coconutbuNZ

In Weight Watchers fruits and veg have no points - they are "free" foods & can be eaten freely, regardless of size - with a few exeptions like bananas and avocados.

themedalist

Pasta! 2 ounces of whole wheat spaghetti is a fairly small amount.

My food scale is indispensable to achieving my weight loss goals. Love it!

mamamudbug

I started weighing things a little over a week ago. I've found differences in cottage cheese, orange juice, protein powder and a few other. It's been really interesting.

CMmrsfloyd

Meat, shredded cheese, and dry cereal were all huge eye-openers for me. I was WAY off on the 'serving size' for those items.

TeenaMarina

In Weight Watchers fruits and veg have no points - they are "free" foods & can be eaten freely, regardless of size - with a few exeptions like bananas and avocados.

Wha?! That seems wacky to me.

Hambone23

I've never focused much on fruits like apples or oranges. Maybe I should. My biggest eye opener was the tablespoon. Sometimes I'd completely overdo it, and sometimes I'd completely under do it. And overdoing a tablespoon of peanut butter is a major calorie bump. Oils too. I also had no idea how big a serving of salad greens could be. I needed a big bowl--a really big bowl--to eat my salad the other day. I was stuffed with just the greens and a low-cal dressing. Who knew? Then there was butter and cheese. Because I was on a "diet," I thought I was allowed far less than I could actually have. That's like finding a fiver in your pocket. So I've had eye opening experiences that were both positive and negative. I can't imagine not using a scale anymore. Even my boyfriend says, "You know, that's one thing you are really consistent about." Yeah, because it makes all the difference now.

acs4162

HOW MUCH DOES DELI MEAT WEIGH? I have no idea. I just say 2 ounces, but I really don't know how much a "typical" slice of deli turkey/ham/chicken weighs. I'm losing weight fine, but I do wonder if I'm lying when i enter the deli meat each day.

emmaonamission

I weigh everything and have done since I started eating healthier. It's SUCH a big help. My biggest eye opener has been cereal - I have 27g of Bran Flakes every morning and when I first started doing this I was SHOCKED at how little that was compared to what I used to have! I was sceptical but 27g is just enough to stop me from being hungry til lunch, so I really didn't need to have so much anyway!

stephaneb74

Got used to use the scale.... not the most precise but defi itely gives an idea..... might upgrade for a digital one someday :-)

LuckyLeprechaun

cheese was the biggest happy surprise for me. I was told 1 oz of cheese looks like a pair of dice. When I weigh out an ounce, it looks much bigger than any dice I have used

Also, I was pleasantly surprised how much 3 ounces of linguine is. I had been way underserving myself on pasta.

Hambone23

I weigh everything and have done since I started eating healthier. It's SUCH a big help. My biggest eye opener has been cereal - I have 27g of Bran Flakes every morning and when I first started doing this I was SHOCKED at how little that was compared to what I used to have! I was sceptical but 27g is just enough to stop me from being hungry til lunch, so I really didn't need to have so much anyway!

This. About the cereal. Having a "bowl" of cereal was like actually having 3 servings of cereal. Crazy what you learn.

modernmom70

In Weight Watchers fruits and veg have no points - they are "free" foods & can be eaten freely, regardless of size - with a few exeptions like bananas and avocados.

Wha?! That seems wacky to me.

The free fruit and veggie is incorporated into to the points allowance. And it is not a free for all, it is free because it is assumed you will only eat the recommended daily allowance. When I did weight watchers only veggies was free, when they switched to free fruit alot of people actually started gaining weight because they saw it as a free for all.

mrsmel55

I don't worry so much about weighing fruit. I weigh meat. Chicken and fish mostly. I was over estimating the fish which means I can have more. The only thing I wonder about is raw and cooked. It's all a best estimate on most of it anyway. Oh and I weigh my home fries. That way I know how much I can have and its a lot really. I just cut up a potato, spray it with canola oil Pam, a very little salt and pepper and roast on a sheet pan in the oven. So yummy.

kimiec

Most of the time the only thing I use my scale for is meat because to eye ball a 4oz hamburgh is just way to hard I always want mine to be bigger. But I have weight other thing but I don't want to have to weigh every little thing I eat and to be honest everything is an estimated there isn't a food out there you will find that will be dead on. So if you want the whole picture weight everything.

Monkee8088

Got used to use the scale.... not the most precise but defi itely gives an idea..... might upgrade for a digital one someday :-)

digital scales are awesome, and fun to play with!!

dillyweed

I have found that I consume much more sodium than i had thought. It is hidden everywhere and adds up big time even if you don't reach for the salt shaker.

psiren28

In Weight Watchers fruits and veg have no points - they are "free" foods & can be eaten freely, regardless of size - with a few exeptions like bananas and avocados.

Wha?! That seems wacky to me.

The free fruit and veggie is incorporated into to the points allowance. And it is not a free for all, it is free because it is assumed you will only eat the recommended daily allowance. When I did weight watchers only veggies was free, when they switched to free fruit alot of people actually started gaining weight because they saw it as a free for all.

I did Slimming World for my first 2 stone (only quit because I moved country) and not only is fruit (fresh and not pureed) and veg free, so is pasta, potato, rice, lean meat and fish and a boat load of branded food. Sounds wacky but it works!!! I'm living proof :bigsmile:

Veganniee

Cereal and cheese. A serving of cereal is miniscule! I either have that serving and bump it up with fruit or have 3 servings and try not to worry about it. Cheese seems to be one of those dense foods that weighs a lot given it's relatively small volume.

Seokie

My food scale really helped me - I was over estimating, on EVERYTHING - when I weighed it out I couldn't believe it - I thought I'd be having 400g of strawberries and it was only 150g. I'm REALLY bad at estimating apparently

susanswan

My lastest was cocoa powder. Not a high calorie item, but still. I figured my giant heaping teaspoons would equal a tablespoon. Lol! By weight it was SIX! Weigh everything you can unless you want to kid yourself! I use cup measurements in a pinch and eyeball measurements as a last resort like when my DH cooks or I go out to eat which is probably laughable!

Bentley2718

My food scale really helped me - I was over estimating, on EVERYTHING - when I weighed it out I couldn't believe it - I thought I'd be having 400g of strawberries and it was only 150g. I'm REALLY bad at estimating apparently

I did this too. Was very happy to find out I could eat more.

mexy04

This is like a huge coincidence, I don't like making pasta because I'm never sure how much I'm eating. I made 4 cups of raw noodles and then ate two bowls but I'm just not sure how much I really ate because the weight changes once it's cooked and I always make sea shells rather than spaghetti or macaroni.

Birder150

Man, I love my food scale!

I have been pleasantly surprised by weighing. I can get a lot more of the frozen veggies, fruit and greek yogurt than I could with measuring cups.
Meat was an eye opener. My hamburger patties from Costco are over 400 calories! (I still eat them of course )
The gigantic Costco chicken breasts pack a punch, too.

I feel slightly OCD about the scale but I it.

mexy04

In Weight Watchers fruits and veg have no points - they are "free" foods & can be eaten freely, regardless of size - with a few exeptions like bananas and avocados.

Wha?! That seems wacky to me.

The free fruit and veggie is incorporated into to the points allowance. And it is not a free for all, it is free because it is assumed you will only eat the recommended daily allowance. When I did weight watchers only veggies was free, when they switched to free fruit alot of people actually started gaining weight because they saw it as a free for all.

I did Slimming World for my first 2 stone (only quit because I moved country) and not only is fruit (fresh and not pureed) and veg free, so is pasta, potato, rice, lean meat and fish and a boat load of branded food. Sounds wacky but it works!!! I'm living proof :bigsmile:

I'm a little confused by this. Does that mean everything is free? How do u measure...do u measure?

k8lyn_235

I've been entering the 1/2 cup of strawberry halves, but boy can I pack a measuring cup with strawberries! If there was a Strawberry Tetris Championship I would win it.

LMAO.