Measuring for dry oatmeal?

alexbusnello

When I measure my oatmeal, and I eat it this way all the time when I have oatmeal and I eat it a lot, I use a liquid measuring cup instead of dry. A measure out a whole cup of dry oats and I use only water to boil it or sometimes I'll add not even a half cup of almond milk to it and let it soak to make it creamier, it's SO good that way with some organic peanut butter and half a banana with cinnamon and sometimes a touch of honey or Agave Nectar.

The one we have looks similar to this one: http://www.valeriehjohnson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010058.jpg

And I fill it to a cup of dry oats. Is this bad? We don't have dry measuring cups in the house and I noticed that a cup of dry oats in a dry measuring cup is too little for me....I love my oatmeal and I couldn't have any less of it. Sorry, that's just how I am. I love my oatmeal. I did hear that it expands a lot when cooked so it actually looks much more after, especially when you add everything else you want into it, but still.....I love oatmeal, I cannot help it. lol

I just want to know if this is bad.....how I measure it.

EDIT: The picture isn't mine by the way. My measuring cup is old and the red is coming off of ours. lol

bio_fit

Well, why don't you weigh your 'normal' cup of oats on a scale and calculate it by weight. Then you know exactly how much a 'cup' is for you.
It is only 'bad' if you are logging it incorrectly - so long as you log what you eat, no problem I think that is what you were asking?

alexbusnello

Well, why don't you weigh your 'normal' cup of oats on a scale and calculate it by weight. Then you know exactly how much a 'cup' is for you.
It is only 'bad' if you are logging it incorrectly - so long as you log what you eat, no problem I think that is what you were asking?

We don't have a scale and my parents don't think we need one and to stop being so obsessed with it and just eat it the way I've always been eating it and that it's perfectly fine.

I also JUST asked my Mom about it when she came downstairs and she said, "YUP! It's exactly the same as you could with the dry measuring cups for oatmeal. No need to worry."

According to this site when I log in my cup of dry oatmeal, it says it's 300 calories alone without anything added into it. I do believe in the biggest meal of the day should be your breakfast, though. I just got to be careful of the other things I add to it, that's all. My oatmeal can easily go up to 600, sometimes more depending. But it fills me right up till lunch, sometimes for longer. lol but I don'y skip meals.

Matt_Wild

Why stick it in a cup when you can measure it exactly by weight? Talk about making your own life hard LOL :bigsmile:

athensguy

I second the suggestion for a food scale.

JNick77

The side of the oatmeal container should have nutrition facts. I believe that a 1/2cup of dry oats is like 27grams of carbs, and then miniscule amounts of fat and protein, barely worth tracking. You can check my diet log today. I have one full cup of oats (approximately 80grams) in the morning.

bio_fit

Ah, I see! I'm from the UK and we mostly do our food measurements in grams, so the 'cup' thing is a bit alien to me! Sorry, I don't know anything about the difference between the two types :embarassed:

rainunrefined

A digital scale is $5 at walmart. I have measured 1/2c of oats dry (in my liquid measuring cup because it's the same thing.) and then weigh it - and they are different. 1/2 cup SHOULD be 40g and it's usually way more. You're probably eating more calories than you're logging. I suggest buying a scale.

dawnagetsfit

I only measure using a food scale.. In my opinion, that's the most accurate way to measure things. I've seen plenty of instances where the recommended "cup" measurement far outweighed the gram or ounce measurement when compared via a food scale by as much as a half serving - that's A LOT!

I don't think using a food scale is obsessive at all, especially if trying to lose weight. I think it's a highly valuable tool!

ElizabethRoad

Why stick it in a cup when you can measure it exactly by weight? Talk about making your own life hard LOL :bigsmile:

Er, because she can't, if you paid attention.

alexbusnello

Why stick it in a cup when you can measure it exactly by weight? Talk about making your own life hard LOL :bigsmile:

We can't because we don't have a scale. My parents don't want one. They think i'm too obsessed over it and tell me to eat it like I've always been eating it, it's fine.

justagirl2013

Well it could be bad that you are underestimating calories.

A food scale is not a bad thing. 1 serving of Quaker Oats (not instant/quick) is to weigh 40g. I weighed my 1/2 cup once and it was over 50 grams. That's at least an additional 20 calories/etc. Now I am to the point where I can eyeball and be almost dead on (Well today I was at 43 grams).

I find the food scale has completely change me in regards to portion sizes. Things I thought were portion sizes were way over. It's a great tool for educating yourself.

ETA: Apparently I type too slow Other's hit the nail dead on before I could finish!

alexbusnello

A digital scale is $5 at walmart. I have measured 1/2c of oats dry (in my liquid measuring cup because it's the same thing.) and then weigh it - and they are different. 1/2 cup SHOULD be 40g and it's usually way more. You're probably eating more calories than you're logging. I suggest buying a scale.

I believe in having your breakfast being the biggest meal of the day and according to this site, it says a cup of dry oats is 300 calories. I'm not trying to lose too much weight, my goal is to actually build muscle and lean out.

I do want to lose fat, too, but I know muscles burn more fat and keep your metabolism up at rest. I use to have a lot more muscle but mine are breaking down and I'm fatter. I weigh less, but look less lean than before a few years ago and look more bulgy in some areas like my belly, parts of my back, my thighs and arms.

JNick77

Why stick it in a cup when you can measure it exactly by weight? Talk about making your own life hard LOL :bigsmile:

We can't because we don't have a scale. My parents don't want one. They think i'm too obsessed over it and tell me to eat it like I've always been eating it, it's fine.

I'm not saying this to be mean. You're 21, go buy yourself a food scale. If you're afraid of them finding out then check these out, http://www.truenutrition.com/c-86-scales.aspx

They're small compact and probably easy enough to hide. Maybe even easier to hide from your parents than your tattoo.

alexbusnello

Why stick it in a cup when you can measure it exactly by weight? Talk about making your own life hard LOL :bigsmile:

Er, because she can't, if you paid attention.

Thank you lol

lawkat

So you are asking if using a liquid measuring cup is bad compared to one for dry goods? A cup is a cup.

Why can't you buy a food scale? You don't need your parents to buy you one unless you rely on them for money. Also, you could buy some dry measuring cups if you are really worried about the difference between the two.

alexbusnello

Why stick it in a cup when you can measure it exactly by weight? Talk about making your own life hard LOL :bigsmile:

We can't because we don't have a scale. My parents don't want one. They think i'm too obsessed over it and tell me to eat it like I've always been eating it, it's fine.

I'm not saying this to be mean. You're 21, go buy yourself a food scale. If you're afraid of them finding out then check these out, http://www.truenutrition.com/c-86-scales.aspx

They're small compact and probably easy enough to hide. Maybe even easier to hide from your parents than your tattoo.

Don't have any money of my own. And before you judge me on this, I have a reason for not having a job right now and never have in my life and it's embarrassing to say, soo...

alexbusnello

So you are asking if using a liquid measuring cup is bad compared to one for dry goods? A cup is a cup.

Why can't you buy a food scale? You don't need your parents to buy you one unless you rely on them for money. Also, you could buy some dry measuring cups if you are really worried about the difference between the two.

I reply on them for money, yes.

alexbusnello

The side of the oatmeal container should have nutrition facts. I believe that a 1/2cup of dry oats is like 27grams of carbs, and then miniscule amounts of fat and protein, barely worth tracking. You can check my diet log today. I have one full cup of oats (approximately 80grams) in the morning.

Yes, that's exactly how I do it. I guess that's fine then. lol

treetop57

A cup is a cup. A dry cup is more convenient for dry ingredients because you can level it with a knife. A liquid cup is more convenient for liquid ingredients because you can see through the side and fill it exactly to the line. But a cup is a cup. You may be off by a few percent using a liquid measuring cup for your oatmeal, but that few percent isn't enough to worry about. You're fine.

Lyra89

Well, 1/2 cup (what I have and bulk out with fruit/nuts etc) is usually between 130 and 170 calories depending on if you underfill the cup or have a rounded serving! So 300 sounds about right for 1 cup dry oats.

alexbusnello

A cup is a cup. A dry cup is more convenient for dry ingredients because you can level it with a knife. A liquid cup is more convenient for liquid ingredients because you can see through the side and fill it exactly to the line. But a cup is a cup. You may be off by a few percent using a liquid measuring cup for your oatmeal, but that few percent isn't enough to worry about. You're fine.

Thank you. : ) I think comments like these will make me worry less and just keep eating it like I always have. lol

alexbusnello

Well, 1/2 cup (what I have and bulk out with fruit/nuts etc) is usually between 130 and 170 calories depending on if you underfill the cup or have a rounded serving! So 300 sounds about right for 1 cup dry oats.

Yup, it's 300. Which isn't bad considering breakfast SHOULD be the biggest meals of the day. And it does help get things moving which is always a good thing. lol

bizco

I did the work for you. Using a liquid measuring cup, filling it to the 1 cup line, weighing it on my digital food scale, it's 447 calories.

Good thing you're not trying to lose weight. You're drastically under-logging it using 300 calories.

alexbusnello

I did the work for you. Using a liquid measuring cup, filling it to the 1 cup line, weighing it on my digital food scale, it's 447 calories.

Good thing you're not trying to lose weight. You're drastically under-logging it using 300 calories.

It says that this is 300 calories for a cup of dry oatmeal. I don't think I'm wrong to be honest with you. And I do want to lose fat, but I want to gain muscle and in return when i build more, I'll burn more.

alexbusnello

Found this:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_calories_in_oatmeal

This is so weird..

Since oatmeal expands, people on different sites said that 1/2 cup of dry oats will come up to a cup when cooked. But i don;t think that it will change the calories since i use only water to boil it...

treetop57

Right. The label is usually for dry oatmeal, since it will expand a different amount depending on how you cook it. If you measure dry and cook with water, you'll be close enough.

alexbusnello

Right. The label is usually for dry oatmeal, since it will expand a different amount depending on how you cook it. If you measure dry and cook with water, you'll be close enough.

Yeah, I boil the water first and then add the cup of dry oats into the pot and stir. After that I pour it into a bowl and then add whatever I want into it like fruit, nuts, organic peanut butter, cinnamon, sometimes almond milk (not even half a cup), honey or agave nectar, sometimes a tablespoon of plain no fat Greek yogurt, sometimes egg whites (usually just one or two), and sometimes on rare occasions, I break some dark chocolate on let it melt into it. VERY yummy.

treetop57

And you log all those extras, right? Depending on the quantities those could add up to more than the oatmeal itself, especially nuts, peanut butter, and chocolate.

bizco

I did the work for you. Using a liquid measuring cup, filling it to the 1 cup line, weighing it on my digital food scale, it's 447 calories.

Good thing you're not trying to lose weight. You're drastically under-logging it using 300 calories.

It says that this is 300 calories for a cup of dry oatmeal. I don't think I'm wrong to be honest with you. And I do want to lose fat, but I want to gain muscle and in return when i build more, I'll burn more.

You are wrong. You're not weighing the dry oatmeal which is the only way to get an accurate reading. It's 447 calories.

alexbusnello

I did the work for you. Using a liquid measuring cup, filling it to the 1 cup line, weighing it on my digital food scale, it's 447 calories.

Good thing you're not trying to lose weight. You're drastically under-logging it using 300 calories.

It says that this is 300 calories for a cup of dry oatmeal. I don't think I'm wrong to be honest with you. And I do want to lose fat, but I want to gain muscle and in return when i build more, I'll burn more.

You are wrong. You're not weighing the dry oatmeal which is the only way to get an accurate reading. It's 447 calories.

No.