Weighing vs measuring food

WendyTerry420

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

I should've just posted that rather than weigh stuff and eating the peanuts I weighed!!!

So this video shows that people don't measure accurately. That doesn't surprise me. I do a lot of baking and candy-making. A tiny amount of too much flour can ruin the texture of a cookie.

WendyTerry420

I agree 100%! Whenever I am home, I use my food scale religiously. I love when the nutrition labels give both measurements (i.e. 2 tbsp or 32g = 190 calories on my almond butter label) and when it does, i will always use the weight measurement. People can "pack" a lot more food into a measuring cup and still say they ate the correct portion. Way too much room for error.

See, and ^^^ THIS ^^^ is what I call cheating! Some people think that cheating is eating a cookie or a slice of pizza! NO!!! Smashing your pasta to make more fit in the measuring cup is cheating!

/end rant

kimothy38

I tried this today with an onion - I took what I considered to be a large onion. I put that into MFP - 63 calories. I then peeled and chopped the onion and it fit easily into my measuring cup - MFP calories: 67. Cool. But then I weighed the chopped onion and it was 283g - 119 calories - almost double the initial estimate based on the description of a large onion!

You raise some very valid and interesting points which I am guilty of. I was amazed to read that onions have calories - a new and interesting fact for the day. I kind of disregard onion as a 'nothing' food and never really thought about their calorie content. Thanks for posting.

Ready2Rock206

Good post. I've started weighing my food more lately. Hopefully it will help me be more accountable and get the scale moving a little faster.

kimothy38

One groin protection cup for some guys does not equal the same cup for others....so I know what you mean!

So are you an optimist or pessimist: half a cup full or a half a cup empty?

Tilran

One groin protection cup for some guys does not equal the same cup for others....so I know what you mean!

So are you an optimist or pessimist: half a cup full or a half a cup empty?

Depends on how cold it is.

sarahharmintx

You have a great point about differences in calorie counts. I got a food scale as a gift when I got married. I rarely used it. Since Ive been on MFP, I use it daily. One thing surprising thing I use it for is chips. It will say 13 chips (1oz) is 140 calories. Well, is that medium size chips, broken chips, big chips, imaginary chips, hell I dont know what. But one ounce is always one ounce.

Lissette_Brooks

Why are people so stubborn?

Every day on here, there's someone complaining that they aren't losing weight. Immediately the first thing I do, is check their diaries - and time and time again it becomes clear - they are counting the calories, but in imprecise measures. Cups, slices, "1 small fruit", "1 small onion". When anyone says anything, people tend to become quite defensive and again today, it was said that "a cup" is a standard measure...well...

A cup of grated cheese has a very different weight to a cup of finely grated cheese. Measuring 1/3 cup of cheese leaves you open for HUGE mistakes. Every 20g difference means a 100 calorie difference!

I tried this today with an onion - I took what I considered to be a large onion. I put that into MFP - 63 calories. I then peeled and chopped the onion and it fit easily into my measuring cup - MFP calories: 67. Cool. But then I weighed the chopped onion and it was 283g - 119 calories - almost double the initial estimate based on the description of a large onion!

Then I decided to try it with rice. I often see fractions thrown about, so I measured half a cup of brown rice. I filled it exactly to the 125ml line of my measuring cup - 342 calories according to MFP if I use the measure of "half a cup". But I weighed it at the same time and it was actually 110g - that's 407 calories. Almost 60 calories more!

Did the same with peanuts (luckily the result was the other way around for me - and then I ended up eating them all too!). Counted 20 peanuts (MFP = 117 calories), weighed them, 12g = 70 calories.

What I'm getting at is that these "small" things which seem insignificant and probably won't make a difference may make a huge difference at the end of the day. In just four foods I tried, the difference was around the 260 calorie mark - for many people, the difference between maintenance and losing weight. (May I also add - for those who say, "but I've always done it like this and lost weight" - as you start off, these calories are insignificant in the bigger picture, but as you lose weight, the calories become a larger and larger proportion of your diet and that's when it becomes more important to be accurate).

I use the "imperfect" measures for the times where I'm out and I simply don't have my scale close to me. Otherwise EVERYTHING is weighed out - and it's worked without a hitch.

"Roughly" weighing things (or simply not adding things because they are healthy - e.g. tomatoes) could make huge differences. If it passes your lips and it has any type of calorie content, LOG IT ACCURATELY!!! Only then can you definitely rule out diet...

Thank you so much for posting this! I always wondered what was more accurate weighing or measuring. I actually just bought a food scale and I will now start weighing my food.
/quote]

weird_me2

Great post! I have a digital scale and I love it. It comes in really handy for everything and what's great is that if you are making a salad or something, you can just put your dish on the scale, weigh the first item, 0 it out (or do the math), weigh the next and the next. Don't have to dirty any measuring implements.

I would like to say that if you don't have a scale, using measuring cups is better than nothing. Make sure that you are using "dry" cups for measuring dry goods and reserve the "liquid" measuring cup for liquids. The dry cups are the ones that are 1/4, 1/2, 1 C, etc. The liquid cup is usually a glass cup that has various measures up the side in ounces or cups. It can help you have more exact measurements when you use the appropriate cup, because with the dry measuring cups you can level the measurement off.

Brie4me

I do use my scale daily, but also use measuring spoons and cups for certain things. This got me curious, so I just compared several items measuring to weighing. Very eye opening! Seems I've been a bit too generous with my hummus portions :ohwell: I found significant calorie discrepancies with my produce vs MFP estimates. I will not log things like "Banana, medium" again (unless I'm not home, of course)! I'm still fairly new at this, so thank you for posting! :drinker:

k8blujay2

What is in this OP is exactly why I cannot wait to get a digital food scale.

knittnponder

I weigh everything not only for the reasons you mention but also because it's easier for me to lie to myself if I use volume measurements like cups. If I weigh it out there is no question I'm eating 156 grams of cashews as opposed to trying to squeeze an extra nut or two into a measuring cup. Or if they're little pieces and I can fit more into the cup because they're smaller. It doesn't matter how big or small the individual pieces are, they add up to a certain amount of calories and if I'm going to be successful I have to quite lying to myself.

omma_to_3

I too weigh my food (and cry at how little peanut butter I get - I swear 32 grams is barely a tablespoon and nowhere near two!).

But how did you get the info for the rice? When I see rice in grams, it's referencing it dry - before being cooked.

ashleydmassey

Why are people so stubborn?

Every day on here, there's someone complaining that they aren't losing weight. Immediately the first thing I do, is check their diaries - and time and time again it becomes clear - they are counting the calories, but in imprecise measures. Cups, slices, "1 small fruit", "1 small onion". When anyone says anything, people tend to become quite defensive and again today, it was said that "a cup" is a standard measure...well...

A cup of grated cheese has a very different weight to a cup of finely grated cheese. Measuring 1/3 cup of cheese leaves you open for HUGE mistakes. Every 20g difference means a 100 calorie difference!

I tried this today with an onion - I took what I considered to be a large onion. I put that into MFP - 63 calories. I then peeled and chopped the onion and it fit easily into my measuring cup - MFP calories: 67. Cool. But then I weighed the chopped onion and it was 283g - 119 calories - almost double the initial estimate based on the description of a large onion!

Then I decided to try it with rice. I often see fractions thrown about, so I measured half a cup of brown rice. I filled it exactly to the 125ml line of my measuring cup - 342 calories according to MFP if I use the measure of "half a cup". But I weighed it at the same time and it was actually 110g - that's 407 calories. Almost 60 calories more!

Did the same with peanuts (luckily the result was the other way around for me - and then I ended up eating them all too!). Counted 20 peanuts (MFP = 117 calories), weighed them, 12g = 70 calories.

What I'm getting at is that these "small" things which seem insignificant and probably won't make a difference may make a huge difference at the end of the day. In just four foods I tried, the difference was around the 260 calorie mark - for many people, the difference between maintenance and losing weight. (May I also add - for those who say, "but I've always done it like this and lost weight" - as you start off, these calories are insignificant in the bigger picture, but as you lose weight, the calories become a larger and larger proportion of your diet and that's when it becomes more important to be accurate).

I use the "imperfect" measures for the times where I'm out and I simply don't have my scale close to me. Otherwise EVERYTHING is weighed out - and it's worked without a hitch.

"Roughly" weighing things (or simply not adding things because they are healthy - e.g. tomatoes) could make huge differences. If it passes your lips and it has any type of calorie content, LOG IT ACCURATELY!!! Only then can you definitely rule out diet...

I love this post and I agree. I weigh everything. For instance, my bag of baby carrots shows that 85g is the portion size, but then says approx. 14 carrots. If you just count out the 14 carrots, you will go over that 85g. I know one portion is only 35 calories but it adds up if quickly if you do this consistently.

jmcreynolds91

This is a great post! definitely going to start weighing my food, thanks so much!

yasavi

You have a great point about differences in calorie counts. I got a food scale as a gift when I got married. I rarely used it. Since Ive been on MFP, I use it daily. One thing surprising thing I use it for is chips. It will say 13 chips (1oz) is 140 calories. Well, is that medium size chips, broken chips, big chips, imaginary chips, hell I dont know what. But one ounce is always one ounce.

LOL! this^^^ I would eat two small chips and call it "1 chip." I really need to start weighing my food if I want to get anywhere anytime soon. This is a good topic and I'm considering to buy a digital scale hopefully soon.

caseythirteen

So I was reading this post, apparently again, since I realized I had responded when it was first written. I have since gotten a digital food scale and LOVE IT!! It's so nice knowing that I'm being at least that much more accurate and I go through much fewer measuring utensils in a day. I got an EatSmart one from Amazon for $25 and it's perfect.

Melo1966

I tried this today with an onion - I took what I considered to be a large onion. I put that into MFP - 63 calories. I then peeled and chopped the onion and it fit easily into my measuring cup - MFP calories: 67. Cool. But then I weighed the chopped onion and it was 283g - 119 calories - almost double the initial estimate based on the description of a large onion!

The weight of the onion is to be weighed before you chop it up not after. You are inflating calories this way.
Just like you weigh meat before cooking not after.

omma_to_3

[/quote]
The weight of the onion is to be weighed before you chop it up not after. You are inflating calories this way.
Just like you weigh meat before cooking not after.
[/quote]

Typically you don't weigh meat before. A serving of chicken is approximately 4 oz raw or 3 oz cooked. Most databases use cooked meat values (according to a few articles I've read). When you cook meat, you lose some of the fat.

lizjohnson2169

You're correct I discovered this last night and surprisingly it was with cheese. So from now on I'll be using my scale.