measuring food

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  • BlackKat75
    BlackKat75 Posts: 210 Member
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    Your cereal and oatmeal has a serving size that is also in weight. Use the weight.
    If you measure out 1/2 cup of dry foods then you take that and weigh it, you are almost guaranteed to be eating more than 1/2 cup.

    ^^^^THIS! According to the nutrition label, a serving of old-fashioned oats is 1/2 cup, which they say weighs 40 grams, and has a calorie value of 150 calories. I used these values for months until I finally wised up and actually weighed what my 1/2 cup of oats actually weighed - turned out it was 51 grams, for a total calorie value of 191 calories. I was unwittingly under-reporting my calories by relying on the volume measurement rather than the weight. It's not just oats, I've routinely found that relying on measuring volume rather than weight actually under-reports calories, so I always calculate calories by weight. Nutrition labels will that give a volume measurement will generally give a weight as well, so it's not too difficult to accurately count the calories.
  • xUnseenx
    xUnseenx Posts: 7 Member
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    Overall, I only generally weigh and measure portions. I don't worry too much about a few grams here and there.

    yeah but this is extremely important for a specific type of goal. giving way to deviations one way or another can mean the difference between being healthy and competitive fitness.
  • Arianwyn_T
    Arianwyn_T Posts: 52
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    i think there are some conflicting ideologies here. im aware theres a difference in weight to volume. however, 1 cup of dry cereal is definitely not more than 8 oz in weight. 1 cup (in a measuring cup has less density) where as 8 oz in weight of cereal yields well over a cup (in volume) of cereal. so im assuming when dry foods says 1 cup, i should use a measuring cup. or just do everything in grams and convert to ounces.

    Where on the box does it say 8oz of cheerios. It's 1 cup or 28g
    You're looking at fl oz. Worry about grams. Stop thinking that 1 cup of dry cereal will weigh 8 oz or close to 200g.

    A fluid oz is not = to a dry weight ounce.

    and this is why the Imperial system of weights and measures (the ones still used in the US) are ridiculous, and why the metric system was invented :p
  • Arianwyn_T
    Arianwyn_T Posts: 52
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    I weigh everything. Even my ketchup. I just put a tiny little disposable cup on my scale and squirt it in. & toss the cup after. Sure, it's not green by any means, but its quicker and less dishes to watch! I also do believe it is more accurate than measuring.


    This is why I love the zeroing feature on my scale -- I reset as I add each thing to my plate/bowl, so for example if I wanted sauce on something I would zero and then pour it on the side, or directly on to my food (depending of course on the situation)
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
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    Using a scale (weight), will be more accurate than a measuring cup. On most food labels, it will give you amounts for measuring cups and a scale weight.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
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    Dry foods/solids should be weighed, not measured. Liquids are measured. 1/2 cup = 8 oz is a liquid measure. Dry foods have different densities so a 1/2 cup of uncooked rice will not weigh the same as 1/2 cup bran flakes. There are a lot of entries that use volume, but I personally try to look for and use entries that are based on weight.

    1/2 cup = 4 fl oz. There are only 8 fluid ounces in a cup. A pound contains 16 ounces. I know, confusing!
  • geographygeek1
    geographygeek1 Posts: 4
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    I use a scale for dry foods. It's more accurate and less prone to human error (ie - just a little over the 1/2 cup mark doesn't count...). I prefer the accuracy of the scale and I love the tare feature because I can just add more to the plate and know the exact amounts of each item - takes out the guesswork!

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