These measurement units make me want to scream!

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Replies

  • DawnEH612
    DawnEH612 Posts: 574 Member
    I'm with the original poster about grams, grams, grams! Of course, I'll also use ounces; ounces of whiskey, ounces of vodka, etc.

    I like that I can enter my own foods but I also wish people would stop entering the same basic items in 20 different ways. For example, there are multiple, multiple entries for carrots. There's one that's actually useful becuase it includes the full list of measurement options, grams, ounces, "one large," "one cup," etc.

    Whatever.
    I think there are multiple entries because often times there are incorrect data entries on some of the nutrients in an item. I have also seen where a food i ate changed the nutritional profile on a food item or similar foods are entered from other countries which have slightly different nutritional content. I usually go to
    http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/
    If i have any questions about a food item i will verify it with the government website. They also ave the calculation in multiple ways for example if its a large apple it will put in parentheses how many grams. Its a great tool!
  • mamosh81
    mamosh81 Posts: 409 Member
    yeah i have the same problem usaly i try to enter my own or use the bigger portion maybe i should really buy me a kitchen scale but im not quite there yet =)
  • susiepet
    susiepet Posts: 68
    Some days it winds me up, some days not....

    I am amazed how people can lose weight without a set of scales though - sure, it's fine for low calorie stuff like water filled veggies where you can't do much damage (and you get good nutrition anyway) if you overeat - but for nearly everything else it's pretty crucial.
    OK - so I do use some tricks like I know one flat scoop of my measuring cup is 40g of porridge oats - but only because I checked it - and even now I still do occasionally, to make sure I'm not creeping gradually up in portion size..and I have weighed bananas before now so I have a better estimate of what "medium" is next time - a lot smaller than you think!

    Everybody has their methods I guess.

    S
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
    A cup is actually a standard, precise measure.
    1 metric cup = 250 ml
    Though a fillet can weigh differently depending on the size of the fish or type of fish.
    It might be worthwhile getting a set of electronic kitchen scales and a set of cup and spoon measures.
    With regards to the cup and spoon measures, you'll be able to guestimate volume after a little while of using them.
    And they do come in handy for cooking and getting precise ingredient volumes/weights.
    kind regards,

    Ben
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    I do find it strange when people say they haven't time to weigh so they use cups. My scales are on the counter top so I just pop the item on there to weigh. No longer than trying to stuff a cucumber into a cup. If your trying to calorie count reasonably accurately cups are pretty useless for anything that's not a liquid as the volume can change depending how an item is cut or stuffed in or settles. I saw the other day a cup of fresh basil. So was that stuffed tight or just a few leaves sitting in the cup? As others I have added a lot of my own regular items that I know are accurate
  • McButtski
    McButtski Posts: 203 Member
    I usually know the calorie content of what I'm eating before trying to enter it in the diary.. it's hard work to read the packet or indeed, google but hey, I'm a trooper.

    Agree with whoever said to just enter your own food.. it will fix the problem.. and your blood pressure.:wink:
  • nekoface
    nekoface Posts: 149 Member
    I find that food items in the database have a few measurement options. Measurements like 1 fillet of cod are especially useful when you're eating out and are unlikely to weigh your food.
  • pennydreadful270
    pennydreadful270 Posts: 266 Member
    I prefer things like grapes, nuts, berries to be in "one nut" form. I take a handful of these types of food to work without weighing it and I don't worry about the difference between a big grape and small grape.. it isn't going to change that drastically.

    Cup measurements for things that couldn't possibly fit in a cup are strange to me, although I think if you must guess, we are generally better at eyeballing volume than weight. I never guess in grams. I will divide a 250g package of meat by eye, but I would never look at a piece of chicken and guess it's weight. Unless you work as a butcher or something, you're almost certain to be wrong.
  • splashblob
    splashblob Posts: 249 Member
    I don't mind it when it comes to liquid or powder form, however, when it is refer to chunk of fruit or vegetable like one cup of tomato or one cup of pineapple...then I got confused because isn't it up to how big the fruit/veggies are. I can cut of a large chunk of fruit and one piece if fulled already or I can chop them very fine and pack them all in one cup.

    Also another thing that always confused me is chicken serving size, sometimes in a recipes sites like in allrecipes, for example, they said 2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, which I understand that it is 8 Oz for each breasts and in VDO it shows big size of breast (8Oz) but then the calories count below the recipe per serving is around 135 kcal which is less then it should have been. :indifferent:

    I prefer to count nuts in one nut/kernel too.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I am amazed how people can lose weight without a set of scales though - sure, it's fine for low calorie stuff like water filled veggies where you can't do much damage (and you get good nutrition anyway) if you overeat - but for nearly everything else it's pretty crucial.

    I lost most of my weight before I got my scale! I am actually pretty good at eyeballing. I think people who use cups or half a cup just eyeball (because it's easier really). Because it's easier and less dishes to pop things on the scale than to have to stuff them in a cup first...

    I totally agree though that 'one fillet' is totally inaccurate. They come in all sizes, same for chicken breasts, so what you consider an average fillet size might not have anything to do with what the person who entered the info considers an average fillet size.
  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
    Easy fix ~ if the item you are entering is not available on here in the measurement you want..enter it yourself..especially if it is something you have all the time. if I do not find the exact item with exact measurements...I enter it as so. The unit of measurement will vary depending on item I am eating. Sometimes it is filet if the brand pre measures them - sometimes it is cups for items that the actual brand measures as etc.
    the Majority if not all of the items were entered by users and that was their personal preference - you can not always use the items anyways as I have found a lot of items off on cals, carbs etc. and I have ended up adding it myself
  • squatsandlipgloss
    squatsandlipgloss Posts: 595 Member
    I also can't stand it. Like every chicken breast is as big as yours. Very easy to under- or overestimate this way and this screwing with your calories. I want to know exactly how many cals!
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    Ounces. I hate hate HATE it when something is in grams. Then I have to go back and either remeasure, Google the conversion or guess what the weight actually is.
  • FASTFUELXXX
    FASTFUELXXX Posts: 89 Member
    IF UR USING ANYTHING DAT HAS A BARCODE JUX SCAN IT & IT SHOWS UP THEN U KAN MAKE ADJUSTMENTS USING DA DECIMAL POINT. SIMPLE AS DAT!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    i'm definately one who measures in cups or the "one fillet". I have 2 young children and i find trying to weigh things is more time consuming. I find it easier to guesstimate in cups than in grams. Everyone uses their own method I guess

    ^^ This


    It's impossible to be precise on our calories. And I've been cooking for a couple of decades now. I've never measured ANYthing in grams. (for cooking)
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    A cup is actually a standard, precise measure.
    1 metric cup = 250 ml

    QFT
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
    What if we cant, you know, drag our scale with us everywhere we go? When you eat somewhere where you didnt prepare the food, its a lot easier and probably more accurate to add "1 filet" rather than guess the grams. Jeez.
  • SarahBeth0625
    SarahBeth0625 Posts: 685 Member
    The grams throw me off... I try to look for other foods in the database which go by "cups" because that I can picture in my head. Grams, I just think... how many paperclips would... never mind!!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    The grams throw me off... I try to look for other foods in the database which go by "cups" because that I can picture in my head. Grams, I just think... how many paperclips would... never mind!!

    Paperclips is not the item that I tend to associate with measuring in grams, but whatever works. :smokin:

    :laugh:
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
    I have a food scale so I measure in grams or ounces depending on what I'm eating and try to find an entry that has the "1oz" or "100 grams" option because it is easier...like the apple I had for dinner was 187 grams so I logged it as "1.87 servings of apple raw).

    It does drive me nuts remembering to throw my measuring cup, bowl, plate, or spoon onto the scale first, clearing it out, and then putting whatever I'm measuring on so I just have my food.

    If you can, I definitely suggest putting in the 25-40 dollars into a food scale. In the long run it will make your life soooo much easier. I find it more useful than my "me" scale.
  • SarahBeth0625
    SarahBeth0625 Posts: 685 Member
    The grams throw me off... I try to look for other foods in the database which go by "cups" because that I can picture in my head. Grams, I just think... how many paperclips would... never mind!!

    Paperclips is not the item that I tend to associate with measuring in grams, but whatever works. :smokin:

    :laugh:

    LOL! I still remember in elementary school learning that 1 paperclip = 1 gram. So that's where that came from. I am silly, I know. :laugh:
  • robert65ferguson
    robert65ferguson Posts: 390 Member
    This thread seems to be symptomatic of modern society where too many people want to be spoonfed. MFP is a great tool for anyone wanting, or needing, to control their daily food intake. Weighing is by far the most accurate method. Presumably anyoneone on this site is computer literate and is able to google a conversion. Please stop the complaints friends and give thanks that such a fantastic tool is available free to all who wish to use it. All those complaining should note that this is a free website. To provide a site which spoonfeeds it's users could only be achieved at significant cost to cover the army of support people that would be required. Is that what some people really want? Read the info on the package lable, enter the information, QED. My point is very simple, stop complaining, be thankful, use a little initiative and a large helping of commonsense.
  • rabblerabble
    rabblerabble Posts: 471 Member
    What makes it really quirky here in the US is that we stubbornly refuse to adopt the metric system so all of our measurements are in units such as Tablespoons, ounces, and cups, weight is generally in ounces (took a while as a child for me to understand an ounce of volume wasn't always an ounce by weight), pounds, etc, but then nutritional information is almost always in grams and calories which are based solely on the metric system.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I like cups and ounces, myself. I'm not going to weigh all my food to know how many grams it is. I'm good at estimating cups and ounces. In fact, if I'm entering something and only grams is available, I'll make a new entry with cups or ounces.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
    I use whatever makes sense. I do tend to use ounces over grams (but I go down to the eighth of an ounce when I measure), but if I need to use grams you just multiply by 28...pretty easy peasy. Also, sometimes for things like veggies especially, I'm known to use the "1 medium carrot" rather than weighing it. The difference of 4 or 5 calories isn't worth the time to me. I weigh or at least volume measure anything higher calorie than that, though, and I try to internalize what the portion sizes look like as compared to the weights so that if I ever *do* need to eyeball something I have a basis for it.

    I just shoot to get as accurate as I can without turning it into an obsession. The calorie counts aren't going to be perfect even if you DO weigh everything down to the gram, so there's no sense in stressing about whether your ounce of cheese was really 25 grams or 32. I'm trying to create an eating style that I can sustain for the rest of my life. That needs to include both careful mindfulness of portion size as well as the flexibility to eat a meal without my food scale occasionally.

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