These measurement units make me want to scream!

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  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
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    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
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    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: 3,843 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    A cup is actually a standard, precise measure.
    1 metric cup = 250 ml

    QFT
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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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