How much lettuce is 3 oz.?

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Do I need to buy a scale to weigh my food? How am I supposed to know how much lettuce is 3 oz?

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  • bizzyeck
    bizzyeck Posts: 45 Member
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    I weigh everything. Scale is cheap... I got mine at Target
  • rosemaryhon
    rosemaryhon Posts: 507 Member
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    I'm gonna buy a scale ;), but for now I use this for a general guideline:

    Food

    One Serving Equals . . .



    Breads, pasta, cereal, cooked grain, etc.

    •One slice of bread (size of CD case)
    •Half a bagel (size of a hockey puck)
    •One-cup cereal (two hands cupped together)
    •Half-cup cooked grain or pasta (one cupped palm)



    Fruits

    •One piece of fruit (size of a tennis ball)
    •Half-cup cut-up fruit, raw, cooked, frozen, or canned (size of seven cotton balls)
    •One-quarter cup dried fruit
    •Three quarters cup 100 percent fruit juice



    Veggies

    •Half cup cut up veggie, raw, cooked, frozen, or canned (looks like the bulb part of a lightbulb)
    •Half-cup cooked, canned or frozen legumes
    •One-cup leafy greens
    •Three quarters cup 100 percent vegetable juice



    Meat, chicken, or fish

    •Three ounces (deck of cards or checkbook)
    •One egg



    Dairy

    •One ounce of cheese (two nine-volt batteries)
    •Half-cup ice cream, cottage cheese, or pudding
    •One-cup milk or yogurt



    Nuts

    •One-third cup (small handful)
    •One-tablespoon nut butter (size of both your thumbs)
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    Definitely! Using a scale is the only accurate way to know how much you're eating. In the UK I'd say that there are VERY few homes without one - if anyone cooks in that house! Recipes ALWAYS give weights, not cups, for dry ingredients. The volume as measured in a cup is quite inaccurate. A cup filled with large strawberries will weigh x amount, but I'd guarantee that if you sliced strawberries and weighed a cupful they'd weigh a heck of a lot more, as you can pack the pieces closer.
  • yehsuls
    yehsuls Posts: 5
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    3oz of lettuce is approximately 85grams.
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    3oz of lettuce is approximately 85grams.

    LOL
    Still need those scales though! :-)
  • hooee71
    hooee71 Posts: 8 Member
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    Use a scale, most definitely... even for items that say "1/2 cup" or "1 cup".... here's why....

    Take cereal for example. Some cereal has big flakes. Filling a measuring cup with that cereal could be shorting you the amount you are allowed per serving. On the other hand, filling a measuring cup with say, cottage cheese, could allow you to smash it down and over-size your portion.

    It is always best to go by the grams rating in the serving. For example, a 5-bean salad I eat says "1/2 cup (110g)". I never trust the measuring cup. What if I heap it? Still half a cup right? Wrong. I put the cup on the scale before I turn it on, which tares the cup and does not count it into the weight. I then fill the cup until it reaches 110g.

    It's definitely the way to go!
  • sdpicard
    sdpicard Posts: 21 Member
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    Okay, thanks everyone! I'll head over to Amazon and look for a good (meaning accurate) scale. Any suggestions?

    I also need a good scale to weigh myself. For the past 20 years or so I have made it my practice NOT to weigh myself so as not to be obsessed with weight as my family was when I was growing up. As I am approaching 40, this practice needs to change. I can't ignore my weight and keep wearing the same clothes year after year any more. What is a good (meaning accurate and easy to read) scale?
  • hooee71
    hooee71 Posts: 8 Member
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    Okay, thanks everyone! I'll head over to Amazon and look for a good (meaning accurate) scale. Any suggestions?

    I also need a good scale to weigh myself. For the past 20 years or so I have made it my practice NOT to weigh myself so as not to be obsessed with weight as my family was when I was growing up. As I am approaching 40, this practice needs to change. I can't ignore my weight and keep wearing the same clothes year after year any more. What is a good (meaning accurate and easy to read) scale?

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Sharper-Image-Digital-Scale/dp/B004E8EB04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365983838&sr=8-1&keywords=sharper+image+food+scale

    That's the one I own. It's a little expensive at Amazon ($35). It was $25 at Bed, Bath & Beyond if you have one of those nearby. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just accurate. I would go with a digital scale, however, and not one of the old-fashioned ones with weights.

    As far as scales, anything Taylor makes is a good scale. You can get one at Target for $20. There is research that shows that people that weigh themselves daily are much more effective at not only taking the weight off, but keeping it off as well.
  • Katetw
    Katetw Posts: 188 Member
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    make sure to get a digital scale. that's my advice on it. I can't tell you a brand because I actually use one my dad had gotten for free somewhere. But digital is much more accurate than analog.
  • Cobwellac
    Cobwellac Posts: 75 Member
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    I agree with using a scale to weigh most of your foods, but lettuce? I wouldn't bother with weighing it.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
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    wtf? why weigh lettuce? youll be consuming like maybe 5 calories more by overestimating lol
  • sdpicard
    sdpicard Posts: 21 Member
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    wtf? why weigh lettuce? youll be consuming like maybe 5 calories more by overestimating lol

    Okay, I was being a bit facetious. My real question was whether I need to be weighing my food, as I eat very little pre-packaged food and I keep running into weights for the food I am eating.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
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    wtf? why weigh lettuce? youll be consuming like maybe 5 calories more by overestimating lol

    Okay, I was being a bit facetious. My real question was whether I need to be weighing my food, as I eat very little pre-packaged food and I keep running into weights for the food I am eating.

    oohhh okay, sorry that went completely over my head... i tend to weigh most of my fruits and veggies because i am a poor eye-baller. food scales are pretty cheap (unless you want a very nice one which i dontt hink is necessary). i always recommend to weigh food, but thats just me.
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    Okay, thanks everyone! I'll head over to Amazon and look for a good (meaning accurate) scale. Any suggestions?

    I also need a good scale to weigh myself. For the past 20 years or so I have made it my practice NOT to weigh myself so as not to be obsessed with weight as my family was when I was growing up. As I am approaching 40, this practice needs to change. I can't ignore my weight and keep wearing the same clothes year after year any more. What is a good (meaning accurate and easy to read) scale?

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Sharper-Image-Digital-Scale/dp/B004E8EB04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365983838&sr=8-1&keywords=sharper+image+food+scale

    That's the one I own. It's a little expensive at Amazon ($35). It was $25 at Bed, Bath & Beyond if you have one of those nearby. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just accurate. I would go with a digital scale, however, and not one of the old-fashioned ones with weights.

    As far as scales, anything Taylor makes is a good scale. You can get one at Target for $20.

    There is research that shows that people that weigh themselves daily are much more effective at not only taking the weight off, but keeping it off as well.

    As long as you remember that everyone's weight varies unreasonably day by day and don't get hung up about it the first time you weigh in the morning after a great dieting day and find you've inexplicably gained 5lbs. As long as you can just note it as interesting and not get stressed about it weighing daily is a help, I find.
  • sdpicard
    sdpicard Posts: 21 Member
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    wtf? why weigh lettuce? youll be consuming like maybe 5 calories more by overestimating lol

    Okay, I was being a bit facetious. My real question was whether I need to be weighing my food, as I eat very little pre-packaged food and I keep running into weights for the food I am eating.

    oohhh okay, sorry that went completely over my head... i tend to weigh most of my fruits and veggies because i am a poor eye-baller. food scales are pretty cheap (unless you want a very nice one which i dontt hink is necessary). i always recommend to weigh food, but thats just me.

    No problem. Those things don't get communicated over the internet. I shouldn't expect they would.