New food scale, now aggrevated

pkbryant28
pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I broke down and bought me a nice new food scale and I am all excited to start using it, Yay!!! Nope, logging food is now a nightmare. First I was weighing in grams and finding foods listed with grams was near impossible to find so I changed to ounces, nope still near impossible. Meats and some veggies are listed in ounces but so far I have had no luck with peanut butter, mayonnaise, most fruits, and other condiments, they are usually listed in tsp, tbsp, or other measurements. Not so excited anymore. Just wanted to rant a little. :-)

Replies

  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
    I know a tbsp = 15g and 17ml
  • Mariposa_Lily
    Mariposa_Lily Posts: 38 Member
    My inexpensive $20 scale is digital and switches back and forth between grams and ounces at the push of a button. I think I'd get really frustrated if I didn't have that flexibility....
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    I know a tbsp = 15g and 17ml

    Of what? That weight changes depending on the density of what you're measuring.

    Usually I find the info you're looking for on the nutritional label and either quick add calories or add a new food if I have time.
  • j6o4
    j6o4 Posts: 871 Member
    The peanut butter i use is 16g per serving.
  • Nicolette04
    Nicolette04 Posts: 82 Member
    when i search for food i also type in usda next to it (if that's an option) because that usually will bring up the nutritional value in either grams or ounces and it was taken right off the usda website. So I would search "red pepper usda" or "boneless chicken breast usda" that usually always brings up choices in grams or ounces. Good Luck

    Edited to say: Also the information on the bottle will usually tell you what a serving is. So if the serving of mustard is 1 t, in parentheses it will usually say (5g) .
  • ksuh999
    ksuh999 Posts: 543 Member
    Google is your friend. Type "peanut butter calories" into it, for instance.

    Also I bought a calorie book, since it listed things by weight.
  • Fr3shStrt
    Fr3shStrt Posts: 349 Member
    Most of the veggies and fruits in the database provided by MFP (not user input) has option for grams. Meats are usually in ounces. You can tell it is an MFP entry if there is no asterisk (*), if you select "relevant" when searching, the MFP items are usually closer to the top of the list. If it is a food you use often, you can enter it into "My Foods" and then it'll be really easy to find.
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
    I know a tbsp = 15g and 17ml

    Of what? That weight changes depending on the density of what you're measuring.

    Usually I find the info you're looking for on the nutritional label and either quick add calories or add a new food if I have time.

    I used to measure out 3 tbsp of oats for breakfast, then when I got my scales weighed the oats and it was 45g
  • LeahT84
    LeahT84 Posts: 202 Member
    So... get a set of measuring cups as well? I weigh my meats on the food scale, and for things like PB, I use my 4 ounce measuring cup that shows the tablespoons on one side. Measuring cups and measuring spoons are also a good way to measure your food... NOT just by the weight. If it says serving size is 2 tablespoons, then it would make sense to measure out 2 tablespoons, would it not?
  • pkbryant28
    pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
    when i search for food i also type in usda next to it (if that's an option) because that usually will bring up the nutritional value in either grams or ounces and it was taken right off the usda website. So I would search "red pepper usda" or "boneless chicken breast usda" that usually always brings up choices in grams or ounces. Good Luck

    Edited to say: Also the information on the bottle will usually tell you what a serving is. So if the serving of mustard is 1 t, in parentheses it will usually say (5g) .

    Thank you I will try the USDA trick.
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
    The peanut butter i use is 16g per serving.

    What's a serving though? I may spread it thick on a slice of toast, or thin on a cracker, they can't both be 16g!
  • pkbryant28
    pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
    So... get a set of measuring cups as well? I weigh my meats on the food scale, and for things like PB, I use my 4 ounce measuring cup that shows the tablespoons on one side. Measuring cups and measuring spoons are also a good way to measure your food... NOT just by the weight. If it says serving size is 2 tablespoons, then it would make sense to measure out 2 tablespoons, would it not?

    Because it is so hard to get the peanut butter out of the tablespoon once you measure it. :happy:
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
    So I broke down and bought me a nice new food scale and I am all excited to start using it, Yay!!! Nope, logging food is now a nightmare. First I was weighing in grams and finding foods listed with grams was near impossible to find so I changed to ounces, nope still near impossible. Meats and some veggies are listed in ounces but so far I have had no luck with peanut butter, mayonnaise, most fruits, and other condiments, they are usually listed in tsp, tbsp, or other measurements. Not so excited anymore. Just wanted to rant a little. :-)

    Sorry to hear your good intentions are causing you distress. I love my food scale (I know that is not helping you at all). Does it help you to know that 3 tbsp is equal to an ounce? Get a conversion chart for those kind of measures and learn them- that might help (or that might drive you crazy? depends on you). Good luck on your journey.
  • pkbryant28
    pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
    Most of the veggies and fruits in the database provided by MFP (not user input) has option for grams. Meats are usually in ounces. You can tell it is an MFP entry if there is no asterisk (*), if you select "relevant" when searching, the MFP items are usually closer to the top of the list. If it is a food you use often, you can enter it into "My Foods" and then it'll be really easy to find.
    ''

    Thank you I will look for the asterisk. Last night I weighed out my mayo and got so frustrated when all I could find were tablespoon or the entire jar (:noway: who eats an entire jar) but I could not find any with grams or ounces.
  • pkbryant28
    pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
    My inexpensive $20 scale is digital and switches back and forth between grams and ounces at the push of a button. I think I'd get really frustrated if I didn't have that flexibility....
    [/quote

    Mine will weigh ounces, grams, pounds, kilograms, and it will zero out to add new items. I love the scale, it will do everything, it is logging the food in MFP that frustrated me. I was unable to find the foods in MFP that I had weighed on my new scale in weight (gr, lb, oz) verses by measure (cup, tbsp, etc).
  • Fr3shStrt
    Fr3shStrt Posts: 349 Member


    Thank you I will look for the asterisk. Last night I weighed out my mayo and got so frustrated when all I could find were tablespoon or the entire jar (:noway: who eats an entire jar) but I could not find any with grams or ounces.

    For something like that - I look at the serving size and usually next to the serving is the weight. For example, my peanut butter: one serving is 2 tablespoons (32 grams)- that is 190 calories, so I'll usually just weight half a serving (16g). In the database it is probably listed as 2 tablespoons and not as grams but I know the information is the same so I will log .5 servings. Does that make sense?
  • pkbryant28
    pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
    I just tried including the "USDA" in the search and yep there it was for both peanut butter and mayo, "grams". :happy:
  • EmilyEmpowered
    EmilyEmpowered Posts: 650 Member
    Hmmm... I have had no trouble finding any foods listed in grams. If I dont see it the first time I search, say "blueberries grams" and then I find listings with grams.

    Dont give up or get frustrated, the food scale is such a great tool for staying on track! :)
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Don't worry about what a gram is. A single gram is too small to worry about. But think in terms of them as little BBs you are using to weigh stuff. How many BBs (grams) weigh the same as the peanut butter you put on the bread?

    Put the plate with the bread on the scale. Tare to 0. Take it off the scale and spread on the peanut butter. Put it back on the scale and the measurement will be for only the peanut butter.

    Now for a tiny bit of arithmetic using the calculator on your computer.

    Look at the side of the jar of peanut butter. Most will have the number of grams in a serving. For example, 1 serving of Jif Creamy = 2 tablespoons (31 grams).

    Take the number of grams of peanut butter the scale said you have and divide by the number of grams listed per serving on the item label. Then use that number to indicate how many servings of peanut butter you had.

    Let's say the scale says you put 52 grams of peanut butter on your bread. Divide 52 by 31 and the calculator tells you that you had 1.677419etc. Round that number to something simple like 1.7 servings and enter it.

    For example, last night I emptied the last of a bag of frozen cherries. It weighed 170g but the standard serving is only 140g. So, I brought up the computer's calculator and divided 170 by 140 which equaled 1.2. So, 1.2 is how many servings of cherries I had.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    So... get a set of measuring cups as well? I weigh my meats on the food scale, and for things like PB, I use my 4 ounce measuring cup that shows the tablespoons on one side. Measuring cups and measuring spoons are also a good way to measure your food... NOT just by the weight. If it says serving size is 2 tablespoons, then it would make sense to measure out 2 tablespoons, would it not?

    Weight measurement is much more precise than volume, especially for anything that isn't a liquid. Just try to measure a level tablespoon of peanut butter and get it all out on the bread. Not easy and not very precise. Honey is even worse. The true amount of flour in a cup of flour can vary greatly by how firmly it is packed which is why a lot of home bread makers and most professional bakers use weight to measure ingredients.

    But think, for instance about a cup of big strawberries versus a cup of little blueberries. There's far more empty space in the cup of strawberries. The same volume of grated parmesan is a very different amount of cheese depending on which grater I use.

    On the other hand, often cup measurements are very handy. For example, tonight when I divide a large batch of wild and brown rice into single servings for the freezer, I'll just scoop 1/2 cup piles of rice. It's close enough for this purpose. Will some of those "1/2 cups" have a little more rice in them than others? Sure, but it's close enough for this purpose.

    So, I do both, whatever is easier for what I'm doing. And, truth be told, I eyeball a bit when the calorie count is minimal. I mean, who really measures lettuce?
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    One more hint. If you have a specific brand and you need more information than is in the MFP database, you can often find the nutrition label for the item online. For example, google "jif creamy nutrition label" and there are several links that can bring you right to the nutrition label if you don't happen to have the jar to hand.
  • LaRaAnHa
    LaRaAnHa Posts: 14 Member
    The peanut butter i use is 16g per serving.

    What's a serving though? I may spread it thick on a slice of toast, or thin on a cracker, they can't both be 16g!

    A serving is whatever the company who makes the product decides it should be. In the case of that peanut butter, one serving is always going to be 16g no matter how much you use. If you are spreading it thick on toast you would likely be eating more than one serving, and if you are spreading it thinly it would likely be less than one.
  • rosered93
    rosered93 Posts: 69 Member
    If you ever have difficulty locating the usda version here on mfp, nutritiondata.self.com is pretty much the usda database, so it's really easy to check it on there. They also have a plug-in for I think Firefox, so you can have a search bar for the site right in your toolbar.
  • pkbryant28
    pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
    Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and tips.
  • youdontknowwhatyousaw
    youdontknowwhatyousaw Posts: 221 Member
    When you look at the nutrition value on the back of what you're eating it usally has a weight and a dry measurement. For instance my peanut butter says serving sive 2 tbls. (32 grams). I weigh it out in grams and then input it as 2 tbls.
  • LeahT84
    LeahT84 Posts: 202 Member
    So... get a set of measuring cups as well? I weigh my meats on the food scale, and for things like PB, I use my 4 ounce measuring cup that shows the tablespoons on one side. Measuring cups and measuring spoons are also a good way to measure your food... NOT just by the weight. If it says serving size is 2 tablespoons, then it would make sense to measure out 2 tablespoons, would it not?

    Weight measurement is much more precise than volume, especially for anything that isn't a liquid. Just try to measure a level tablespoon of peanut butter and get it all out on the bread. Not easy and not very precise. Honey is even worse. The true amount of flour in a cup of flour can vary greatly by how firmly it is packed which is why a lot of home bread makers and most professional bakers use weight to measure ingredients.

    But think, for instance about a cup of big strawberries versus a cup of little blueberries. There's far more empty space in the cup of strawberries. The same volume of grated parmesan is a very different amount of cheese depending on which grater I use.

    On the other hand, often cup measurements are very handy. For example, tonight when I divide a large batch of wild and brown rice into single servings for the freezer, I'll just scoop 1/2 cup piles of rice. It's close enough for this purpose. Will some of those "1/2 cups" have a little more rice in them than others? Sure, but it's close enough for this purpose.

    So, I do both, whatever is easier for what I'm doing. And, truth be told, I eyeball a bit when the calorie count is minimal. I mean, who really measures lettuce?

    Well I use PB2, and my measuring cup works perfect for that. I don't use mayo, but for my honey, I spray a tiny bit of nonstick stray on my measuring spoon first, and then use a rubber spatula to scrape it off. I don't get my scale out to measure that stuff because it's too much of a hassle. If it calls for one tablespoon, I use a tablespoon. I don't find it as difficult to do as you do apparently, but I also use my big glass measuring cup to measure my lettuce and spinach so I know exactly what I'm eating. To each their own. I was just trying to offer another alternative to measuring. Although, her problem seems to be more with logging, which I don't have a problem with because I convert the tablespoon/grams instead of getting frustrated and confused. Google is a good way to find out the conversions, and I always find several options to choose from on MFP.

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