Can I really have ALL of that salad dressing?

I'll admit I have been eyeballing portions for a while now, which is probably why I am back on MFP after regaining almost all the weight I lost before. Anyway, this week I finally started weighing all of my food on a digital food scale. Last night I put my plate on top of the scale and zeroed it out, added 85 grams of salad greens, then zeroed it out again to add dressing. The bottle of salad dressing said the serving size was 2 tablespoons, or 30 grams. So I just poured it onto the plate until the scale read 30 grams. It was a HUGE amount of dressing! Dont' get me wrong, I love salad dressing and was thrilled that I could have that much because I have been estimating 2 tablespoons to be much, much less than the amount I had last night. But in the cold light of day today, I'm worried that maybe I did it wrong. Does a digital food scale accurately measure something liquidy like salad dressing? Or is it most accurate with solid food? Should I just break out the measuring spoons for dressing from now on? Sorry for asking the dumbest questions ever, but I've read so much on these forums about people eating more than they think they are and if I am falling into that category by using the food scale incorrectly, I'd rather find out now!

Replies

roxylola

The above is true - that said I would think if the measurements on the pack are interchangeable I would not have thought they would be very different for the dressing in question

Sobus76

doubt its a typo, every bottle of dressing in my house has grams not mil, different brands and flavors.. all the same.

rosemary98

i would stick to tablespoons for liquid measurements. also, be aware of sodium content.

sloth3toes

That said I worked in a high end chocolate shop for some time and I know exactly howm any grams make up a quarter lb so I have no excuse really.

There's also another 'market' where you quickly learn how many grams in 1/4 oz... 1 oz... and 1/4 lb.

stephreed11

For liquid ml and g is the same thing - I do a lot of baking so I can be pretty ocd about measurements when weighing but the 2 are fine to swap about

This. I made sure to look up the conversion when weighing my coffee creamer. 1ml=1g

BusyRaeNOTBusty

i would stick to tablespoons for liquid measurements. also, be aware of sodium content.

The problem with table spoons is you lose precious dressing to getting stuck on the spoon.

jadethief

I use a fat-free thousand island and it's labeled as 1 serving = 2 Tbsp = 37 g. I measure out a double serving (74 g) and I still think, "That's it???"

ItsCasey

i would stick to tablespoons for liquid measurements. also, be aware of sodium content.

For an actual liquid, like vanilla extract, sure. For a semi-solid like salad dressing, ketchup, etc., a tablespoon is never going to be as accurate as a scale.

MaiLinna

To be honest I've done the same exact thing. 2 tablespoons is a **** ton, but then again I've never been a huge salad douser. :P

allaboutthecake

i would stick to tablespoons for liquid measurements. also, be aware of sodium content.

The problem with table spoons is you lose precious dressing to getting stuck on the spoon.

Easier to use a shot glass to either weigh or measure. Take a lettuce leaf & "wipe out" the inside of the glass. Works great.