Always trust the food scale?

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willrun4bagels
willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I just got a food scale yesterday. I've been weighing everything I eat since dinner last night, but after I just got done cooking dinner tonight... I think I'm doing it wrong. Earlier today, I calculated out servings of each of the items I was going to make for dinner and logged them, so that when I got home to start cooking, I'd just have to weigh out ingredients correctly as I cooked and all would be well, and my food would be logged accurately. I'm not sure what happened...

When I opened, rinsed, and drained a small can of Trader Joe's organic black beans with sea salt, I left them in the strainer to dry while I began cooking other stuff. When it came time for the beans (I was aiming for one 1/2 cup serving, so 130g according to the can), I put a bowl on the scale, used the tare button to zero the scale, and measured exactly 130g. It looked like a full cup to me, instead of half a cup, and the remaining amount of beans in the strainer looked like the same amount that I had on the scale (there are 3+ servings in a can). I think "oh maybe this is really what 1/2 cup looks like. Maybe my measuring cups are small", and add them to the pan.

This continues as I weigh out veggie ground beef, bell peppers, and onions as well. I calculated out all of the macros for the ingredients so I knew exactly how much I was eating for dinner to stay within cals for the day. I was cooking only 1 serving of this meal for myself to eat tonight, I didn't double anything to account for leftovers.

I get done cooking, and the pan is FILLED with food. At least twice the amount of food I was anticipating eating. I serve HALF of what's in the pan onto my plate, along with one serving of quinoa that I'd weighed and prepared separately, and chow down. I got done and was full, did not want the other half of the dinner that was in the pan. I weighed the leftovers and they weighed 190g... I put them into a container for dinner tomorrow.

Did I horribly miscalculate something? I went to my diary and reduced the quantities of the ingredients to reflect lower amounts based on what was left and now I have 350 cals left for the day (no exercise completed or logged yet today).

I want to make sure I can do this correctly before I continue like this for a month and come to find out that I've been eating over my limit for the day without knowing it. Please help!

Replies

  • jmcreynolds91
    jmcreynolds91 Posts: 777 Member
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    bump, wondering the same!
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
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    We'll figure this out together lol!
  • born2drum
    born2drum Posts: 731 Member
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    This is why a food scale is awesome because sometimes 1/2c is actually more. You need to remember that foods have difference density's. Example, 32g of peanut isn't much if you compare it to say 32g of lettuce or even beans.

    Point is, the scale doesn't lie. Also, most foods have different weights after cooked. Most pasta and legumes will change after cooked so you are supposed to measure dry like you did so yes, that is usually more food than you think.

    You will get used to it. Don't worry.
  • sarah061
    sarah061 Posts: 64
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    I've been experiencing the same thing and would also love to find out what's going on ... My scale was a $25 one from Target. Taylor brand. Seems like it *should* be accurate but a lot of foods have been weighing out to show a single serving is larger than when measured in cups.
  • sarah061
    sarah061 Posts: 64
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    This is why a food scale is awesome because sometimes 1/2c is actually more. You need to remember that foods have difference density's. Example, 32g of peanut isn't much if you compare it to say 32g of lettuce or even beans.

    Point is, the scale doesn't lie. Also, most foods have different weights after cooked. Most pasta and legumes will change after cooked so you are supposed to measure dry like you did so yes, that is usually more food than you think.

    You will get used to it. Don't worry.

    Good to know! Thanks!
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    But for the beans you might be wrong. I think the 130grams is WITH the water you drained out.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    But for the beans you might be wrong. I think the 130grams is WITH the water you drained out.

    Bleck! Youre supposed to have the thick bean water with the beans?
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
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    I kind of wondered that about the beans... Does the 130g mean strained and rinsed as you'd eat them, or out of the can in the smelly liquid? That could have been what I did. :(
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
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    You are confusing weights and measures. 1 cup does not mean 8 oz. If a serving size is a measurement - use your measuring cups. If a serving size is in ounces - use your scale.

    For example - 8 oz of chicken - use the scale
    1/2 c. beans - use the measuring cup.

    I see people intermix these all the time....You aren't alone!!!
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
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    I NEVER NEVER NEVER use anything but weights ... I never use cups or servings. That to me just eliminates the accuracy of the scale. And most things in the database will have some weight to it (though it may take some digging to find one with a weight) .. just use that now that you have a scale.

    But I am mega anal ... and I always weigh all my food, unless it is packaged with nutritional info on it.
  • sanfly
    sanfly Posts: 207 Member
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    Yep, with things like beans in cans you need to consider if the nutritional info is referring to drained weight or not.

    According to the web link below, black beans are 172g per cup, so you actually had more like 3/4 of a cup if you weighed 130g

    http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4284/2
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
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    You are confusing weights and measures. 1 cup does not mean 8 oz. If a serving size is a measurement - use your measuring cups. If a serving size is in ounces - use your scale.

    For example - 8 oz of chicken - use the scale
    1/2 c. beans - use the measuring cup.

    I see people intermix these all the time....You aren't alone!!!

    That makes sense but confuses me again at the same time. On the can, one serving size is 1/2 cup, but then it says 130g in parentheses. So basically I'm interpreting that as 1/2 cup = 100 cals, and 130g of the same item = 100 cals. Is this where I'm wrong? If I weigh out 100g, I'm consuming 100 calories. If I use a measuring cup and measure 1/2c, if I compare those two amounts and they look very different in size, they both can't possibly be the same nutritional info, righ?

    (You can see I was never destined to be a mathematician... Or a chemist... Please bear with me lol).
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
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    There's weight and calories in that liquid you drained. You should have weighed it with the liquid and then rinsed them after weighing.
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
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    I actually made fajitas with black beans tonight. I weighed them as well and it appeard it was way more than a 1/2 cup--which made me excited. However, then I measured 1/3 cup of cheese. Wow--it isn't very much cheese. I have been way off! I'm a firm believer in the scale after tonight.
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
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    I have been way off! I'm a firm believer in the scale after tonight.

    I cannot stress enough ... measuring cups and servings are POOR ways to measure when you have a food scale. It measures weight .... so use it to weigh things. They are very precise . . so take advantage of its capabilities.

    The only exceptions are things like liquids (though some scales will measure liquids) .. and measuring cups are just fine for those things.

    But for things that you can weight ... just weigh them. Your calories will be so much more precise .. and when you are wondering why you are not losing weight, you will know that it is not your food calories being off.

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