Weighing food VS Measuring... WOW!
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My scale does Ounces, Pounds, Grams, and Kilograms. It goes up to 11lbs and has the tar button. I really love it when im making baked goods that require really precise measurements.0
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There isn't a day, or even a meal, that goes by where I don't use my scale. It is just a habit now. Even if I'm doing something quick like putting creamer in my coffee, I will put the mug on the scale, zero it out and weigh 6g of creamer right into the mug. If I am having toast I put my toast on the scale, zero it, and add 15g of peanut butter directly to the toast before spreading. There is no need to use extra containers to measure your ingredients. My new scale measures ounces, grams, pounds, liquid ounces and even milliliters. It is a stainless steel Ozeri scale from amazon. My bathroom scale is the same brand. It goes up to 11 pounds so I can weigh entire dishes and divide the weight by the number of servings to figure out the weight of one serving
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One method I use the scale for in cooking: If I am making a recipe I will total all the calories in the batch, weigh it ( subtracting out the weight of the pan) and then divide to get the number of calories per gram or ounce. I write this number on my recipe card. Now when I cook the same meal again I can just put my bowl or plate on the scale and serve myself just the right measurement for how ever many calories I want to eat that meal. It has really simplified everything for me!0
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Yay! Another person sees the light! The food scale is one of the biggest aids we can have with accountability in logging and I Really wish more people would use them.0
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My scale is Salter and they call it a "Nutrition Scale"
Honestly, I think it's definitely an investment piece. It was $65 and worth every penny. I love seeing how many calories everything is.
It comes with a book with all the number values of food. (I think there is like 300 foods in the database) And I'm thinking I'm going get the booklet laminated because I already spilt water on it *oopps* Or maybe just put wide clear tape on every page? Hmmm..0 -
For example if a serving size of OJ is 1 cup (8oz) You should really just put your cup on the scale and zero the scale out then add your OJ to be sure you see how much 8oz really looks like.
This is not entirely correct. For liquids like OJ, the 8 oz serving size is almost always a volume measurement (fl oz) rather than a mass measurement (grams, etc.).
It is not generally necessary to weigh liquids because 8 fl oz is always the same since you can't pack it the way you can pack, say, brown sugar.
Fun fact: 8oz is 240mL.
1mL = 1g.
So you can put your glass on the scale, tare it, and fill til it says 240g.
True, although liquids other than water do fall slightly outside of this due to their different densities.
True. 1ml of WATER weighs 1g. Milk is heavier by volume. Not a lot, mind you, so I still weigh my milk into my tea (saves getting another thing dirty just to make a cuppa) but 100ml of milk weighs 103g on my scale. So I would guess any kind of liquid that contains any kind of solid (so any emulsion, like milk or juice) would be different.0 -
What? People weigh themselves and not their food? Measure your food in cups better measure your weight in cups.
My cup size is... Oh, hang on, that's not what you meant.0 -
Silly question ... is a food scale different to an electronic kitchen scale (the one i use to measure flour and butter etc for baking)?0
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It it an American thing to measure with cups?
I'm in the UK and have always used a scale, be it baking or cooking. I'd have never thought to measure ingredients with anything other than a pair of scales. (Then again "cups" as a measurement hasn't had very widespread use in the UK until very recently when it's started coming on my radar.)
I do love my scales. I even measure out the dogs' food with scales…...0 -
@Stripeytrouse same thing
@rubyted I am canadian and our cookbooks come in cups etc for baking...I have yet to see a recipe using grams or oz...and we are a commonwealth...0 -
@Stripeytrouse same thing
@rubyted I am canadian and our cookbooks come in cups etc for baking...I have yet to see a recipe using grams or oz...and we are a commonwealth / [qoute]
I suspect your neighbour to the south has a lot to do with that0 -
Careful with liquids though. Ounces (oz.) is a weight measure that you can use the scale for. Fluid Ounces (fl. oz.) is a liquid volume measure that you should use a measuring cup to measure out. Sure, though, if the label has the weight on there, you can use that too, but when most people say 8 ounces of orange juice, they mean fl. oz. or one cup.0
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For example if a serving size of OJ is 1 cup (8oz) You should really just put your cup on the scale and zero the scale out then add your OJ to be sure you see how much 8oz really looks like.
This is not entirely correct. For liquids like OJ, the 8 oz serving size is almost always a volume measurement (fl oz) rather than a mass measurement (grams, etc.).
It is not generally necessary to weigh liquids because 8 fl oz is always the same since you can't pack it the way you can pack, say, brown sugar.
Fun fact: 8oz is 240mL.
1mL = 1g.
So you can put your glass on the scale, tare it, and fill til it says 240g.
For water, yes. That's about it. Other things will weigh more. So it's better to just do by fl ounces for liquids (except the pesky ones like dressing and maple syrup, then it's a pain in the butt).0 -
I guess I am not very educated on this subject. This could be a really stupid question and probably learned during elementary school but, how do you know how much weight is in a cup or how much a serving size is in grams?
You weigh it. Nothing has the same weight per volume. Even different runs of the same thing can be different.
That's the whole problem - the nutrition labels if you look have serving sizes by grams, unless a liquid.
Even carb, prot, fat is calories per gram, right?
The volume that is given on the label is purely an estimate for ease of use for you.
But calories is really per weight.
Sadly it is also very off many times.
Even the 2 servings per package doesn't work out, and sometimes that's even using their stated weight of the product and how much weight in a serving.
Serving size 150 grams, servings per package 2, huh, the package weighs 350 grams it says. That's can't be right.
Wow, actually weigh it, it really weighs 400 grams - they gave me extra!
You eat the whole package, you just had 2.67 servings.
If that's 220 cal per serving, you just ate 147 extra calories if you relied purely on nutrition label and did no math or didn't weigh it.
And this. 10 times this.
Those '45 calories' slices of cheese... Really 50 calories each. Those 50g slices of bread? 60g. It really adds up. I weigh everything now (except yogurt cups because that would really be a pain).0 -
It it an American thing to measure with cups?
I'm in the UK and have always used a scale, be it baking or cooking. I'd have never thought to measure ingredients with anything other than a pair of scales. (Then again "cups" as a measurement hasn't had very widespread use in the UK until very recently when it's started coming on my radar.)
I do love my scales. I even measure out the dogs' food with scales…...
I am Canadian and previously only ever used cups! I didn't know how untrustworthy they were until I started weighing after using the cups.0 -
Yep, sometimes my slice of bread weighs more than the printed serving, sometimes it weighs less. I use tortilla wraps and honestly (until lately, DUH!) I didn't think to weigh them. Well I did, it's supposed to be 40g, most came in at 42-44g. Not a huge caloric difference, but more anyhow.
I always wondered how people continue to use cups for fruits and veggies. How does one get something like strawberries or broccoli to 'lay flat' in the cup. It would be heaping? Cups are only good for liquids or foods you can 'sift off' (say you don't have a food scale) sugar, flour, rice, etc. But I still weigh my rice dry. Amazing what a pasta portion looks like when you weigh it! (dry!)
I did get some surprises though, that you get more cheese weighing it, you get more cereal weighing it, etc.
Sometimes the weighing gets tedious and sometimes I think "I'd love to just put my food on the plate and eat already!" but in the end I am glad I have my food scale. I use that sucker like 50 times a day! :laugh:0 -
It's the prepackaged stuff that really surprised me when I started weighing it. I bought a pack f Italian sausages. They were labeled as 230 calories per 82g link. Not one of the links in the package was less than 100 grams. That's a 50+ calorie difference. The little things really add up.0
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I have 2 food scales a traditional one and a digital one, can never be too sure.0
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I really need to start weighing more food. I always weigh meat, and usually shredded cheese, but that's about it.
But if a serving a peas when weighed is actually more than the 1/2 cup serving, then I'm definitely going to start weighing! I always just use the 1/2 cup to measure them out.0 -
It's the prepackaged stuff that really surprised me when I started weighing it. I bought a pack f Italian sausages. They were labeled as 230 calories per 82g link. Not one of the links in the package was less than 100 grams. That's a 50+ calorie difference. The little things really add up.
Yes... I admit I've been lazy with those, mostly because we cook them all and there's no way for me to know which one I'm eating, but I should definitely start doing this.0 -
I will make an experiment, one day using both method of measuring calories to see the difference0
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I finally bought a fancy food scale after logging my calories for weeks and not noticing any change in my weight.
Today is the first food prep I've done with a scale instead of measuring and all I can say is HOLY ****.
No wonder why my weight only slightly changed. The differences in weighing is INSANE.
I was just measuring out Salsa for my pre-made mix for a wrap and literally 2 TBSP was in the one TBSP I usually measure out
I know it's only salsa - but everything adds up. Just that is 10 cals vs 20! And I can only imagine the difference this is going to make a couple weeks down the road.
I know, it is incredible isn't it.
Other foods, such as cheese, when weighed correctly -v- measuring cups will blow your mind at the difference in the calories.
The foods that are calorie dense are definitely the ones that need weighing rather than using spoons and cups.0 -
I think this information will help you too, gamer_geek.
A cup, as in a measuring cup, is not easily convertible to weight because, as you probably guessed, everything does not weigh the same. To illustrate this, consider a measuring cup of grated/shredded cheese compared to a measuring cup of peanut butter. The peanut butter obviously weighs more, right? (Hint: yes
haha)
So, that doesn't help you much. What does help, though, is that most items include a weight in grams or ounces in the serving information. For example, my bag of flour says a serving is "1/4 cup (31g)". What I do is, place an empty bowl on my scale and press the "tare" button - this zero's out the scale so that it's not counting the weight of the bowl. Then, I spoon or scoop or pour (depending on the item haha) the ingredient into the bowl and measure out the weight in grams or ounces.
If you have any other questions or need help with specific items, feel free to PM me or add me as a friend a comment on my wall. I'd be happy to help
THANK YOU for putting this so easy to understand! I never realized how much of a difference it made, I just dutifully went by 1/4 cup, etc.... am now going to look into buying a food scale, an accurate one. I have an old one that is not digital, ya know, with springs and stuff, that I originally just used on foods that only mentioned ounces and not cups (i.e. meats, pasta, etc)... would that work "ok" for now until I get a digital one?
A non-digital scale is perfectly fine to use (i.e. no need to get a digital one) as long as you:
1. are comfortable with its unit of measure (whether it weighs in ounces, grams, etc.)
2. understand that a traditional scale is not going to be as accurate as a digital one
3.calibrate it using calibrating weights every so often, so you can make sure your scale is still accurate. You can buy them on Amazon in 50g, 100g, etc.
Note that if your scale only weighs in ounces, you can easily convert to grams (using a calculator):
1 ounce = 28.3495 grams
So: weight in ounces x 28.3495 grams/ounce = weight in grams
Example:
You measure out 3 oz of something but you want to enter it as grams in MFP
3 ounces x 28.3495 grams/ounce = 56.699 ~= 56.70 grams.
Or, you just get a digital scale that has ounces/pounds and grams. 0 -
I don't cook anything without my food scale!!!
Did you know:
"A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that the calorie content on frozen food labels was on average 8% higher than the label claimed — and on restaurant menus an average of 18% higher."
" Calorie counts on food labels, for example, can be off by 20% in some cases and still be in compliance with FDA regulations."
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/margin-of-error-on-food-labels-20-2013-11-070 -
It's the prepackaged stuff that really surprised me when I started weighing it. I bought a pack f Italian sausages. They were labeled as 230 calories per 82g link. Not one of the links in the package was less than 100 grams. That's a 50+ calorie difference. The little things really add up.
Yes... I admit I've been lazy with those, mostly because we cook them all and there's no way for me to know which one I'm eating, but I should definitely start doing this.
I was at first too but then thought eh why not see for sure...i now measure packaged food as well.
For example today two pieces of bread were 55g not 80 yah me...but the 3 slices of ham were 65g not 55g...blah...
I do however when eating things like lean cuisine record what the box says...I mean how can you really tell right. Probably a good thing I don't eat a lot of those.
I eat at TDEE-20% tho so if it is off a bit I am still losing on avg 1/2lb a week which is good.0 -
I, too, was shocked after I bought a food scale. Honestly NOBODY will truly understand how big of a difference it makes. You have toweigh to be a believer.
Like someone else said I was pleasantly surprised with cottage cheese because you get way more!!! However the item that shocked me was croutons. I put croutons on the scale and was horrified that one serving of croutons was TWO croutons. TWO?!?!?! Is 2 croutons worthy of 35 calories?!?!0 -
Yup, prior to my food scale I was eating, on average, around 400-600 calories more than I thought I was. As soon as I started weighing everything, the weight came off much more reliably. I have been in maintenance for about 8 months now and I still weigh most things. I even weigh my veggies out...not so much because I'm concerned about the calories, I just want to make sure I'm getting all of my veggies. I used to think I ate plenty of veggies until I started weighing out actual serving sizes.0
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This post is a great reminder that I need to go back to weighing my foods and not using measuring cups. The scale hasn't really budged in a few weeks and I think it's because I've been too laxed in measuring. I just weighed some snacks both ways and boy was that an eye opener. Using measuring cups for nuts was almost 1.5 times the grams per serving amount or 90 additional calories.0
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