Biggest surprise after buying a scale

I finally heeded all the advice about buying a kitchen scale. There were some surprises and some I had been guesstimating almost perfectly. But, what a surprise I had with the mayonnaise. It was twice the amount I had been logging! I wil not be without a kitchen scale again! What was your biggest surprise?
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Replies

  • Mygsds
    Mygsds Posts: 1,564 Member
    Mine was the amount of meat and cheese. I thought before I got my scale I was having 4 ounces of steak. I actually was having 6-7 ounces and logging as 4. Same with cheese. I would not be without my scale now.. Real eye opener..
  • Trad_Barbie
    Trad_Barbie Posts: 166 Member
    I finally heeded all the advice about buying a kitchen scale. There were some surprises and some I had been guesstimating almost perfectly. But, what a surprise I had with the mayonnaise. It was twice the amount I had been logging! I wil not be without a kitchen scale again! What was your biggest surprise?

    What an ounce of certain fruits looked like.
  • kinjalp
    kinjalp Posts: 14 Member
    Mine was quite similar to you! I was sometimes having almost three times the serving of peanut butter versus the weight!
  • twinmama1987
    twinmama1987 Posts: 566 Member
    difference in weight cooked vs. uncooked.
  • golfmonk
    golfmonk Posts: 119 Member
    Cheese, chips, condiments, peanut butter/nuts, etc.

    Pretty much everything except pasta. For some reason, I always did 2 ounces of pasta for a meal...
  • Trad_Barbie
    Trad_Barbie Posts: 166 Member
    difference in weight cooked vs. uncooked.

    Oh and that.
  • tmaryam
    tmaryam Posts: 289 Member
    The fact that I had been largely OVERESTIMATING my portions before the scale, even though you constantly hear that most people underestimate what they're eating. I was eating way less than I thought, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much more I could add to equal one serving. I'm always on board for more food. :bigsmile:
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
    Peanut butter, condiments, cereal, cheese, and I agree about meat weighed cooked vs. raw. I used to always weigh it cooked and I realized how off I had been for so long. I make it a point now to weigh raw usually, and if not I find the "cooked" values in the database and check the USDA site too for confirmation.
  • 43mmmgoody21
    43mmmgoody21 Posts: 146 Member
    I was eating a lot more peanut butter than i thought.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    1 ounce of chips is more chips than I thought it was. So. Score on that one.
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  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    I used to think I was eating one serving of cereal, but after I got my scale I realized it was three!! Since then I use it no matter what! :-)
  • Shannonsto
    Shannonsto Posts: 450 Member
    I was way underestimating my pretzels (serious addiction), eating three times what I thought I was. I solved that by weighing and separating individual servings into ziplock bags as soon as I got the box. Meat, however, is a different story. I was seriously OVERestimating that. What I thought was about 4 oz was actually 2.
  • hmg90
    hmg90 Posts: 314 Member
    Weight of meat. 100g chicken is like, nothing. And bacon.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    butter - mostly because it's high calorie and I started watching how much I use - without a scale I would have guestimated but I use a lot less I thought - weighing it in grams helps
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Cheese. Heck after a year it's still depressing to see how small one ounce is (but grated cheese = awesome, it seems like a lot!). Butter really adds up too.

    And beef, those steaks always look tiny for how much they weigh.
  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    I finally heeded all the advice about buying a kitchen scale. There were some surprises and some I had been guesstimating almost perfectly. But, what a surprise I had with the mayonnaise. It was twice the amount I had been logging! I wil not be without a kitchen scale again! What was your biggest surprise?

    This is why it's a great tool especially if a person has stopped losing and can't figure out why. A greater degree of accuracy can make the difference between losing, maintaining and gaining.
  • filledesiles
    filledesiles Posts: 13 Member
    Well, after a trip to the ice cream shop (with my kitchen scale) - my biggest surprise yet! A cone of chocolate soft serve - 130grams- 270 calories - way over the 150 calories I would have guesstimated!! :( But I DO love my scale!
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
    So far the only thing I discovered to have been inaccurately logged is avocado. That was off by about 25.
    Everything else my estimates have been correct within five calories.
    I was both pleased at my estimating abilities and disappointed. I had sort of hoped a scale would improve my accuracy and get me out of my plateau, but no.
  • navygrrl
    navygrrl Posts: 517 Member
    I'm really sad about how much a serving of cereal really is.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    Unlike most, I was overestimating my portions.
  • msbunnie68
    msbunnie68 Posts: 1,894 Member
    Margarine.

    I thought I was using a spoonful (approx 5g)...was using more like a scrape (2-3g consistently when I weigh it) so WIN!
  • LoupGarouTFTs
    LoupGarouTFTs Posts: 916 Member
    I got a food scale, a new set of measuring cups, and a new set of measuring spoons before I started logging, so I had no "before and after" type surprises. But some of the quantities I'd get for veggies really surprised me when I weighed them--six ounces of steamed broccoli (measured raw) is considerable!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Oh yeah, the biggest one... Pasta and rice. Yikes. 2oz of dried pasta is really not much. And 100g of cooked rice isn't that much either.

    For veggies it was the other way around for me, I always thought I could eat a ton for 100 calories... and it's not as much as I thought. A serving of 85g is actually pretty small.
  • spideywebb77
    spideywebb77 Posts: 126 Member
    My great big plates look so empty now with proper portion sizes. A 4oz steak is super small. I saw the video about weighing before I started good so I didn't have a chance to be set in to bad a habit.
  • jennalennafur
    jennalennafur Posts: 80 Member
    My biggest surprise was how much I was over estimating! Which explains why I've been so hungry without the scale! lol
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    I have a food scale but only find it handy when I need to weigh out meats. I use a measuring cup for almost everything else like cereal, fruit, grains, chopped veggies. I suppose its not "as" accurate but It seems to be easier for me to log with.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I have a food scale but only find it handy when I need to weigh out meats. I use a measuring cup for almost everything else like cereal, fruit, grains, chopped veggies. I suppose its not "as" accurate but It seems to be easier for me to log with.

    Cereal is horribly off. A one cup serving is typically 2/3 of a cup really. At sometimes 200 calories a serving... it adds up.

    I don't get it anyway - why bother using more cups to wash? Put bowl on scale, tare, put food, no extra dishes.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I had good and bad surprises really....

    Good surprise 1/2c of cottage cheese is not 125g...it's a lot less so I got more of that
    Bad surprise 27g of cereal (fruit loops) is a pittance...makes me cry...

    I was actually really good at estimating my meat...I used to use that deck of cards thing = 4oz, horrible at starches/carbs...way under estimating...100g of boiled potatoes...makes me cry...

    The only thing with my food scale is that it has sort of made me lazy...not really looking at the quantity on my plate...just the number on the scale...I have to become more aware of that.

    As well if I don't buy the same brand of cheese I am screwed..I can get 30g of cheese bang on from Cracker barrel...but no other brands...
  • animalldy
    animalldy Posts: 140 Member
    My great big plates look so empty now with proper portion sizes. A 4oz steak is super small. I saw the video about weighing before I started good so I didn't have a chance to be set in to bad a habit.

    I've pretty much switched from using dinner plates to salad plates because of this! There is research to support that you feel more satisfied if you eat from a full, small plate vs. a half-full, large plate.
    http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/outreach/large-plates.html