How close is "close enough"?

earlnabby
earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am curious as to just how precise everyone is with their weighing. Do you always get to the exact gram weight or is there a margin for error you allow? I usually try for exact but for solid foods like cheese I am not going to sit there and add a tiny piece or cut off a tiny piece to get the exact grams. I am more likely to do it with semi soft things like yogurt but even there if I am a gram or two off, I don't worry about it. I do try to alternate between a tiny bit under and a tiny bit over so it all balances out.

How precise are you?

ps: I use grams instead of ounces because it is more precise and because I am used to doing it for my business making lotions and potions.

Replies

  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    I cheat and eyeball a lot of things after initially figuring out what my portions are supposed to look like. Then I don't eat back my exercise calories to leave myself a cushion in case I screw up.

    But soon I will probably reform my evil ways and everything will go on the food scale before it goes in my mouth. It's working okay for now, though.
  • kaseyr1505
    kaseyr1505 Posts: 624 Member
    If it's something that isn't calorie dense, I usually have a 5 gram buffer. If it's something that's calorie dense, i make it exact.
  • OkamiLavande
    OkamiLavande Posts: 336 Member
    I'm as exact as I can be, if it goes over I log it by how much it goes over even if it is a gram or two. I want to know every calorie that goes in my mouth.
  • forkofpower
    forkofpower Posts: 171 Member
    I'm super, super exact. If I want 50 grams of something, and I get 49 or 51, I will meticulously fiddle with the amount until I have exactly 50 grams. I don't think it makes any real difference, but it gives me peace of mind for some reason.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I just slice off the cheese or whatever and log how many ever grams I'm eating...I'm not necessarily trying to get to some specific weight...I just log whatever it is accurately.
  • Corsetopia
    Corsetopia Posts: 307 Member
    I log my food after I weigh it, so if I do go over by a few grams or an ounce, I'll be exact on my food log.
  • Melonpaul
    Melonpaul Posts: 323 Member
    I try to weigh everything by grams as well but when I don't have access to my scale I usually estimate it based on size (cup).
  • pteryndactyl
    pteryndactyl Posts: 303 Member
    I'm going to assume you are talking about "close" to a serving size? Things like lettuce or broccoli I'll guesstimate, but most things I'm more careful. I also generally just log things by their weight, not necessarily following their serving sizes.

    E.g. if a serving of shredded cheese is 28g, but I grab 30g, I'm not going to take off a few pieces of shredded cheese to make it 28g. It's easy enough to enter 30g in my log -- if grams are one of the options. If grams aren't an option, I do some simple math (30/28 = 1.07) and enter it as 1.07 servings of cheese.
  • BeginningAgainMay14
    BeginningAgainMay14 Posts: 97 Member
    I log my food after I weigh it, so if I do go over by a few grams or an ounce, I'll be exact on my food log.

    This is pretty much what i do. I prelog every evening for the next day, but I just update it after I weigh it with the exact gram amount.
  • TriShamelessly
    TriShamelessly Posts: 905 Member
    I'm at the point where I eyeball just about everything. My first two years working with my nutritionist, I can get pretty darn close on most things. I know that more accurate measurements are better, but I wouldn't get much benefit from doing so as long as I am in this current phase of my fitness journey.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    I just slice off the cheese or whatever and log how many ever grams I'm eating...I'm not necessarily trying to get to some specific weight...I just log whatever it is accurately.
    Yup.
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
    I just slice off the cheese or whatever and log how many ever grams I'm eating...I'm not necessarily trying to get to some specific weight...I just log whatever it is accurately.

    That's the way I do it! If my strawberries or cheese weighs 49g or 51g that's what i log! If I'm pre-logging I put the weight I'm aiming for but will thenI adjust it when I've weighed exactly what I'm having.
  • k1ttyk1tty
    k1ttyk1tty Posts: 86 Member
    The only scale that I have is a hand me down from my boyfriends mother and it measures in ounces. I know it's not as precise but, for now it seems to be working. Maybe if I can find a cheap scale that measures in grams I can go for that but It'll be hard convincing my boyfriend to spend anymore money on kitchen stuff:/
  • paulawatkins1974
    paulawatkins1974 Posts: 720 Member
    I'm the same, but as cheese is calorie dense, I usually guess and cut/measure it first and THEN log it. No cutting adding tiny pieces this way. I am not always faithful in doing this though I might add lol
  • Birder155
    Birder155 Posts: 223 Member
    I weigh in grams and log what the precise weight is. I look for the entries in the database where I can use the drop down menu for 1 g weights.

    Not sure if that made sense. :laugh:
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I do try to be exact most of the time, especially with calorie dense foods, but with vegetables I usually just round it up or down. That extra half calorie is not worth it.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I go for ease in logging so if I already have 56g of sharp cheddar cheese in my "fast click" section I will weigh to get to the 56 grams so all I have to do is click and add, rather than look up and add a new amount.

    I have noticed that my eyeballing is getting pretty good. I will guess how much is 56 g of cheese, slice it, and weigh it. I am actually amazed at how close I get these days. This gives me more confidence when I eat out or at someone's home. I know I will be reasonably close when I guesstimate how much I ate.
    I do try to be exact most of the time, especially with calorie dense foods, but with vegetables I usually just round it up or down. That extra half calorie is not worth it.

    Me too. I weigh or measure everything except leafy greens and some raw veggies like bell peppers. I count the cherry tomatoes though but don't actually weigh them.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I cut what I want, weigh it, and enter the exact weight I use (I use grams whenever possible too). I rarely use an exact serving size anyway, unless I just happen to cut one exact serving or something.
  • Mykaelous
    Mykaelous Posts: 231 Member
    I try to be under, but I will allow for up to a 10% margin of error. So if I am trying to get 84g of frozen chicken and the scale hits 90g I just count it as a single 84g serving.
  • TiffieLand
    TiffieLand Posts: 159
    I'm usually eye ball a lot of things since I'm not tedious enough to measure everytime. But I'm accurate enough to the 80%.. I think. I like to overestimate my portion just for error and do not eat back exercise since I don't have a heart monitor and know by what MfP says..
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    +/- about 5g and I'm happy, especially since I'm still consistently losing.
    If I hit a plateau or (horrors) head back upwards (thankfully neither has happened yet), then I'll get more exacting with my measurements.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    Must admit to being a lazy logger :blushing:

    if something is 49 g or 51 g I just log it as 50.

    things like fruit and vegetables I dont always weigh - I just call every mandarine 1 medium mandarine or 3/4 medium mandarine if it is really small.

    I also accept package weights - if the package says 1 slice of bread is x grams, I believe it, I don't weigh to check.

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