Fruit tip - wish I'd realized this sooner!!
MouseFood
Posts: 169 Member
Okay, I don't know why it never occurred to me til today, since I weigh everything else, but ...
WEIGH YOUR FRUIT, PEOPLE.
Don't just guess.
I weighed a nectarine today, and it is 20 calories less than I usually put in. The pear was nearly half what I put in.
It makes a difference! What you think of as a "small" pear may not be what another user considered small.
This morning I had 3 pieces of fruit, a boiled egg, and 2 cups of coffee with milk and my breakfast came to just under 250 calories. With my previous estimates, it would have come to at least 350. I just saved myself 100 calories! :O
No WONDER I was finding it so hard to stick to my goal ...
I eat a lot of fruit.
WEIGH YOUR FRUIT, PEOPLE.
Don't just guess.
I weighed a nectarine today, and it is 20 calories less than I usually put in. The pear was nearly half what I put in.
It makes a difference! What you think of as a "small" pear may not be what another user considered small.
This morning I had 3 pieces of fruit, a boiled egg, and 2 cups of coffee with milk and my breakfast came to just under 250 calories. With my previous estimates, it would have come to at least 350. I just saved myself 100 calories! :O
No WONDER I was finding it so hard to stick to my goal ...
I eat a lot of fruit.
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Replies
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PS weigh your eggs too!
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thanks! i'll start doing that 0
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Agreed. Eggs too but sometimes it's just not convenient when you just crack it in a pan... but I've seen large eggs go from 45g to 75!0
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Lucky you! I always weigh my fruit but it always ends up being 100 calories MORE than I estimated based on size lol. It's quite depressing.0
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Weighing eggs......kind of going overboard,,,,don't u think?????0
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I weigh my eggs too. Usually they weigh more than what the nutritional label states! My eggs are usually 85 calories instead of 70.0
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Usually I find eggs are pretty close to the stated weight & yogurt cups are way under what they're supposed to be (the only yogurts I still weigh are the yogurts that come in bigger containers with multiple servings).0
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Yeah but I don't eat all the eggs in the carton. There's 4 of us.
Yogurts I agree, there is always less, but I don't bother weighing them unless it's a big container.
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Yeah but I don't eat all the eggs in the carton. There's 4 of us.
Yogurts I agree, there is always less, but I don't bother weighing them unless it's a big container.
You don't even need to average the carton. Just weigh a few eggs, and if you usually buy the same brand and size, you will find most are only 1-3 grams off to either side. 90% of the eggs I have are around 47g with a few at 45-49g. Yolk are almost always 18g, rarely 17 or 19.
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It's not just fruit, I get a bit frustrated with anything that is entered in the database as '1 small...' or '1 medium...' How am I meant to know what someone else's idea of small/medium/large are?
I go on weight for everything, except for ml for some liquids.
Also don't assume a teaspoon, or tablespoon is always the same size. For a start UK uses metric teaspoons & tablespoons and I believe the USA uses imperial sizes. But even then most you buy don't match the standard measure so you need a calibrated set if you are going to measure anything that way.0 -
Weighing for the win.
I think the random measurements on this site are the most amateurish part. I get really frustrated when I look for a fruit or vegetable and have to search through numerous options to find one with a standardized unit (1 oz, 1 gram, anything!). The first entry for grape tomatoes has only one option: 1 cup. How not-at-all useful for grape tomatoes. Same for the listings with small/medium/large and no weights included to back it up.0 -
I know right? I was so glad to find one for bananas by the ounce. Mine have ranged from 85-120 calories.0
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Weigh everything that you eat.
Every. Single. Thing.0 -
This is so true but I have yet to start doing it (although I'm doing okay and losing weight). I puzzled over the MFP definition of a "medium" potato one day, then tried to imagine how a tape measure would look wrapped around it (it was hot!), then remembered the difference between "diameter" and "circumference" and realized I wasn't supposed to be wrapping a tape measure around it at all but instead stabbing it with a ruler, then I remembered how much I hated my fifth-grade math teacher... then I... wait a sec, what was the question?
Seriously, though, I'm sure weighing everything, whenever feasible, is the best answer. But I haven't begun doing it yet myself.0 -
Weigh everything that you eat.
Every. Single. Thing.
I'd edit this to, "Weigh everything that you eat, when it is convenient with your lifestyle to do so. When it is not, put in your best guess. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
Just my philosophy though. I use my food scale a lot, but sometimes I cannot or simply won't. I am not, for instance, going to weigh an egg. And it turns out that's just fine, because even the actual database entries based on USDA data are not exact. They are based on averages, and your peach might have more or fewer calories than the average peach that was measured in their laboratory.
So...I just do the best I can, and it's definitely worked for weight loss and maintenance.
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ShannonMpls wrote: »Weigh everything that you eat.
Every. Single. Thing.
I'd edit this to, "Weigh everything that you eat, when it is convenient with your lifestyle to do so. When it is not, put in your best guess. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
Just my philosophy though. I use my food scale a lot, but sometimes I cannot or simply won't. I am not, for instance, going to weigh an egg. And it turns out that's just fine, because even the actual database entries based on USDA data are not exact. They are based on averages, and your peach might have more or fewer calories than the average peach that was measured in their laboratory.
So...I just do the best I can, and it's definitely worked for weight loss and maintenance.
I am kind of in this boat.
I weigh all my cooked foods- and I finally started making recipes to use/repeat to get accurate serving sizes- but I won't weigh my eggs.
I also dont' log the oil I use to make my popcorn- but I do log the butter I melt and drizzle on top.
I log my fruit- but I tend to only weigh half of it- anything I buy in bulk and then pre-portion myself and have to separate out- I weigh.
Otherwise- I best SWAG it and move on about my day.0 -
ShannonMpls wrote: »Weigh everything that you eat.
Every. Single. Thing.
I'd edit this to, "Weigh everything that you eat, when it is convenient with your lifestyle to do so. When it is not, put in your best guess. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
Just my philosophy though. I use my food scale a lot, but sometimes I cannot or simply won't. I am not, for instance, going to weigh an egg. And it turns out that's just fine, because even the actual database entries based on USDA data are not exact. They are based on averages, and your peach might have more or fewer calories than the average peach that was measured in their laboratory.
So...I just do the best I can, and it's definitely worked for weight loss and maintenance.
This.
You're going to drive yourself crazy if you start weighing EVERYTHING.
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Yeah, for me, things like spinach, pickles, etc., just don't have enough calories (in the amounts typically used) to be worth being super-precise. If I'm off by half, it's still barely a blip.
But it is worth it to carefully weigh/measure most other things. Especially calorie-dense foods like oats, butter, and so on. A few percent difference there really can translate into a wide variance in actual calories.0 -
ShannonMpls wrote: »Weigh everything that you eat.
Every. Single. Thing.
I'd edit this to, "Weigh everything that you eat, when it is convenient with your lifestyle to do so. When it is not, put in your best guess. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
Just my philosophy though. I use my food scale a lot, but sometimes I cannot or simply won't. I am not, for instance, going to weigh an egg. And it turns out that's just fine, because even the actual database entries based on USDA data are not exact. They are based on averages, and your peach might have more or fewer calories than the average peach that was measured in their laboratory.
So...I just do the best I can, and it's definitely worked for weight loss and maintenance.
This.
You're going to drive yourself crazy if you start weighing EVERYTHING.
I am not crazy yet...I even log recipes, weigh the dish prior to cooking so I know that when I weigh it after it's cooked I can subtract the dish weight to get accurate serving sizes of home made items...my food scale is on my counter...it's not a big deal.
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I guess it depends how sure you need to be.
I think if you are losing weight/ maintaining weight/ gaining weight ( whichever you are trying to do) at a steady and successful rate then the level of weighing you are doing is good enough.
I freely admit I do not weigh eggs or fruit or vegetables - every banana is just a small banana ( I buy small ones so they fit in my lunchbox) but my weight is doing what I want it to, so all is good.
However if one is not losing/maintaining/ gaining as one expects then tightening up measurements is a good step.
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ShannonMpls wrote: »Weigh everything that you eat.
Every. Single. Thing.
I'd edit this to, "Weigh everything that you eat, when it is convenient with your lifestyle to do so. When it is not, put in your best guess. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
Just my philosophy though. I use my food scale a lot, but sometimes I cannot or simply won't. I am not, for instance, going to weigh an egg. And it turns out that's just fine, because even the actual database entries based on USDA data are not exact. They are based on averages, and your peach might have more or fewer calories than the average peach that was measured in their laboratory.
So...I just do the best I can, and it's definitely worked for weight loss and maintenance.
This. I have been on vacation this week with my family (husband, four kids and my parents) and while I brought my food scale and am logging, I am not sweating that the beach-front restaurant we ate at today doesn't have nutrition info, or that the dolphin cruise we took tonight served wine I couldn't measure (I barely had any but still). At home I meticulously weigh/measure etc... and usually pre-log restaurant meals, but this week I am more relaxed.
It actually wouldn't shock me if I show a good loss when I finally step on a scale again (Monday probably), since I have bern way more active according to my Fitbit and have been staying within cals, even if my macros are hopeless (hello homemade crepes and real maple syrup!)0 -
paperpudding wrote: »
I guess it depends how sure you need to be.
I think if you are losing weight/ maintaining weight/ gaining weight ( whichever you are trying to do) at a steady and successful rate then the level of weighing you are doing is good enough.
I freely admit I do not weigh eggs or fruit or vegetables - every banana is just a small banana ( I buy small ones so they fit in my lunchbox) but my weight is doing what I want it to, so all is good.
However if one is not losing/maintaining/ gaining as one expects then tightening up measurements is a good step.
I agree with this. Every time I've tried to lose weight I've never weighed a thing. I've used cup measurements and always lost. Even when I worked for a weight loss company I didn't weigh!
I think if you aren't seeing results then for sure weigh!
I've started to weigh as of this week. Am I seeing results without it? You bet! But... I just want to try it *shrug*. I want to be even more accurate with calorie dense foods. It's not a requirement for me because I can do well without it. But I do agree that it gives a person their BEST chance. I want the extra confidence that comes from super accuracy.0 -
I worry that if I start weighing everything I will become a little too obsessed for my own well being. The only thing I weigh is meat. The point is, I eat smaller portions and I've lost 20lbs. I've seen people on MFP who weigh a tablespoon of peanut butter. I'm all about portions but I wouldn't want to stress THAT MUCH!
I love bananas and I usually just go by the 105 calorie for a banana that MFP gives me. Try as we might, we will never have the exact measurements for every little thing, whether it be food or exercise.0 -
I personally think it's funny people think it's stressful to weigh your food...I mean really...I put a plate on the scale turn it on start putting food on it...it's not like I freak if I go over the 150grams of chicken I logged...I just remove a peice or change my log.
I started because I should have been losing 1lb a week and I wasn't...I was losing 1/2lb...
I do it out of habit now...not a big deal.0 -
I personally think it's funny people think it's stressful to weigh your food...I mean really...
It turns out that not everyone thinks, behaves, or reacts just like you.
It also turns out that all nutrition information - from labels on packages to USDA data - is merely an estimate. So while you may think you are 100% accurately logging because you use a scale for everything, it's still not precise unless you are laboratory-testing all your food. Weighing and measuring the ingredients in a recipe, then weighing the results, still doesn't ensure that each portion has the exact same number of calories. Last night I made a chicken and rajma masala. I weighed the ingredients but eyeballed the portions. Even if I had weighed the portions, and they all weighed the same in grams, some portions had more chicken, or more kidney beans, or more sauce. As a result, each portion has a different caloric makeup.
My point in all of this is not to say it's crazy to weigh everything. It is not, as long as you are happy to weigh everything. (Note though, that not everyone thinks like you and that's okay too).
My point is that even as precise as you try to be, everything is still an estimate. I see waaaaay too many people join up here, but then quickly become overwhelmed with weighing and TDEE and heart rate monitors and macros and give up. Which is sad, because it doesn't have to be that complicated.
That's why I stress that one shouldn't let perfect be the enemy of good. If, at some point, one's weight loss is not as predicted, weighing food and logging more precisely is certainly a good plan.
In the words of Dr Yoni Freedhoff, I endeavor to live the healthiest life I can *enjoy*. That means I weigh a lot of stuff, but I eyeball quite a bit too. This is my medium. My body's weight and composition tell me everything I need to know. This method certainly worked for me; I'm down 130+ pounds and I've been maintaining for 2 years....happily, easily, healthfully.
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