Weighing 100-cal packs...obsessive?

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jess1992uga
jess1992uga Posts: 603 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So my question was originally going to be in using a food scale with 100-cal pop popcorn. If I weigh before it says 42-44g for the various bags I have..yet serving size is for 33 g. After popping when I re-weigh the popped kernels they are 27-30 g, much closer to 33 g serving size. This difference I know is partly the bag (around 9g), but is the weight accurate or is it after cooking weighing less? You know like chicken does.

Anyway...it got me thinking .How normal is it really to weigh all these things. I mean...if something is pre-packaged or says 100-calorie....shouldn't I just trust it and eat it and not sweat the difference? Or should we really weigh anything we eat (I weigh everything else too fruits, veggies, protein, breads (these are usually way off just so you know)....everything). I mean where do you draw the line? Because what am I gonna do if need to eat in public or carry snack along...have to carry along a scale too? Just curious your guys input and how much use of food scale is too much.

Replies

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Trust is a good thing. But if you feel the need -- once you have weighed one of the bags from the manufacturer you can take a break and trust that the rest from that manufacturer are close enough.
  • iamaprincessx
    iamaprincessx Posts: 78 Member
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    Haha, I was same.
    I then when your trying so hard to diet the thought of overeating even slightly is scary
    Sometimes if I go to a social event and ask for a diet coke or coke zero and they give it to me already poured not in a bottle I panick and wont drink it in case they have put full fat coke on accident haha
    But, pre packed food items are probably always correct give or take the odd calorie
    Xxxxxxx
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    PrincessARose wrote: »
    Haha, I was same.
    I then when your trying so hard to diet the thought of overeating even slightly is scary
    Sometimes if I go to a social event and ask for a diet coke or coke zero and they give it to me already poured not in a bottle I panick and wont drink it in case they have put full fat coke on accident haha
    But, pre packed food items are probably always correct give or take the odd calorie
    Xxxxxxx

    Lol. I always ask for a skinny cappuccino/latte etc and worry sometimes they've forgotten and given me full fat!

    I can't say I've ever weighed pre-packaged stuff. Then again, I don't eat back exercise calories so I've got a little room if I accidentally go over calories.
  • ljones27uk
    ljones27uk Posts: 177 Member
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    could you accept that some weights might be slightly over and some will be slightly under, and over the course of days/weeks/months the differences will equal themselves out? I understand the desire to weigh things, but it doesnt have to start encroach on your daily life .
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
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    Yeah… I don't do that. If it's pre-portioned… I don't bother weighing. Same thing when I have a slice of cheese… the package says 1 slice as a serving size but then also add the grams in parentheses… I just go by the 1 slice part. Same with bread or tortillas. It's never hurt my weight loss one bit.
  • BruceHedtke
    BruceHedtke Posts: 358 Member
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    I think it depends on how big the difference is going to be. I would weigh a banana because a difference for a banana that is 90g vs 120g is getting near 30 calories difference. For steamed green beans, if the package says the product weighs 100g and it really weighs 105g, the difference is only a few calories and really not worth worrying about.
    I do advise to start out by weighing everything and then, over time, figuring out what is ok to just use the calories listed on the package vs weighing it yourself.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I don't, but I really should. I know that prepackaged food can be off by up to 15% in my experience (I always weigh that, but I've been lazy with 100 packs, although I very rarely have them), so it adds up pretty fast when you don't weigh it and have a small deficit (tortillas weighing 66g instead of 60g, bread weighing 55g instead of 50g, Kind bars weighing 45g instead of 40g, slice of cheese 24g instead of 21g etc.. have one of each and it's 50-60 extra calories right there).
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
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    I am obsessive about weighing everything. Some of it is curiosity. Yesterday my daughter and i had frozen macaroni and cheese for lunch. Neither one weighed in at what the box said it should be. In fact, hers was 10g under and mine was much more under. For some foods that may not make a difference but at the end of the day all those little variations can make a big difference.

    If it was something i ate occasionally then i wouldn't be too concerned but when it is something that you eat often then i think it matters more.
  • lcooper327
    lcooper327 Posts: 112 Member
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    The real question is why bother with 100 calorie pack anything? They usually taste like garbage anyway
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Is your goal to develop a healthy relationship with food and to learn to make good choices often enough that you maintain a healthy weight naturally? Or to sacrifice normalcy for a false sense of accuracy that's not even necessary?

    Sometimes your food will contain more calories than you log (whether you weigh everything or not), sometimes less. It typically comes out in the wash. Or you lose a little slower than you aimed for. Our bodies aren't precision instruments, anyway.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    lcooper327 wrote: »
    The real question is why bother with 100 calorie pack anything? They usually taste like garbage anyway
    Where I live it's just a 100-calorie serving size of the same delicious stuff in the larger packs, like Oreos. :)

  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
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    I've actually never even thought to weigh something like that, then again I don't eat a lot of individually packaged things. I do weigh Tostitos bite-sized tortilla chips as it gives the calories for 50 g or 40 chips, but every time I weigh 25 g it's always 20 chips, so hats off to Tostitos on that one. After reading a lot of these responses though I may start weighing more packaged foods, instead of just meat and produce, if only purely for curiosity's sake. I never really thought of it for things like tortillas. It's good to be accurate, but if your weighing becomes obsessive to the point that eating becomes more of a chore than an enjoyment, I would revisit the convenience of buying individually packaged foods at all. Maybe you would benefit from buying larger packs and individually packing them in snack bags yourself, so you'll be confident of the calories in the snack you're about to eat instead of worrying before you get to eat it.
  • kissa714
    kissa714 Posts: 65 Member
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    I would just trust it. they're meant to be convenient-just go with it.
  • DanniB423
    DanniB423 Posts: 777 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Xxxxxxx[/quote]
    Lol. I always ask for a skinny cappuccino/latte etc and worry sometimes they've forgotten and given me full fat!
    [/quote]
    I have a mini anxiety moment over this every single time! Haha
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
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    The comment above made me laugh, but I get that as well. For me, though, it's because I order with soy and if they make a mistake there I'll just be on the toilet all day.

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