Biggest eye opener from weighing food

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slaite1
slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
for me it was oatmeal! The portion was always so big and suddenly-not so much. I still get angry looking at my "1/2 cup" portion that is really about a 1/3 cup

Plus I miss gluttonous amounts of peanut butter
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Replies

  • JoRumbles
    JoRumbles Posts: 262 Member
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    I still have the gluttonous amount of peanut butter- I just spread it on one slice of toast rather than attempting to get 20g to stretch to two slices.
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
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    It was fruit for me. Who knew apples had so many calories?
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    Apples for me too! I go out of my way to buy the super small ones so that I can continue to eat multiple apples a day.

    On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of berries you can eat for the calories
  • sushiandtea
    sushiandtea Posts: 24 Member
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    I need to weigh peanut butter and get it right... it's the one thing I don't want to weight. I'm still stubbornly remaining ignorant that 1 heaped tbsp is 30g (and approx ~200 calories).

    I can eyeball some things correctly (I'm usually only 2-3 grams out with meat, oats and rice) but I was shocked at how little cereal 30g is.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,874 Member
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    For me it was pears. I was a bit taken aback when I saw how many calories they had! I've always thought of them as mostly water.
  • pinkteapot3
    pinkteapot3 Posts: 157 Member
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    Everything for me. We have oversized dinner plates and correct portions look tiny. :smiley:

    I saw a headline about a study which had found that people who are overweight underestimate what they're eating for more than people of a healthy weight (not surprising but looked like an interesting read). Can't find it anywhere now!
  • peterjens
    peterjens Posts: 235 Member
    edited March 2015
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    One ounce of cheddar cheese is quite small. I used to slice off a thick slice of cheese to nibble on while preparing a meal using cheese. No more.

    And who eats just one ounce of tortilla chips or potato chips?
  • Jgasmic
    Jgasmic Posts: 219 Member
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    My biggest shock was my weighed out avocado had half as many calories as the generic avocado I previously used to log. That was exciting!
  • blktngldhrt
    blktngldhrt Posts: 1,053 Member
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    Nuts. 170+ calories for less than a handful.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Same as the avocado one, but with potatoes. They don't have a lot of calories per 100g, but the ones I used to buy and log as 1 medium were definitely not medium. Most of them were bigger than the "large" database entry too.

    Cereal and ice cream were my big ones. I had been warned about peanut butter. Although I wasn't too happy about cashews either. Oh, and I used to get those frozen sweet potato fries and count out 12 pieces of whatever. The first time I weighed them I think that counting out the pieces made a difference of something like 30%.

    Recently I weighed a coffee cake muffin that had 150 calories more than the label claimed.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
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    The weight of actual portion sizes in general, were a shock to me. I am pretty sure that many people are unaware of this.
  • mzjenn2u
    mzjenn2u Posts: 78 Member
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    RICE! and any pasta...crazy how many cals in such small sizes. ive gotten used to it now though but it still sucks
  • flinx1241
    flinx1241 Posts: 2,170 Member
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    Nuts, peanut butter, apples - All good answers.
    Always surprised by how much fruit weighs (strawberries, for example).
  • markzak26
    markzak26 Posts: 10 Member
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    So many things! But the biggest eye opener was basmati rice. I weighed out 100grams and thought "WTF" I probably used to eat 600grams, maybe even more before logging food.

  • Jazznit
    Jazznit Posts: 27 Member
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    I just posted about this! I noticed that a lot of the resources I researched about portion sizes were about comparing them to a deck of cards etc.
    I just want a page that says meat = 4oz. I want to get this right this time around. So frustrated. I feel like calorie counting is half the battle.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    Cereal. 3/4 cups (which is the serving size for most cereals) is practically nothing. It's really sad.
  • misheri90
    misheri90 Posts: 17 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Cereal portions. I knew I ate more than the recommended portion but seeing 40g weighed out was depressing.
  • pinkteapot3
    pinkteapot3 Posts: 157 Member
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    markzak26 wrote: »
    So many things! But the biggest eye opener was basmati rice. I weighed out 100grams and thought "WTF" I probably used to eat 600grams, maybe even more before logging food.

    I'm sure you've got it right, but people should be careful of the difference between raw and cooked weight with rice and pasta.

    70g raw (dried) weight = about 210g cooked weight, as it absorbs water.

    So it can be easy to massively under or overeat!

  • pinkteapot3
    pinkteapot3 Posts: 157 Member
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    Jazznit wrote: »
    I just posted about this! I noticed that a lot of the resources I researched about portion sizes were about comparing them to a deck of cards etc.
    I just want a page that says meat = 4oz. I want to get this right this time around. So frustrated. I feel like calorie counting is half the battle.

    I don't think there's a 'correct' portion. You'll find your portion sizes as you start logging. Eg when I planned my first day that included roast chicken for dinner, I logged 150g of meat. I started weighing it onto my plate and went 'Woah!' It was a lot of meat. I now have 100-125g.

    There's trial and error when you start out as you need to balance your cals between breakfast, lunch, dinner, then decide how many to have as protein and carbs in a meal. You'll tweak your amounts of each as you get going.

    Also, your portion size will vary depending on how many cals a day you're allowed. Someone on a 1,800 cal limit will eat different quantities to someone on a 1,200 cal limit.

  • Jazznit
    Jazznit Posts: 27 Member
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    Thanks!

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