What surprises have you found about foods you didn't realize before logging?

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  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

    Chips and nuts that say 9 pieces 100 grams (example) is not remotely close to 9! When weighed, it's more like 5 pieces for 100 grams.

    And ground turkey and 97% ground beef are actually pretty close in calories and 4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!

    Put plate on scale, tare the scale, put food on scale, and tare between each food. Easy, no clean up, I'll never understand why people use measuring cups, it's more stuff to clean!
  • spyro88
    spyro88 Posts: 472 Member
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    How many calories were in a stir fry that I used to consider a healthy meal (it was mainly the egg noodles and pre-packaged sauce that did it). I am now rethinking how I make stir fries.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!
    For peanut butter (and anything in a jar), weigh the jar, remove what you want, and then weigh the jar again. The difference in weight is what you removed.

    For things in a container, you can weigh the container before you add the food or after you've eaten the food and then subtract that container weight from the total weight of food+container.
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,212 MFP Moderator
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    @spyro88 - I had the same realization with stir-fry. We now make our own with a sliced up chicken breast or two, lots of oriental veggies and some soy sauce and fish sauce. Tastes just fine for WAY less calories. Sometimes I add some wheat angel hair pasta to soak up the 'juice'. :)

    One thing that surprises me now since I've been doing this a while are watching people grab things that they think are 'healthy', when I know full well that there are lots of calories/fat/sugar/whatever. Like a previous poster, I am forever biting my tongue around others when they make food choices that they declare 'healthy' or 'good for weight management' when I know they're not. I'm not a clean eater by any means, but logging has really opened my eyes to what is in the foods I'm eating.
  • DoreenaV1975
    DoreenaV1975 Posts: 567 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

    Chips and nuts that say 9 pieces 100 grams (example) is not remotely close to 9! When weighed, it's more like 5 pieces for 100 grams.

    And ground turkey and 97% ground beef are actually pretty close in calories and 4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!

    Put plate on scale, tare the scale, put food on scale, and tare between each food. Easy, no clean up, I'll never understand why people use measuring cups, it's more stuff to clean!

    Sorry but I don't know what "tare" means.
    And wouldn't I have to clean the scale or plate you place on scale? So there's still some clean up involved, right?
  • DoreenaV1975
    DoreenaV1975 Posts: 567 Member
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    seska422 wrote: »
    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!
    For peanut butter (and anything in a jar), weigh the jar, remove what you want, and then weigh the jar again. The difference in weight is what you removed.

    For things in a container, you can weigh the container before you add the food or after you've eaten the food and then subtract that container weight from the total weight of food+container.

    Oh duh! LOL! okay... thanks!
    But what about my rice and beans?
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Oh duh! LOL! okay... thanks!
    But what about my rice and beans?
    Weigh your rice and beans in the container you used to bring them to work, eat them, then weigh the container and subtract that amount from your starting amount. The remaining amount tells you how much your rice and beans weighed.

    As for how many calories that means you ate, you need to know how many grams and calories are in each serving and then calculate how many servings you ate.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

    Chips and nuts that say 9 pieces 100 grams (example) is not remotely close to 9! When weighed, it's more like 5 pieces for 100 grams.

    And ground turkey and 97% ground beef are actually pretty close in calories and 4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!

    Put plate on scale, tare the scale, put food on scale, and tare between each food. Easy, no clean up, I'll never understand why people use measuring cups, it's more stuff to clean!

    Sorry but I don't know what "tare" means.
    And wouldn't I have to clean the scale or plate you place on scale? So there's still some clean up involved, right?

    Unless you eat in your hands, you're going to have to clean the plate anyway :p

    Hmm I don't know if it's spelled 'tare' or 'tar'. Anyway, it's a button that zeroes the scale.
  • MimiMayRR
    MimiMayRR Posts: 19 Member
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    "Tare" means to set the scale to 0. So basically, put the plate you are going to eat off of on the scale, then hit the tare button (if your scale has one) so that it resets the scale to 0. It cancels out the weight of the plate. Then add your rice so you can weigh how much that is. Then tare again (now the scale is accounting for the weight of both the plate AND your rice) and then add your beans so you can weigh that serving.

    With most scales, you can weigh a full container (of peanut butter, or of your rice and beans), then tare it, then remove what you are going to eat, so that the scale shows a negative number. If it says the new weight is -2 ounces, for example, you know that you removed 2 ounces of food from the container.
  • DirrtyH
    DirrtyH Posts: 664 Member
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    seska422 wrote: »
    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!
    For peanut butter (and anything in a jar), weigh the jar, remove what you want, and then weigh the jar again. The difference in weight is what you removed.

    For things in a container, you can weigh the container before you add the food or after you've eaten the food and then subtract that container weight from the total weight of food+container.

    Oh duh! LOL! okay... thanks!
    But what about my rice and beans?

    Assuming you're going to eat them on a plate or in a bowl, just place the plate or bowl on the scale, "zero" the scale out (that is the 'tare' function), then put your rice on the plate. Tare again, add the beans. Easy peasy.
  • DoreenaV1975
    DoreenaV1975 Posts: 567 Member
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    Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the helpful responses! I think I may get this yet! :)
  • DoreenaV1975
    DoreenaV1975 Posts: 567 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

    Chips and nuts that say 9 pieces 100 grams (example) is not remotely close to 9! When weighed, it's more like 5 pieces for 100 grams.

    And ground turkey and 97% ground beef are actually pretty close in calories and 4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!

    Put plate on scale, tare the scale, put food on scale, and tare between each food. Easy, no clean up, I'll never understand why people use measuring cups, it's more stuff to clean!

    Sorry but I don't know what "tare" means.
    And wouldn't I have to clean the scale or plate you place on scale? So there's still some clean up involved, right?

    Unless you eat in your hands, you're going to have to clean the plate anyway :p

    Hmm I don't know if it's spelled 'tare' or 'tar'. Anyway, it's a button that zeroes the scale.

    SO what your saying is don't log my rice and beans as "1 fistful"??? Hahahahahaha!
  • peterjens
    peterjens Posts: 235 Member
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    A serving bowl is not a serving of what you put into it.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
    edited May 2015
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    That advocados are tasty> and are not packed with as many calories as i thought .


    Goes for me too. I just started incorporating avocados into my diet this year. I actually like them and think they really have the ability to smooth out a fruit/fiber/protein smoothie! (I've also made chocolate pudding with them). Wish I'd have given them a chance earlier.
    nice :) i microwave my advocados with eggs at the sametime put some cheese in it with meat on the side even tho i prefer the stove but this way is quick and easy :) and also i wish i would of given advocados more of a chance as well i use to just ignore them haha

  • sapphire1166
    sapphire1166 Posts: 114 Member
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    That everything has more calories than I thought... even veggies (well, not cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes, which I know, are a fruit, but everything else).

    The only thing that shocked me about how few calories they had were caramels. I always thought they were so 'bad for you'... but nope, only like 25 calories each!

    My favorite snack ever at night is Milk Duds. 13 of those baddies are only 170 calories. I can savor them for 30 minutes as a bedtime treat (though my teeth aren't so happy with that arrangement)
  • cosmo_momo
    cosmo_momo Posts: 173 Member
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    This one was just today's revelation.... I made personal pepperoni pizzas last night from scratch @ 349cals each and my normal bagel with cream cheese is 380cal.... Time to make more things from scratch! :smiley:
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    seska422 wrote: »
    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!
    For peanut butter (and anything in a jar), weigh the jar, remove what you want, and then weigh the jar again. The difference in weight is what you removed.

    For things in a container, you can weigh the container before you add the food or after you've eaten the food and then subtract that container weight from the total weight of food+container.
    Tare the spoon. Scoop peanut butter. Weight the spoon and peanut butter.

  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    edited May 2015
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    That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

    Chips and nuts that say 9 pieces 100 grams (example) is not remotely close to 9! When weighed, it's more like 5 pieces for 100 grams.

    And ground turkey and 97% ground beef are actually pretty close in calories and 4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!


    I weigh it by weighing the container of peanut butter, taring it at that amount, then taking some out. The Negative number is the amount of grams I have.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

    Chips and nuts that say 9 pieces 100 grams (example) is not remotely close to 9! When weighed, it's more like 5 pieces for 100 grams.

    And ground turkey and 97% ground beef are actually pretty close in calories and 4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

    How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
    for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!

    Put plate on scale, tare the scale, put food on scale, and tare between each food. Easy, no clean up, I'll never understand why people use measuring cups, it's more stuff to clean!

    Sorry but I don't know what "tare" means.
    And wouldn't I have to clean the scale or plate you place on scale? So there's still some clean up involved, right?

    Your scale should have a tare button. On mine it says on/tare/off. Tare zeros out the scale so that it doesn't add the weight of the container. If you weigh a container full and tare it, but take away from the container, it will give you a negative number. That negative number is the amount you have.

  • jessiefrancine
    jessiefrancine Posts: 271 Member
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    The amount of calories in nuts, PB&J sandwiches, pizza, sugar-sweetened yogurt, "healthy" breakfast cereals, and alcoholic beverages. When I think of the calories I have put away in one night due to beer and pizza....I just can't even.