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How many calories in this popcorn, and how much is a serving? Lol

GuitarJerry
GuitarJerry Posts: 6,102 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Is it me, or is this really unnecessary?

Any math geniuses out there?

This is a bag of microwave popcorn, pre-packaged. Listing amounts unpopped seems unnecessary and ridiculous.

Anyway, can anyone break this down for me?


image.jpg1_zpsgtkysv5a.jpg

Replies

  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    I'm about to have this problem.

    Btw, I have no idea.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    I can't maths.

    Just eat the whole bag.
  • karyabc
    karyabc Posts: 830 Member
    oh yes that drives me crazy, i dont take it too seriously, what i usually do when i'm in the mood is i do the whole bag in microwave then weight all the pop corn and i divide it between the total amount of serving size of the bag.

    lol don't think i'm being very helpful #sorry :D
  • scottwblack
    scottwblack Posts: 26 Member
    Microwave popcorn is the great nutritional mystery. Seriously.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,806 Member
    35 x 5.5 x 2.5 is the whole bag

    35 calories per 1 cup popped
    5.5 cups per serving
    2.5 servings per bag
  • hmadrone
    hmadrone Posts: 129 Member
    Just look at the numbers for 1 cup popped. Measure your popped corn and multiply the number of cups you consume by 35.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
    The math is this:

    2 TBSP unpopped makes 5.5 cups popped. If you divide the 190 calories (unpopped) by 35 calories (popped), you get about 5.5 cups.

    Take the calories for 2 TBSP and multiply by 2.5 if you're gonna eat the whole bag. Voila.

    ~Lyssa
  • Butterf1y_Effect
    Butterf1y_Effect Posts: 30 Member
    edited June 2015
    I don't know why the companies don't label the calories in a more straight forward way...I guess they are trying to make it look like fewer calories per serving.
  • karyabc
    karyabc Posts: 830 Member
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    The math is this:

    2 TBSP unpopped makes 5.5 cups popped. If you divide the 190 calories (unpopped) by 35 calories (popped), you get about 5.5 cups.

    Take the calories for 2 TBSP and multiply by 2.5 if you're gonna eat the whole bag. Voila.

    ~Lyssa

    oh ok so if i would like to eat the serving size of 36g/2 tbsp then to know the calories i would have to multiply the 5.5 cups x 35 cal? something like that?
  • JanetMMcC
    JanetMMcC Posts: 410 Member
    The second column is the one that matters.
    Measure cups and multiply by 35

    1 cup popped = 35 calories.
    2 cups, 70 calories.
    3 cups, 105.
    4 cups = 140.
    5 cups = 175.
    The whole bag = assume 192.5 calories.
    Though you'd be safer to measure. After all, maybe only 4 cups popped this time, and you'd have a few calories extra. Or perhaps 6.5 cups popped. I had one bag that wound up only 2 cups popped.

  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    JanetMMcC wrote: »
    The second column is the one that matters.
    Measure cups and multiply by 35

    1 cup popped = 35 calories.
    2 cups, 70 calories.
    3 cups, 105.
    4 cups = 140.
    5 cups = 175.
    The whole bag = assume 192.5 calories.
    Though you'd be safer to measure. After all, maybe only 4 cups popped this time, and you'd have a few calories extra. Or perhaps 6.5 cups popped. I had one bag that wound up only 2 cups popped.

    Yes, but alot of people on MFP like to weigh their foods. So what would the weight of 1 cup be?

    Hell if I know.

    Serving is 36g right? Does popcorn lose weight after it's popped? Doesn't it just expand? So 1 serving would still be 36g, right?
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    edited June 2015
    That looks like Costco popcorn - lol. I've been puzzled by it too. I just scanned the barcode and picked the option for the whole bag, which is just under 500 calories if I remember correctly. I assume they give both options in case some of the kernels don't pop. I just rather err on the side of over estimating than under.

    Besides, it seems like it'd be hard to measure 1 cup of popcorn accurately.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
    karyabc wrote: »
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    The math is this:

    2 TBSP unpopped makes 5.5 cups popped. If you divide the 190 calories (unpopped) by 35 calories (popped), you get about 5.5 cups.

    Take the calories for 2 TBSP and multiply by 2.5 if you're gonna eat the whole bag. Voila.

    ~Lyssa

    oh ok so if i would like to eat the serving size of 36g/2 tbsp then to know the calories i would have to multiply the 5.5 cups x 35 cal? something like that?

    I think @Ninkyou has it right and you'd weigh out 36g if you just want 1 serving. Odds are the bag will end up being between 2-3 servings depending on how many kernels pop.

    This is part of why I'll do airpopped; I just weigh out the unpopped serving, log it, and life is a bit easier lol.

    ~Lyssa
  • raelynnsmama52512
    raelynnsmama52512 Posts: 1,184 Member
    zdyb23456 wrote: »
    That looks like Costco popcorn - lol. I've been puzzled by it too. I just scanned the barcode and picked the option for the whole bag, which is just under 500 calories if I remember correctly. I assume they give both options in case some of the kernels don't pop. I just rather err on the side of over estimating than under.

    Besides, it seems like it'd be hard to measure 1 cup of popcorn accurately.

    That is Costco popcorn, just had some yesterday lol. One cup= 35 calories, according to MFP when I scanned the barcode.
  • JanetMMcC
    JanetMMcC Posts: 410 Member
    >>lot of people on MFP like to weigh their foods. So what would the weight of 1 cup be?

    Easy enough to find out if your scale lets you "zero out". Put a 1 cup measure on the scale. Zero it out. Fill it with popcorn.
  • JanetMMcC
    JanetMMcC Posts: 410 Member
    Because I was hungry and curious, I made a 100-calorie bag of popcorn and weighed one cup. It was 5 grams.

    And popped corn weighs less than unpopped. Each kernel pops when steam bursts it open. Pow!

    More details for the curious: http://www.800mainstreet.com/corn/pop1.html
    And a page by someone who weighed his bag before and after the 'wave.
    http://www.cockeyed.com/science/popcorn/popcorn.php
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