Food Scale Question

The fact that you have a food scale at all is a great step.

Grams are generally more accurate than ounces, however. I have one that lets me switch between grams and ounces.

One gram is .035 of an ounce. One tenth of an ounce is .1 of an ounce.

The scale that uses grams is, all other things, going to be more accurate than one that only goes to tenths of an ounce, but given the error inherent in weighing and rounding in nutritional values anyway, I don't think it would be worth getting another scale.

chismmegan wrote: »

I just don't know if you're really supposed to be measuring solid food with ounces. I don't know if it matters though.

You can. Grams are more accurate because 1)they're smaller units than ounces and 2)the nutrition information on the back of a package is based on grams. You can weigh in ounces, but it's more accurate if you can weigh in hundredths of an ounce, and you'll have to do some extra math in some cases.

chismmegan wrote: »

I just don't know if you're really supposed to be measuring solid food with ounces. I don't know if it matters though.

Grams and ounces are just different measurement units. You can certainly measure solid foods in ounces which are different than the liquid ounces we use to measure liquids. The reason a lot of people use grams is that they are a smaller unit of measurement than an ounce so you can be more accurate.

Here goes a lot of math so if you have trouble with it, just skip to the end. There are 16 ounces to the pound and most scales will measure in the tenths of an ounce. There are 1000 grams to the kilogram (which is 2 pounds and 3.273965 ounces if you didn't know the conversion) and scales that measure in kilograms go down to the gram. There are 28 grams to the ounce which is a much smaller unit of measurement than tenths of a pound.

So.... many more grams to the pound than tenths of ounces to the pound allows much greater precision when weighing and when entering food into MFP. That means your calorie counts will be that much closer to accurate. However, you probably don't NEED to be quite that accurate when measuring so if you're having success with your current scale there's it's not necessary to buy a new one.

chismmegan wrote: »

bpetrosky wrote: »

chismmegan wrote: »

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »

chismmegan wrote: »

I bought a food scale at Ross not too long ago before really doing any research on what type to get. The scale I currently have only measures in ounces..but I always see other people measuring in grams. Should I ditch my scale and get one that measures in grams? I just bought it a month or so ago and I don't really want to get a new one unless I need to. I've been measuring/logging everything in ounces and it seems to be working just fine, so I don't know if I should go ahead and stick with the one I've got or not.

Does it measure in tenths and hundredths of an ounce? E.g., can you weigh something as 5.75 ounces?

Yes. It will give me 1/8 or 3/4 ect.

Is it a digital or mechanical scale? Almost every digital scale made now will switch between ounces and grams. Some cheaper digital scales (like Walmart sells under their Mainstays brand) have the switch to select the units on the bottom, so yours might have an inconveniently placed selector.

Grams is considered easier to work with since almost all nutrition labels (even in the US) will give portion sizes both in volume/count and weight in grams. So if the portion size is listed as 3/4 cup (85 grams), you can weigh out your portion without having to do a conversion.

Digital scales are cheap, though. You can get another for ~$20-30.

It just measures in lbs, kg, and oz.
For some reason not regular grams though. I don't know, I probably have to do math..which sucks.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that when it says "kg" it means grams.

chismmegan wrote: »

bpetrosky wrote: »

chismmegan wrote: »

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »

chismmegan wrote: »

I bought a food scale at Ross not too long ago before really doing any research on what type to get. The scale I currently have only measures in ounces..but I always see other people measuring in grams. Should I ditch my scale and get one that measures in grams? I just bought it a month or so ago and I don't really want to get a new one unless I need to. I've been measuring/logging everything in ounces and it seems to be working just fine, so I don't know if I should go ahead and stick with the one I've got or not.

Does it measure in tenths and hundredths of an ounce? E.g., can you weigh something as 5.75 ounces?

Yes. It will give me 1/8 or 3/4 ect.

Is it a digital or mechanical scale? Almost every digital scale made now will switch between ounces and grams. Some cheaper digital scales (like Walmart sells under their Mainstays brand) have the switch to select the units on the bottom, so yours might have an inconveniently placed selector.

Grams is considered easier to work with since almost all nutrition labels (even in the US) will give portion sizes both in volume/count and weight in grams. So if the portion size is listed as 3/4 cup (85 grams), you can weigh out your portion without having to do a conversion.

Digital scales are cheap, though. You can get another for ~$20-30.

It just measures in lbs, kg, and oz.
For some reason not regular grams though. I don't know, I probably have to do math..which sucks.

If it does kilograms (kg) to what decimal level does it go? If it gives you three zeros after the decimal point then it's measuring grams.

That's another reason why we like grams. You don't have to do math in your head.

99.9999% it doesn't actually measure in kilograms, but in grams. I mean, if you put something that weighed about 2.2 pounds on it, it's almost certainly not going to say "1.0".

chismmegan wrote: »

I bought a food scale at Ross not too long ago before really doing any research on what type to get. The scale I currently have only measures in ounces..but I always see other people measuring in grams. Should I ditch my scale and get one that measures in grams? I just bought it a month or so ago and I don't really want to get a new one unless I need to. I've been measuring/logging everything in ounces and it seems to be working just fine, so I don't know if I should go ahead and stick with the one I've got or not.

If it works and you get the results you want, then keep using it.

My scale is digital and I can switch between the various units....but I mostly use grams.