Food scale shock!

124

Replies

  • wrharvill
    wrharvill Posts: 60 Member
    Today I got bonus calories because my slice of cheese was 1/2 an ounce instead of a full ounce. Scales rock!
  • jennas312
    jennas312 Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you everyone! I think I'm going to order one today.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    Jicama is the scales best friend. 100g fills the tummy and costs under 50 calories.

    do you have stock in jicama Jerome? you are also promoting it. not everyone will like it either and wont be available in all areas either. my local walmart just started selling it.

    I tried it once. I wasn't impressed. I must not know how to prepare it. I had some raw.
  • Tara4boys
    Tara4boys Posts: 515 Member
    I'm surprised by the peanut butter comments. I get more when weighing
  • heyaliwood458
    heyaliwood458 Posts: 75 Member
    Ive thought about buying a food scale, just hadnt gotten around to it, but after reading this thread Im walking to the store NOW to get one!
  • MoveitlikeManda
    MoveitlikeManda Posts: 846 Member
    yer I shocked my husband as I weighed bowl of ceral and it was like 4 portions but to him (used to be me) thats a normal bowl of cereal
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Rice was the biggest shock for me. Turns out what I thought was a serving is actually 5 times the of an actual serving. Ice cream made me happy. I thought I was buying a double serving when I bought large ice cream, but I was actually buying one serving and my usual ice cream was half a serving.
  • SallyKaPow
    SallyKaPow Posts: 61 Member
    I made a bakewell tart and when I costed the calories and realised it was 900 calories for 1 slice (not even that big) I was totally horrified. Haven't made it since!
  • leslienicole318
    leslienicole318 Posts: 86 Member
    edited July 2016
    I got my food scale a week ago and honestly I had been being pretty accurate without it. I slightly underestimated on a few things but more often I was overestimating how much I was eating. But the food scale definitely eases my mind by assuring me it is accurate!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    DebSozo wrote: »
    Jicama is the scales best friend. 100g fills the tummy and costs under 50 calories.

    do you have stock in jicama Jerome? you are also promoting it. not everyone will like it either and wont be available in all areas either. my local walmart just started selling it.

    I tried it once. I wasn't impressed. I must not know how to prepare it. I had some raw.

    Plain jicama doesn't have a lot of flavor but the texture and crunch is fabulous. I live in jicama country, if there is such a thing. I like to eat it in a salad or even on its own with a dip made from Greek yogurt.
  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Nuts were another disappointing surprise ... as this site shows ...

    http://www.thekitchn.com/a-visual-guide-to-100-calories-of-nuts-snack-tips-from-the-kitchn-201778

    I like cashews, but 100 calories of cashews is 13 cashews. When I ate them, I was easily eating 400-500 calories worth in one sitting and even that doesn't seem like that much.

    This is why I don't get when people say fats are more satiating than carbs, I can eat a big bowl of oatmeal made up of 400 calories which will fill me up WAY more and for WAY longer than 400 calories of peanut butter.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Weigh a serving of peanut butter. You will weep.

    Or ice cream :,(
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited July 2016
    Jicama is the scales best friend. 100g fills the tummy and costs under 50 calories.

    Drat, I found an interesting jicama recipe recently and forgot to bookmark it >.<

    Maybe it was this: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/7009-avocado-salad-with-mango-and-jicama

    This looks good as well: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/221-apricot-jicama-salsa
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I used food scales tonight for my dinner for the first time. I was horrified by how much I have been underestimating food!
    I have now weighed out my cereal to take to work and my lunch and it looks pitiful!!! At least I know it's accurate!!

    Cereal was a disappointment to me. One serving is 45 grams. 45 grams of cereal is a dusting on the bottom of the bowl. MY servings used to be a good 4 or 5 of those 45 gram servings. Probably a good thing I didn't eat cereal that often.

    a serving for cereal where i live is 30grams. consider yourself lucky that your serving is 45 :smile:

    Kashi Go Lean is 58 grams of yummy. . .I tend to have what i want and just log it. if my serving size is 32 grams and i want 50 i just eat 50 and log 50. Usually the 32 grams is a bout 110-130 calories. So not a huge difference if i add 20 grams or so. I also use almond milk though so that saves me a bunch of calories so i can have more cereal anyway.
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
    You know what's awesome? When you go to weigh out some popcorn and you can't even fit a single serving in a bowl. Makes me so happy
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    jennas312 wrote: »
    Hi, I haven't purchased a food scale yet, but was wondering how it works exactly. So if one cup equals 8 ounces, but we're talking about cereal how would I know if it's equal to one serving or not? Would the scale read 8 ounces, or something else?

    When you look at the nutrition facts for your cereal, there is a 1 cup (x grams). You want to use the food scale to calculate the grams and then log that many cups. For example, if the label serving size is 1 cup (59g) and the scale shows 87g, then you log 1.475 (rounded, of course) cups: 87 / 59 = 1.475 rounded to 3 digits

    Or the easier way to do it is to weigh it and then click on the entry serving size and select 1gram...then enter the exact # of grams....no math involved!
  • driving_miss_crazy
    driving_miss_crazy Posts: 36 Member
    savithny wrote: »
    I think I'm the only person in the world surprised by cheese in the opposite direction. I'd been using "1 ounce" for the cheese on my bean burritos, but when I finally weighed it, it was less than a half-ounce. An ounce of shredded cheese is a LOT in a small tortilla.

    I'm with you! I mostly use shredded cheese now since one ounce of it seems like so much (which makes me very happy).
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    mkakids wrote: »
    jennas312 wrote: »
    Hi, I haven't purchased a food scale yet, but was wondering how it works exactly. So if one cup equals 8 ounces, but we're talking about cereal how would I know if it's equal to one serving or not? Would the scale read 8 ounces, or something else?

    When you look at the nutrition facts for your cereal, there is a 1 cup (x grams). You want to use the food scale to calculate the grams and then log that many cups. For example, if the label serving size is 1 cup (59g) and the scale shows 87g, then you log 1.475 (rounded, of course) cups: 87 / 59 = 1.475 rounded to 3 digits

    Or the easier way to do it is to weigh it and then click on the entry serving size and select 1gram...then enter the exact # of grams....no math involved!

    Only if that is an option. There are a lot of foods in the database without that option.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    mkakids wrote: »
    jennas312 wrote: »
    Hi, I haven't purchased a food scale yet, but was wondering how it works exactly. So if one cup equals 8 ounces, but we're talking about cereal how would I know if it's equal to one serving or not? Would the scale read 8 ounces, or something else?

    When you look at the nutrition facts for your cereal, there is a 1 cup (x grams). You want to use the food scale to calculate the grams and then log that many cups. For example, if the label serving size is 1 cup (59g) and the scale shows 87g, then you log 1.475 (rounded, of course) cups: 87 / 59 = 1.475 rounded to 3 digits

    Or the easier way to do it is to weigh it and then click on the entry serving size and select 1gram...then enter the exact # of grams....no math involved!

    sometimes though if you do that the database is messed up and gives you crazy amounts of calories and servings . I have done that and it once gave me like 200,000 calories for something for picking the 1g selection and then putting in the number it weighs
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
    In the words of the great philosopher strong is this one with the force.

    Using a food scale was a big eye opener for me. Had no idea of what a normal size portion was before I use the scale.
  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
    ktekc wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I used food scales tonight for my dinner for the first time. I was horrified by how much I have been underestimating food!
    I have now weighed out my cereal to take to work and my lunch and it looks pitiful!!! At least I know it's accurate!!

    Cereal was a disappointment to me. One serving is 45 grams. 45 grams of cereal is a dusting on the bottom of the bowl. MY servings used to be a good 4 or 5 of those 45 gram servings. Probably a good thing I didn't eat cereal that often.

    a serving for cereal where i live is 30grams. consider yourself lucky that your serving is 45 :smile:

    Kashi Go Lean is 58 grams of yummy. . .I tend to have what i want and just log it. if my serving size is 32 grams and i want 50 i just eat 50 and log 50. Usually the 32 grams is a bout 110-130 calories. So not a huge difference if i add 20 grams or so. I also use almond milk though so that saves me a bunch of calories so i can have more cereal anyway.

    oh same here. i always have my milk with 50gr. of cornflakes.doesn't matter what the serving size is :smile:
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
    sallykift wrote: »
    I made a bakewell tart and when I costed the calories and realised it was 900 calories for 1 slice (not even that big) I was totally horrified. Haven't made it since!

    :( Yeah ... baking makes me sad. My mum is a fabulous cook and also very supportive of my attempts to lose weight. She notes down the weight of the ingredients for anything she bakes and the batch size etc so I can put it into the recipe calculator here. If there are scones or fruit loaf going around, I try to make sure I can fit this into my plan, but it can be tricky.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    sallykift wrote: »
    I made a bakewell tart and when I costed the calories and realised it was 900 calories for 1 slice (not even that big) I was totally horrified. Haven't made it since!

    That's pretty much why I don't bake anymore and try to avoid desserts now. Calories are just insane. I have to really crave something to indulge now :( But I would live on desserts if it was up to me so it's really hard. The reason I've been maintaining 3-6 pounds from my goal for 2 years is because of that... A satisfying quantity is always around 500 calories for me, and typically I just can't keep a deficit on days when I indulge because I get too hungry. I admit I'm jealous of people who can fit 500 calorie treats in their days... I can get away with it maybe 8 days a month.
  • nlopez456
    nlopez456 Posts: 2 Member
    edited February 2018
    How do you get used to the change of portion size? I am literally always hungry.. And for a while I did okay loosing weight (I went from 283 to 207 and now I'm back to 222) and then stopped tracking and working out (depression and school) and now I want to just get back to eating healthy bc I gained back 15 lbs. I mean I don't mind if I don't really lose any weight right now but I just need to get this eating thing under control again. When I was pretty good at it I didn't use a food scale and more so just.. guessed
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    eat as slow as you can. i actually eat a cereal flake at a time and savor the flavor. it is more satiating that way.
  • StevefromMichigan
    StevefromMichigan Posts: 462 Member
    I used food scales tonight for my dinner for the first time. I was horrified by how much I have been underestimating food!
    I have now weighed out my cereal to take to work and my lunch and it looks pitiful!!! At least I know it's accurate!!

    It's tough at first, but your body will adjust to the new portion sizes. Initially going from large to smaller portions can leave you initially hungry, though until you adjust.
  • DevilsFan1
    DevilsFan1 Posts: 342 Member
    Weigh a serving of peanut butter. You will weep.

    Or ice cream :,(

    Yeah. A serving of ice cream is a cruel joke.
  • mgookin
    mgookin Posts: 92 Member
    nlopez456 wrote: »
    How do you get used to the change of portion size? I am literally always hungry.. And for a while I did okay loosing weight (I went from 283 to 207 and now I'm back to 222) and then stopped tracking and working out (depression and school) and now I want to just get back to eating healthy bc I gained back 15 lbs. I mean I don't mind if I don't really lose any weight right now but I just need to get this eating thing under control again. When I was pretty good at it I didn't use a food scale and more so just.. guessed

    Bulk up your meals with veggies.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    nlopez456 wrote: »
    How do you get used to the change of portion size? I am literally always hungry.. And for a while I did okay loosing weight (I went from 283 to 207 and now I'm back to 222) and then stopped tracking and working out (depression and school) and now I want to just get back to eating healthy bc I gained back 15 lbs. I mean I don't mind if I don't really lose any weight right now but I just need to get this eating thing under control again. When I was pretty good at it I didn't use a food scale and more so just.. guessed

    Zombie thread, but anywho...

    If you're having that much trouble getting your eating under control, I'd suggest not jumping straight into a big deficit. Set your calories for maintenance and get used to accurately logging and weighing and controlling portion sizes for a while THEN drop down to 1kb/wk loss (or 1/2 if that is too much).