Measuring my cereal

fastingrabbit
fastingrabbit Posts: 90 Member
edited November 13 in Getting Started
How on earth do I do this? I measured out 2/3 of a cup of Dorset brand cereal ("fruit, nuts & seeds muesli") but when I try to figure out the calories, I am expected to know the weight of what I ate (how many grams) instead of the volume. Yikes! Advice? (And if anyone can tell me the calorie count, I'd be grateful.)
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Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,250 Member
    do you have a food scale? For solid food, weight (grams) is far more reliable than volume (cups).
  • fastingrabbit
    fastingrabbit Posts: 90 Member
    No food scale. I guess I may have to invest in one, if I want to do this properly.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,250 Member
    It really is the best, the problem with cups is that you can get wildly differing weights in a cup depending how you squish it, whereas calories are a calculation based on weight. You don't need to splurge, a little digital sale shouldn't set you back much.
  • Blue_Yoshi
    Blue_Yoshi Posts: 1 Member
    As for kitchen scales, you can find some cheap ones on Amazon :)
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    The weight is far more accurate than volume. I've found this true for most foods.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    fastingrabbit wrote: »
    How on earth do I do this? I measured out 2/3 of a cup of Dorset brand cereal ("fruit, nuts & seeds muesli") but when I try to figure out the calories, I am expected to know the weight of what I ate (how many grams) instead of the volume. Yikes! Advice? (And if anyone can tell me the calorie count, I'd be grateful.)

    Yo use a food scale...
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    fastingrabbit wrote: »
    Tavistock Toad, I think you're right, and my calorie budget doesn't leave room for the extra 6 million!

    I have a similar cereal, I have 30g on fat free Greek yoghurt and the cereal it's self is 160 calories for that teeny amount!
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    A scale is critical for cereal. And you will be sadly disappointed with the actual serving size! I love cereal of all kinds, but rarely have it now because it's just not worth the calories most of the time.
  • leajas1
    leajas1 Posts: 823 Member
    When I started weighing my cereal, as opposed to using measuring cups, I found that I was eating almost double the calories I thought. A scale is a must!
  • leajas1
    leajas1 Posts: 823 Member
    Dates, which I dip in almond butter almost every night, were also way off when I started measuring. That was a huge let down.
  • PhiliswaM
    PhiliswaM Posts: 16 Member
    I have vegetables (carrots and cucumber) with my cereal now, the 30 gram serving is too little and the calorie count is too high.
  • Meghanebk
    Meghanebk Posts: 321 Member
    Food scale. Amazon has great ones for $10-20 with hundreds of excellent reviews. I was amazed how many thins I was really inaccurate on before I started weighing everything from peanut butter to cooking oil.
  • CarolynSullivan1
    CarolynSullivan1 Posts: 6,321 Member
    I was shocked when I started using a food scale, things became so much easier too. 1oz of pretzels, or 28 grams, I get more w the 28 g!
  • PhiliswaM
    PhiliswaM Posts: 16 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    PhiliswaM wrote: »
    I have vegetables (carrots and cucumber) with my cereal now, the 30 gram serving is too little and the calorie count is too high.

    Carrots and cucumbers with Rice Krispies sounds lovely. So do you add milk or italian dressing? :o

    :D I add milk cause I eat oats, but I will try the dressing in future :D
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Ditto on the scale. Before I got mine, I was going by the box. Quaker Harvest crunch, 2/3 cup (45 grams) is 210 calories. I would have a cup so ~315 calories. Then I got a scale and found 1 cup was 97 grams, or ~450 calories.
  • fastingrabbit
    fastingrabbit Posts: 90 Member
    Thank you for the example, grmckenzie. It confirms what people are saying about cereal and scales and so on.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    fastingrabbit wrote: »
    Thank you for the example, grmckenzie. It confirms what people are saying about cereal and scales and so on.

    You're welcome. It was a huge eye opener for me.
  • jattardi
    jattardi Posts: 35 Member
    Don't most cereals have a serving size with the according number of calories? I use a measuring bowl with the markings on the inside of the bowl. If I'm really hungry, but the serving size is 3/4 cup, I'll put in 1 1/2 cups and when I log it in MFP, just say I had 2 servings.
  • fastingrabbit
    fastingrabbit Posts: 90 Member
    On this box, under "Nutrition Facts" it says just "Per 60 g" so I need to know how many grams I ate.

    And I just purchased a scale! I bought it on Amazon.ca: "Smart Weigh GLS20 Digital Glass Top Kitchen Scale."
    I got it in white.
  • texasleahgirl
    texasleahgirl Posts: 96 Member
    And once you start baking using a food scale you will never go back to measuring cups and spoons again. So much easier using the tare function on your scale and throwing everything in the mixing bowl altogether at one time, less mess!
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    jattardi wrote: »
    Don't most cereals have a serving size with the according number of calories? I use a measuring bowl with the markings on the inside of the bowl. If I'm really hungry, but the serving size is 3/4 cup, I'll put in 1 1/2 cups and when I log it in MFP, just say I had 2 servings.

    May want to read the rest of the thread... measuring cereal by the cup is highly unreliable.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    jattardi wrote: »
    Don't most cereals have a serving size with the according number of calories? I use a measuring bowl with the markings on the inside of the bowl. If I'm really hungry, but the serving size is 3/4 cup, I'll put in 1 1/2 cups and when I log it in MFP, just say I had 2 servings.

    The point of my post is that 2/3rds of a cup is not 45 grams (more like 65g) and the calories are based on the grams, not the # of cups. So, in my case, going by cups I was eating 50% more calories then I thought. There seems to be a lot more leeway on the packaging with cups compared to grams.

    In contrast, Cheerios was correct in that the serving size in cups was what I weighed in grams.
  • sneezy576
    sneezy576 Posts: 3 Member
    So what does everyone eat for breakfast or lunch? This is making me wonder what else I log wrong. Breakfast and lunch I am at work and I don't want to eat the same thing every day!
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    sneezy576 wrote: »
    So what does everyone eat for breakfast or lunch? This is making me wonder what else I log wrong. Breakfast and lunch I am at work and I don't want to eat the same thing every day!

    I'm the opposite. Breakfast is oatmeal and skim milk. 5 days a week. Weekends I mix it up.
    Lunch is 1/2 an individual lasagna from Costco (I found a whole one too much), a cup of baby carrots, a cup of snap peas and a banana. 4 times a week with Sushi 1 day. Half the time on weekends I skip lunch. Breakfast has been a bit bigger and later so I'm not hungry at lunch.

    Dinner for me is all over the map. My wife cooks dinner most nights and I eat what she makes. Just less than I used to.
  • daviddaw9948
    daviddaw9948 Posts: 11 Member
    Top tip - buy a scale that uses the same compact 9V battery as a smoke alarm. Most use those tiny, flat batteries that cost a fortune to replace and last about 5 minutes.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    edited November 2016
    too late to the party! Glad to hear you got yourself a scale OP :smiley:
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