"Why should I use a food scale?"
Options
Replies
-
My eyes were forever opened when I started weighing foods I'd normally just measure. I was way overeating before! Now I know what a proper serving of most foods is, including meats. It's amazing how much you can overeat by not weighing things!7
-
TimothyFish wrote: »Wynterbourne wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »yellingkimber wrote: »So, I was in the middle of prepping dinner when suddenly, I remembered seeing a zillion posts of people not understanding why a food scale is useful to have when trying to lose weight. "But I use measuring cups!" I got curious, so I decided to weigh out a serving of pasta and then see how it fit into measuring cups.
Here's what a serving of tonight's pasta looks like.
Here it is weighed out.
Naturally, I realized afterward that I don't even have a 3/4 cup measuring cup, so I made do. Not ideal, but I could have stuffed so much more pasta in that 1/4 cup!
Seriously, look how much room is left over.
It took me another 15 g of pasta to fill'er up. If my math is right, that's another 48 calories worth of pasta that I wouldn't have been accounting for, which isn't that bad, but that's only for one ingredient of my dinner! I was thinking about putting bacon in the sauce. Info on the back of the package says "2 slices or 15 grams" - one slice is 15 grams, which I wouldn't have known without my scale. That would have been an additional 70 calories, which means I would have been 118 calories over what I thought I was consuming!
If you're one of those people that says "I'm eating 1200 calories and I'm not losing a pound!" I highly suggest buying a scale. The one I'm using was only $7 at Walmart.
It seems to me that all you have shown is that 2oz (56 grams) of pasta really is equal to 3/4 cup of pasta, as long a you use level measuring cups. In the picture, the 1/2 cup measure is overstuffed, but there is plenty of room in the 1/4 cup measure to take the overflow to get it down to a level cup.
Curious what you think my picture shows then...
The pasta in your picture looks like it has been cooked. 1 cup of dry pasta makes about 2.25 cups of cooked pasta. So the cup that you are saying is 289 calories is more like 100 calories.
Sorry, but it is indeed dry pasta. It's called campanelle. Let me take another picture for you since I have some in the cabinet. I stand by my weighing, my math, and my calculations. I have no reason to create an image that's a lie. Do you need me to take new pictures of the cup on my scale from multiple angles so you can see that it is indeed a level cup that weighs 81 grams and is indeed 289 calories?
24 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
6 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
I bought low cal bread. 50 cals a slice. And while I didn't weigh every single one, the ones I weighed were close to what the label said, and 1/3 thinner than a normal slice, hence the lower calories.2 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
Yep, bread slices, tortillas, English muffins, crumpets, sandwich thins... sometimes it can be really depressing because they are frequently over.
ETA: Granted, it's usually a bigger discrepancy from the heavier denser breads.0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
I bought low cal bread. 50 cals a slice. And while I didn't weigh every single one, the ones I weighed were close to what the label said, and 1/3 thinner than a normal slice, hence the lower calories.Wynterbourne wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
Yep, bread slices, tortillas, English muffins, crumpets, sandwich thins... sometimes it can be really depressing because they are frequently over.
ETA: Granted, it's usually a bigger discrepancy from the heavier denser breads.
I tend to use dense whole wheat lots of grains kind of bread, so I will definitely have to weigh a representative sample slice from each loaf from now on.0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
I bought low cal bread. 50 cals a slice. And while I didn't weigh every single one, the ones I weighed were close to what the label said, and 1/3 thinner than a normal slice, hence the lower calories.Wynterbourne wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
Yep, bread slices, tortillas, English muffins, crumpets, sandwich thins... sometimes it can be really depressing because they are frequently over.
ETA: Granted, it's usually a bigger discrepancy from the heavier denser breads.
I tend to use dense whole wheat lots of grains kind of bread, so I will definitely have to weigh a representative sample slice from each loaf from now on.
each slice can be a different weight though. I learned that the hard way0 -
To weigh your food. Simple.0
-
Wynterbourne wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
Yep, bread slices, tortillas, English muffins, crumpets, sandwich thins... sometimes it can be really depressing because they are frequently over.
ETA: Granted, it's usually a bigger discrepancy from the heavier denser breads.
Toast it! It takes out the calories!
11 -
cmriverside wrote: »Wynterbourne wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »just had this with my bread, 40g is the 1 slice serving....every single slice in the pack weighed 65-68 g
You know I typically weigh everything but bread is something that I never thought to weigh for what ever reason.
*goes to kitchen to weigh a slice of bread*
Yep, bread slices, tortillas, English muffins, crumpets, sandwich thins... sometimes it can be really depressing because they are frequently over.
ETA: Granted, it's usually a bigger discrepancy from the heavier denser breads.
Toast it! It takes out the calories!
I wish, it just takes out some water and now the same amount of calories are in a lighter object. Always weigh before you toast. 
2 -
I use the scale now all the time. Even for cereal. If it says grams, ounces, etc., I'll weigh it.1
-
Drussander wrote: »I use the scale now all the time. Even for cereal. If it says grams, ounces, etc., I'll weigh it.
Especially for cereal! It's one of the worst offenders for a single serving size looking all sad and lonely in your bowl. Right up there with ice cream.5 -
Drussander wrote: »I use the scale now all the time. Even for cereal. If it says grams, ounces, etc., I'll weigh it.
Especially for cereal! It's one of the worst offenders for a single serving size looking all sad and lonely in your bowl. Right up there with ice cream.
I've not figured out how to weigh ice cream and compare to the ml on the label.
So I just assume it has no calories.8 -
I LOVE THIS!!!! SO TRUE!0
-
Tacklewasher wrote: »Drussander wrote: »I use the scale now all the time. Even for cereal. If it says grams, ounces, etc., I'll weigh it.
Especially for cereal! It's one of the worst offenders for a single serving size looking all sad and lonely in your bowl. Right up there with ice cream.
I've not figured out how to weigh ice cream and compare to the ml on the label.
So I just assume it has no calories.
I bought a #8 food scoop just for ice cream. It's equivalent to 1/2 cup serving.
Canada, despite being part of the metric-only crew, still uses cups and, this part burns my donkey, uses millilitres for semi-solids.6 -
You summed it up perfectly. Can't say anymore0
-
Tacklewasher wrote: »Drussander wrote: »I use the scale now all the time. Even for cereal. If it says grams, ounces, etc., I'll weigh it.
Especially for cereal! It's one of the worst offenders for a single serving size looking all sad and lonely in your bowl. Right up there with ice cream.
I've not figured out how to weigh ice cream and compare to the ml on the label.
So I just assume it has no calories.
my ice cream has a g measurement on it - interesting on the ml2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Drussander wrote: »I use the scale now all the time. Even for cereal. If it says grams, ounces, etc., I'll weigh it.
Especially for cereal! It's one of the worst offenders for a single serving size looking all sad and lonely in your bowl. Right up there with ice cream.
I've not figured out how to weigh ice cream and compare to the ml on the label.
So I just assume it has no calories.
My scale weighs in grams, ml, ounces, fluid ounces. I weigh my food per package instructions.
I have a question about weighing dry pasta though. How do you figure this out when cooking for a large family?
I'm fortunate that at this point I have a fair bit of wiggle room in my deficit, but that will decrease as time goes on. Will I be needing to weigh my portion and cook it individually?
(I hope I don't sound dumb!)0 -
MizMimi111 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Drussander wrote: »I use the scale now all the time. Even for cereal. If it says grams, ounces, etc., I'll weigh it.
Especially for cereal! It's one of the worst offenders for a single serving size looking all sad and lonely in your bowl. Right up there with ice cream.
I've not figured out how to weigh ice cream and compare to the ml on the label.
So I just assume it has no calories.
My scale weighs in grams, ml, ounces, fluid ounces. I weigh my food per package instructions.
I have a question about weighing dry pasta though. How do you figure this out when cooking for a large family?
I'm fortunate that at this point I have a fair bit of wiggle room in my deficit, but that will decrease as time goes on. Will I be needing to weigh my portion and cook it individually?
(I hope I don't sound dumb!)
I weigh the pasta dry and put 4 servings in (or whatever number), then weigh it cooked and divide by 4 to see how many grams a cooked serving is. Bit more work, but if you cook the same brand the same amount of time every time, it always comes down to about the same number (120ish grams for me, so when I'm lazy I just weigh it cooked and assume 120g a serving).2 -
Thank you! Makes perfect sense once it's explained.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 389 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 919 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions