Why weighing is important (even for packaged food!)
Replies
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I just wanted to say that I weighed every single Chicken Breast in my box of frozen breasts and ALL of them were DRASTICALLY under 125g. Some were 89g. That's the one thing I've found to be under...most stuff is over ha. Solution: eat less things out of boxes. I'm basically dating my Food Scale and its going SO WELL! I weigh everything by the 1g and have gotten pretty good at guesstimating and pre-logging then adjusting by 115g vs 117g of Cucumber for example, etc4
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Yes! I weigh my flatbreads, too - they are frequently off by several grams. Tonight I had a Lean Cuisine. I usually do NOT weigh them because I figure, how far off can they be? No worries right?
My Chicken Carbonara that is listed as a single serving (255g) for 240 calories was actually 299 ounces and an additional 40+ calories!!! I eat a LOT of Lean Cuisines - sometimes two a day.
Most days I'm not TOO worried about it because I frequently have "spare" calories at the end of the day - but today I did not....I have 8 calories left, I think....I would seriously have gone over if I had not weighed that lean cuisine tonight. ...and if I did that several times over the course of the next week that could have been quite the disaster for my deficit.
This may sound silly but how do you weigh it? It's a frozen chunk in a box till microwaved.
Do you weigh it first, heat, eat then weigh the empty box?
I eat them from time to time at work and don't want to bring my scale along.0 -
You can get the weight before you leave the house.GOT_Obsessed wrote: »Yes! I weigh my flatbreads, too - they are frequently off by several grams. Tonight I had a Lean Cuisine. I usually do NOT weigh them because I figure, how far off can they be? No worries right?
My Chicken Carbonara that is listed as a single serving (255g) for 240 calories was actually 299 ounces and an additional 40+ calories!!! I eat a LOT of Lean Cuisines - sometimes two a day.
Most days I'm not TOO worried about it because I frequently have "spare" calories at the end of the day - but today I did not....I have 8 calories left, I think....I would seriously have gone over if I had not weighed that lean cuisine tonight. ...and if I did that several times over the course of the next week that could have been quite the disaster for my deficit.
This may sound silly but how do you weigh it? It's a frozen chunk in a box till microwaved.
Do you weigh it first, heat, eat then weigh the empty box?
I eat them from time to time at work and don't want to bring my scale along.
I weighed an empty container (after eating the contents) to get the package weight to subtract. Most Lean Cuisines come in the same size tray and box. You could weigh container + box if you take it to work in the box.
When you pack your lunch, weigh the frozen box and subtract the container + box weight to give you the weight for the dinner.
IMO, the weight difference matters more for some dinners than others. If the dinner has what looks to be extra rice, I record the actual weight to account for extra calories. If it looks like the extra weight is from a lot of tomato sauce, I don't bother.1 -
You can get the weight before you leave the house.GOT_Obsessed wrote: »Yes! I weigh my flatbreads, too - they are frequently off by several grams. Tonight I had a Lean Cuisine. I usually do NOT weigh them because I figure, how far off can they be? No worries right?
My Chicken Carbonara that is listed as a single serving (255g) for 240 calories was actually 299 ounces and an additional 40+ calories!!! I eat a LOT of Lean Cuisines - sometimes two a day.
Most days I'm not TOO worried about it because I frequently have "spare" calories at the end of the day - but today I did not....I have 8 calories left, I think....I would seriously have gone over if I had not weighed that lean cuisine tonight. ...and if I did that several times over the course of the next week that could have been quite the disaster for my deficit.
This may sound silly but how do you weigh it? It's a frozen chunk in a box till microwaved.
Do you weigh it first, heat, eat then weigh the empty box?
I eat them from time to time at work and don't want to bring my scale along.
I weighed an empty container (after eating the contents) to get the package weight to subtract. Most Lean Cuisines come in the same size tray and box. You could weigh container + box if you take it to work in the box.
When you pack your lunch, weigh the frozen box and subtract the container + box weight to give you the weight for the dinner.
IMO, the weight difference matters more for some dinners than others. If the dinner has what looks to be extra rice, I record the actual weight to account for extra calories. If it looks like the extra weight is from a lot of tomato sauce, I don't bother.
Oh ok. So just keep the box tare weight "on file." That makes sense. Thanks.
I recently learned I weigh my apples wrong. I weigh it core and all, log it, throw it in the lunch box and go. I never knew you are not supposed to weigh the inedible parts. Oh well.0 -
I just wanted to say that I weighed every single Chicken Breast in my box of frozen breasts and ALL of them were DRASTICALLY under 125g. Some were 89g. That's the one thing I've found to be under...most stuff is over ha. Solution: eat less things out of boxes. I'm basically dating my Food Scale and its going SO WELL! I weigh everything by the 1g and have gotten pretty good at guesstimating and pre-logging then adjusting by 115g vs 117g of Cucumber for example, etc
even if you eat less things out of boxes two apples or any fruit of the same size can be off by a lot. most chicken breast I have had weigh more than what the package states but I dont buy frozen chicken breast. I buy fresh raw and freeze my own.nothing wrong with frozen though
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GOT_Obsessed wrote: »
You can get the weight before you leave the house.GOT_Obsessed wrote: »Yes! I weigh my flatbreads, too - they are frequently off by several grams. Tonight I had a Lean Cuisine. I usually do NOT weigh them because I figure, how far off can they be? No worries right?
My Chicken Carbonara that is listed as a single serving (255g) for 240 calories was actually 299 ounces and an additional 40+ calories!!! I eat a LOT of Lean Cuisines - sometimes two a day.
Most days I'm not TOO worried about it because I frequently have "spare" calories at the end of the day - but today I did not....I have 8 calories left, I think....I would seriously have gone over if I had not weighed that lean cuisine tonight. ...and if I did that several times over the course of the next week that could have been quite the disaster for my deficit.
This may sound silly but how do you weigh it? It's a frozen chunk in a box till microwaved.
Do you weigh it first, heat, eat then weigh the empty box?
I eat them from time to time at work and don't want to bring my scale along.
I weighed an empty container (after eating the contents) to get the package weight to subtract. Most Lean Cuisines come in the same size tray and box. You could weigh container + box if you take it to work in the box.
When you pack your lunch, weigh the frozen box and subtract the container + box weight to give you the weight for the dinner.
IMO, the weight difference matters more for some dinners than others. If the dinner has what looks to be extra rice, I record the actual weight to account for extra calories. If it looks like the extra weight is from a lot of tomato sauce, I don't bother.
Oh ok. So just keep the box tare weight "on file." That makes sense. Thanks.
I recently learned I weigh my apples wrong. I weigh it core and all, log it, throw it in the lunch box and go. I never knew you are not supposed to weigh the inedible parts. Oh well.
I weigh the inedible parts of all fruit and just chalk it up to covering any margin for error.2 -
newheavensearth wrote: »GOT_Obsessed wrote: »
You can get the weight before you leave the house.GOT_Obsessed wrote: »Yes! I weigh my flatbreads, too - they are frequently off by several grams. Tonight I had a Lean Cuisine. I usually do NOT weigh them because I figure, how far off can they be? No worries right?
My Chicken Carbonara that is listed as a single serving (255g) for 240 calories was actually 299 ounces and an additional 40+ calories!!! I eat a LOT of Lean Cuisines - sometimes two a day.
Most days I'm not TOO worried about it because I frequently have "spare" calories at the end of the day - but today I did not....I have 8 calories left, I think....I would seriously have gone over if I had not weighed that lean cuisine tonight. ...and if I did that several times over the course of the next week that could have been quite the disaster for my deficit.
This may sound silly but how do you weigh it? It's a frozen chunk in a box till microwaved.
Do you weigh it first, heat, eat then weigh the empty box?
I eat them from time to time at work and don't want to bring my scale along.
I weighed an empty container (after eating the contents) to get the package weight to subtract. Most Lean Cuisines come in the same size tray and box. You could weigh container + box if you take it to work in the box.
When you pack your lunch, weigh the frozen box and subtract the container + box weight to give you the weight for the dinner.
IMO, the weight difference matters more for some dinners than others. If the dinner has what looks to be extra rice, I record the actual weight to account for extra calories. If it looks like the extra weight is from a lot of tomato sauce, I don't bother.
Oh ok. So just keep the box tare weight "on file." That makes sense. Thanks.
I recently learned I weigh my apples wrong. I weigh it core and all, log it, throw it in the lunch box and go. I never knew you are not supposed to weigh the inedible parts. Oh well.
I weigh the inedible parts of all fruit and just chalk it up to covering any margin for error.
Yeah that is kind of my thinking too.1 -
GOT_Obsessed wrote: »
You can get the weight before you leave the house.GOT_Obsessed wrote: »Yes! I weigh my flatbreads, too - they are frequently off by several grams. Tonight I had a Lean Cuisine. I usually do NOT weigh them because I figure, how far off can they be? No worries right?
My Chicken Carbonara that is listed as a single serving (255g) for 240 calories was actually 299 ounces and an additional 40+ calories!!! I eat a LOT of Lean Cuisines - sometimes two a day.
Most days I'm not TOO worried about it because I frequently have "spare" calories at the end of the day - but today I did not....I have 8 calories left, I think....I would seriously have gone over if I had not weighed that lean cuisine tonight. ...and if I did that several times over the course of the next week that could have been quite the disaster for my deficit.
This may sound silly but how do you weigh it? It's a frozen chunk in a box till microwaved.
Do you weigh it first, heat, eat then weigh the empty box?
I eat them from time to time at work and don't want to bring my scale along.
I weighed an empty container (after eating the contents) to get the package weight to subtract. Most Lean Cuisines come in the same size tray and box. You could weigh container + box if you take it to work in the box.
When you pack your lunch, weigh the frozen box and subtract the container + box weight to give you the weight for the dinner.
IMO, the weight difference matters more for some dinners than others. If the dinner has what looks to be extra rice, I record the actual weight to account for extra calories. If it looks like the extra weight is from a lot of tomato sauce, I don't bother.
Oh ok. So just keep the box tare weight "on file." That makes sense. Thanks.
I recently learned I weigh my apples wrong. I weigh it core and all, log it, throw it in the lunch box and go. I never knew you are not supposed to weigh the inedible parts. Oh well.
Theoretically, the whole apple is edible. If you eat it from the bottom up, you won't even notice the core and the seeds (google for instructions).0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »What's bizarre is that the front label shows the correct weight, 500 grams(which should be about 3 servings) which matches the scale weight within margin of error.
Lol I didn’t even notice that!
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Mazintrov13 wrote: »Totally agree.
I don’t even look at the serving size on packaged food, just the amounts per 100g
I really wish this was a standard here.2 -
This to me looks like they're using the cooked and uncooked weights rather than it being an error. How much did it weigh after you cooked it?2
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thediamonds wrote: »This to me looks like they're using the cooked and uncooked weights rather than it being an error. How much did it weigh after you cooked it?
The default is uncooked (as packaged), so unless it says 'cooked weight' on the label, the weight listed would be for as it comes in the package.1 -
thediamonds wrote: »This to me looks like they're using the cooked and uncooked weights rather than it being an error. How much did it weigh after you cooked it?
Gnocchi has minimal weight change - I think it went to 517g...1 -
It’s roughly the same calorie breakdown as other brands of gnocchi - so I trust it at least that far1
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JerSchmare wrote: »If the label isn’t accurate, what makes you think the calorie per serving is accurate. This is what cracks me up about this whole thing. I don’t Weigh packaged food, and I never will. It’s close enough given all the variables thought out a week.
I’ve heard of people weighing eggs. Lol.
I do. If you don't want to, don't, but you don't need to make fun of others for doing so.3 -
JerSchmare wrote: »
I’ve heard of people weighing eggs. Lol.
I collected the eggs from my (all the same age and size) chickens today. I think a generic "One Egg, 80 cal" would be in error...
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Keep in mind that these food companies are self-reporting, so that means that nobody is there to verify the accuracy of the information.
I worked for a private label brand many years ago. We had to pull some Fig Newton type cookies because the label info was wrong. People got mad because the new version had too many calories : /4 -
I've also found powdered peanut butter is one of those things you HAVE to weigh since it settles in the canister. I found out I was eating almond double even though I measured level tablespoons since the powder was more "packed" than what they considered a tablespoon.2
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Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »I've also found powdered peanut butter is one of those things you HAVE to weigh since it settles in the canister. I found out I was eating almond double even though I measured level tablespoons since the powder was more "packed" than what they considered a tablespoon.
Yes, that's why I don't like US recipes that use cups as a measure instead of grams either.JerSchmare wrote: »If the label isn’t accurate, what makes you think the calorie per serving is accurate. This is what cracks me up about this whole thing. I don’t Weigh packaged food, and I never will. It’s close enough given all the variables thought out a week.
I’ve heard of people weighing eggs. Lol.
He's not wrong though... the only reason I liked weighing packaged food (honestly don't bother anymore because I don't eat much of it, unless it's something like chicken) is because it can lead to you eating more in the end - not just from the extra calories in the package, but from whatever you might end up eating later 'because you have calories left'. But now I eat maybe one packaged thing a day, and it's pretty much never anything over 200 calories, so I let it go.
About the eggs - I actually understand not weighing those because a 'large' will always be within a 10% weight range, and yeah, sometimes those are smaller (but again, the yolk isn't always the same size either, so it's pretty much a guess).
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I just bought a package of fresh zucchini from Trader Joe's. The package says it's 18oz, or 510g. For fun I weighed the zucchini on my food scale--633g! Granted, since it's zucchini it only makes about 20 cal difference, but it does say that the weight is very different than what is stated! I guess for these it's approximate.2
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