Using a food scale

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lindamtuck2018
lindamtuck2018 Posts: 9,485 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been doing MFP since early December. I am using a food scale but not a 100% of the time. I know I will have to tighten that up as I continue on this journey. When I joined in December, I was actively binging so I was still gaining but I have managed to lose 29.8 pounds since the beginning of February. So to get to my questions.

In reading a thread earlier, I was given the impression that food should always be measured in grams. I measure somethings in grams and some in ounces. For example, the mandarin orange I had with breakfast was measured in grams but my apple that I will have for tonights snack will be measured in ounces. Is this ok?

How should I be measuring prepackaged food like hamburgers? Right now, I just use the calorie count for one burger off the package.

Right now I just weight my meats, fruits and vegetables. What else should I be doing? I want to get into using my food scale correctly.




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Replies

  • ginnytez
    ginnytez Posts: 1,331 Member
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    Good job on weight loss so far. I weigh in grams when I know what a serving is in grams-otherwise go for ounces. I don't think it matters as long as it is accurate either way. You can use the calorie count off the package, but I prefer to weigh meats before cooking them if possible. I also weigh things like butter. Peanut butter, brown sugar, etc. I use measuring spoons for. I basically measure everything I eat at home.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I did something today which you might find useful. I was adding shredded cheese to a recipe. With the scale set to oz, I added until the scale said 6.0 oz. Then I switch units to see how many grams I had for logging.

    I didn't care that I wasn't going to have 168 grams. I was close enough and logged accurately.
  • DaintyWhisper
    DaintyWhisper Posts: 221 Member
    edited April 2019
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    In addition to weighing your food, I think the other important part is finding food entries that accurately match what you've eaten. Be vigilant by looking at the back of the label you have on hand, comparing it to what you're entering into your food diary. It doesn't really matter if you use grams or ounces. I personally use grams because I simply find the math to be straight forward. Such as if I ate 158g of apple slices, I find the USDA entry for an apple in 100g and enter 1.58 servings. I measure most of my produce this way. I also prefer grams because the back of nearly all nutrition labels uses them. However, ounces aren't always noted. A lot of the time cups and tablespoons are used instead and that can be a pain. It's a lot less time consuming (and more accurate!) to weigh 1 tbsp of things like butter or peanut butter than it is to spoon it out. Or for things like bread or buns, the label will say something like "1 slice (45g) is 90 calories." But when you weigh one slice of bread, it might be 57g. It seems like it may not be that much of a difference, but that one slice of bread you thought was 90 calories is 114 instead. Those little discrepancies can add up over time. It may not seem like it makes a difference at first but if you come to a standstill and wonder where you're going wrong, it can be the difference between losing and not losing. My recommendation is to weigh everything! Pasta, rice, meat, oils, cheese, bread, snacks (chips, cookies), ice cream, yogurt, etc. This is just how I do it, but everyone has their own method that they develop over time with practice. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck!
  • 307114882
    307114882 Posts: 45 Member
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    lindamtuck2018 wrote: »
    I have been doing MFP since early December. I am using a food scale but not a 100% of the time. I know I will have to tighten that up as I continue on this journey. When I joined in December, I was actively binging so I was still gaining but I have managed to lose 29.8 pounds since the beginning of February. So to get to my questions.

    In reading a thread earlier, I was given the impression that food should always be measured in grams. I measure somethings in grams and some in ounces. For example, the mandarin orange I had with breakfast was measured in grams but my apple that I will have for tonights snack will be measured in ounces. Is this ok?

    How should I be measuring prepackaged food like hamburgers? Right now, I just use the calorie count for one burger off the package.

    Right now I just weight my meats, fruits and vegetables. What else should I be doing? I want to get into using my food scale correctly.




    i bought a food scale last year, it is great, named Eetekcity nutrition food scale, maybe you can try.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    How do you enter 1.58 servings? I have never seen where you can use a decimal point, just a fraction (1/4 of a serving, 1/2, etc.)
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    How do you enter 1.58 servings? I have never seen where you can use a decimal point, just a fraction (1/4 of a serving, 1/2, etc.)

    I believe it's in Settings
  • BlowPopKisses
    BlowPopKisses Posts: 1,482 Member
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    I normally just go by whatever the box or container measures it as. Like if the box says a serving of something is 75g then I use the grams setting on my scale.
    Also my scale is a manual one and it shows grams vs oz's at the same time. (ounces on left, grams on right little red horizontal line goes straight across both.)

    When I started out, I weighed EVERY thing, and was constantly washing the scale. Now I can pretty much eyeball my food and know what a serving of something should be w/o weighing it.

    Good job on losin' the weight so far girly. Keep it up!
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    BlowPopKisses wrote: »
    I normally just go by whatever the box or container measures it as. Like if the box says a serving of something is 75g then I use the grams setting on my scale.
    Also my scale is a manual one and it shows grams vs oz's at the same time. (ounces on left, grams on right little red horizontal line goes straight across both.)

    When I started out, I weighed EVERY thing, and was constantly washing the scale. Now I can pretty much eyeball my food and know what a serving of something should be w/o weighing it.

    Good job on losin' the weight so far girly. Keep it up!

    I envy those that can eyeball food accurately enough to be consistent with their results. I try to guess the weight of something before I weigh it and am nearly always out by a reasonable amount.

    Looks like I will be a food weigher for life! Better that than the weight creeping back on though.
  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    How do you enter 1.58 servings? I have never seen where you can use a decimal point, just a fraction (1/4 of a serving, 1/2, etc.)

    On the dropdown menu, choose the unit you want (usually 100 grams, in my case). Then, in the text box that allows you to enter the number of units, you can type 1.58 instead of 1 or 2 or whatever. :)
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    How do you enter 1.58 servings? I have never seen where you can use a decimal point, just a fraction (1/4 of a serving, 1/2, etc.)

    I've only seen this option when on the computer. Mobile seems to use 1/8 serving etc.

    As for ounces vs grams I agree with @kimny72 that it might be slilghtly more accurate just because it's a smaller unit but outside of that it doesn't really matter. I use both and lost weight without any troubles. I am in maintenance and still weigh certain foods to ensure I am within my limits. When you get close to goal accuracy becomes vital because the deficit is so small. Getting used to weighing now is really smart and will assist you in your journey. Congrats on your awesome loss so far!

  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
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    scribblemoma wrote: »
    As far as 1.58 if you’re using iPhone just tap your serving number and then tap the decimal section and type that in 🙂

    61xeglsskuf6.jpeg

    Whoa, I didn't know that was a thing! I use Android. :D
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    @scribblemoma that's awesome! I've never noticed that before. Thank you for sharing! <3
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    Whoa...weird. I don't have the fraction/decimal thing on my PC or mobile app (android) at all. For years I've just entered the decimal into the serving size section and have never been shown options.
  • airmidthehealer
    airmidthehealer Posts: 18 Member
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    >>hug to a fellow binge eater.>> You've lost 29.8 pounds. The way I see it, whatever you're doing must be working so keep doing it.
  • scribblemoma
    scribblemoma Posts: 115 Member
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    Susieq_1994 wrote: »
    Whoa, I didn't know that was a thing! I use Android. :D

    Aha only reason I knew there was a difference is because my husband has Android and I’ve seen how it logs!

    —

    It’s my pleasure, Cheryl! Happy to help 🙂
  • Dreamwa1ker
    Dreamwa1ker Posts: 196 Member
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    To be honest, I focus my precision weighing on the most calorie dense foods. Peanut butter, salad dressing, meats, cheeses, avocado, mayo, chips, etc. For things like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers - I don't bother as much and will be more tempted to just use "1/2 tomato" etc. I know it's not as accurate but it hasn't seemed to hurt my weight loss (yet) - maybe because I eat back like 1/2 exercise not all which kind of covers small logging errors. We'll see as we get close to goal.

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