Do you weight food even when the serving size is stated?
weight3049
Posts: 72 Member
I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
0
Replies
-
Honestly I don't, but it's probably the best way to do it, as pieces are not always sized the same. It really depends on how accurate you find you need your logging to be to see results. I've generally found success being a little looser.1
-
weight3049 wrote: »I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
I never did...a lot of people do. I only ever weighed meat, and calorie dense items like nuts, nut butters, cereals, pasta, etc.3 -
Nope
0 -
I weigh if I have a scale. If I'm out and about I just log them at label value.3
-
i generally don't. but for kicks, i weighed my 2 slices of bread yesterday and they were about 5 grams over what the package stated. not enough for me to care, but it might matter to some people.1
-
I use to. I found a lot of items did not weight what the package said. My yogurt was almost an entire ounce less than what the container said. Depends how OCD I get.
1 -
weight3049 wrote: »I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
I have gotten boxes of frozen fish fillets that say a serving is 1 piece (49g). And I found pieces that were 35g, 57g, one giant piece that was two servings. I have bought loaves of bread where the slices in the middle weighed almost double what the slices on the end weighed.
So I do because I'm the type of person that feels like, if I'm going to record data, I want it to be accurate. Other people don't, because that level of effort would make them not want to log at all.
If you are losing weight as expected and are happy with what you're doing, stick with it. If you get to a point in the future where you aren't losing as expected, just make a mental note that getting more accurate is the first troubleshooting you should do. If you're just starting out, I would suggest taking a couple of weeks to weigh every damn thing, just to get straight right away what common foods you eat can be a little dicey. Then settle into whatever level of day to day detail orientation you're comfortable with.7 -
weight3049 wrote: »I can understand weighing vegetables or pasta etc but if the serving size is stated like "4 pieces per serving" do you weigh to get a more accurate calories count?
Depends. If the pieces are really uniform like Pringles or Cheez-its the answer is no. If it is highly irregular like normal potato chips and steak fries I absolutely weigh them. The variances can be huge.
It doesn't matter what other people do. You don't lose weight by committee. The people who don't weigh those types of items may rarely ever eat them and the calorie difference has no impact. Frequency matters. If you can lose weight at the pace you want with loose logging go for it. If you can't it you need to tighten down.7 -
I'll weigh it if it's a new thing, just to check if they're an egregious overfiller (some are, because it's cheaper to overfill than it is to underfill and get caught ripping people off). Once I confirm that, I just go by the package or add a % extra for the average amount it tends to be overfilled by. Normally it's not that much.2
-
RelCanonical wrote: »I'll weigh it if it's a new thing, just to check if they're an egregious overfiller (some are, because it's cheaper to overfill than it is to underfill and get caught ripping people off). Once I confirm that, I just go by the package or add a % extra for the average amount it tends to be overfilled by. Normally it's not that much.
Yep. I find some things are really standardized as to their weight - my tortillas, for example - and some things are really random. If they are pretty standardized, I don't weigh them any more. If they're more random and calorific, I continue to weigh them.3 -
Yeah, it’s really just a habit to weigh everything at this point and I like to be as accurate as possible.1
-
RelCanonical wrote: »I'll weigh it if it's a new thing, just to check if they're an egregious overfiller (some are, because it's cheaper to overfill than it is to underfill and get caught ripping people off). Once I confirm that, I just go by the package or add a % extra for the average amount it tends to be overfilled by. Normally it's not that much.
^^ This. When I buy a new product, I check their suggested serving weight versus actual product weight for the first *n* servings until I'm confident that I know the general margin of variability. Then I just use whatever number that average is.0 -
As others have said, it varies. If it’s a new product then I’ll weigh it the first 5 or 6 times and figure out what it averages to. Although if it’s something only I’m going to eat the entire pack of I worry (obsess!) less because the net weight of the pack will be close enough over the course of the package.
Basically I guess it depends on the calorie density of the item how much I bother about it. Having said that, I do weigh the exact grams of an apple, a tomato, a kiwi etc so I guess I’m not very consistent! 😂0 -
I don't, but that's only because I don't have to as I'm losing weight at a rate I'm comfortable with. If I did find my progress slowing, stopping or reversing then this is something I'd look at doing.
I like to take a path of least resistance. To do a minimum amount required in order to get results. If I'm able to get results spending 2 minutes a day eyeballing servings and logging rough guesses then that's all I'll do. If doing that wasn't yielding results then I'd up the diligence and effort enough for results to occur.
It's the outcomes that matter not the process. Doing just enough to get results is good enough.3 -
Fries, chips, or really anything more than 2 -3 per serving then absolutely. If it’s two sausage links or something similar then I don’t bother. It’s really all about preference and how strict you want to be.2
-
The only think I really weight is my meat, and my chocolate. everything else I base on cup size / hand size portions.1
-
I weigh veggies, but not anything else, really, especially not if it says something like "4 pieces." And for reference, I've continued to lose weight (got to my target this month!).2
-
I don't, but that's only because I don't have to as I'm losing weight at a rate I'm comfortable with. If I did find my progress slowing, stopping or reversing then this is something I'd look at doing.
I like to take a path of least resistance. To do a minimum amount required in order to get results. If I'm able to get results spending 2 minutes a day eyeballing servings and logging rough guesses then that's all I'll do. If doing that wasn't yielding results then I'd up the diligence and effort enough for results to occur.
It's the outcomes that matter not the process. Doing just enough to get results is good enough.
This is me as well. I have lost 37 pounds by following package data and MFP food data. I am averaging 1.35 pounds per week, which I am happy with. However, I still have another 35-50 pounds to lose and am fully aware that my weight loss may slow down, or even stall, as I get closer to goal. I have no intention of lowering my calories, so I am mentally prepared to switch to weighing all my food if and when this time comes.3 -
I weigh new things once to get an idea of what the correct portion size should look like, then estimate based on that. Sometimes if something is very irregular I check it off and on to be sure my estimates haven’t crept.0
-
It depends. For something that I haven't weighed before or know if frequently way off from the package claim, I will. For instance, I buy Sprouts whole wheat sandwich bread every week. Almost every slice is at least 10g more than the package claims, so I weigh those every time. I will also weigh things that easily broken, like chips.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 389.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43K Getting Started
- 259.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.3K Food and Nutrition
- 47.2K Recipes
- 232.1K Fitness and Exercise
- 359 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.4K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.4K Motivation and Support
- 7.7K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 2.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 745 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions