How should I use a kitchen scale when weight isn't on the package?

It's definitely not always easy! I only weigh calorie-dense foods, like nuts. As you've mentioned, it's just an estimate.

And, now that I've been at this for many years, I only weigh every once in a while to make sure my judgement hasn't wandered off. Honestly, you get so good at it after a while you can just eyeball it most of the time. It's a good skill.

YandeRainy wrote: »

I've mostly been lurking here, and one thing I commonly see to help improve tracking accuracy is to use a kitchen scale for better accuracy. This is fine and good for things that list their nutrition info out in grams or ounces, but I find many things simply refer back to volume as the only measurement available.

I try my best to use a scale when available, but most of the stuff I eat lists things in either packages, individual pieces, or cups and teaspoons, adding ambiguity to the actual values.

For now, it's not a huge problem since my deficit is at 1000 daily, so even if I'm off by about 200 calories extra, I'm still losing, but I'd like to know what I can do about it in case I ever decide to shrink my calorie deficit later on, and the margin of error becomes smaller.

I will use individual pieces if I believe they are the same weight (ie pringles).

Packages usually have the total weight on the package which means you can compare the weight of the contents to the weight listed. Frozen seafood is almost always higher than package weight by 80 - 100 grams. Yogurt is very often less than the weight listed. Cheese surprises me often by being so close.

You can look to see if the same item in another brand uses the same serving size but does list grams.

The other thing is to consider the calorie count per serving. If it is a low calorie item then close enough is good enough. I don't bother with vegetables that are 20-25 calories per serving for instance.

YandeRainy wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

Like what, for instance? Package labelling here in the U.S. has cups or spoons only with liquid items and in that case you are better off using cups or spoons, as liquids can vary when trying to convert from ml to grams, for instance.

So with liquid, I would use cups or spoons.

Well, I was confused reading this, but looking at my pantry quickly, you seem to be right. The only things I cannot find weight measurements on are either liquids of some sort or single serving packages, which I can only assume are weighed at the processing plant. I guess I just never noticed the weight measurement by the volumetric measurement.

Something I also forgot to mention in my original post is that some of the issues I've found are in MFP's database for produce, for example. I eat a good amount of honeycrisp apples as snacks, for instance, but the only unit of measurement I have available for writing it down is 'Medium Apple' which is vague at best.

I guess the more general question I had was how to determine portion sizes when there's no weight data available, not just on US Nutrition info packages.

Search the MFP Database for 'USDA GALA APPLE GRAMS'

YandeRainy wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

Like what, for instance? Package labelling here in the U.S. has cups or spoons only with liquid items and in that case you are better off using cups or spoons, as liquids can vary when trying to convert from ml to grams, for instance.

So with liquid, I would use cups or spoons.

Well, I was confused reading this, but looking at my pantry quickly, you seem to be right. The only things I cannot find weight measurements on are either liquids of some sort or single serving packages, which I can only assume are weighed at the processing plant. I guess I just never noticed the weight measurement by the volumetric measurement.

Something I also forgot to mention in my original post is that some of the issues I've found are in MFP's database for produce, for example. I eat a good amount of honeycrisp apples as snacks, for instance, but the only unit of measurement I have available for writing it down is 'Medium Apple' which is vague at best.

I guess the more general question I had was how to determine portion sizes when there's no weight data available, not just on US Nutrition info packages.

I realize that different varieties of apples have different levels of sugar, which would lead to (slightly) different calorie counts, but in order to not suffer from "perfection paralysis" for all varieties I just use "Apples, raw, with skin," which I got from the USDA database. This is what I use exclusively for produce (and many other foods.)

Unfortunately, the green check marks in the MFP database are used for both USER-created entries and ADMIN-created entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. To find admin entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and paste that into MFP.

https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

The USDA changed the platform for their database in 2019 and it is unfortunately a little more difficult to use. I uncheck everything but “SR Legacy” - that seems to be what MFP used to pull in entries.

Note: any MFP entry that includes "USDA" was USER entered.

For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP. (Alas, you cannot just scan with your phone and assume what you get is correct.)

I weigh as much as possible. I have a small postal scale that works. Office stores sell them. Even packaged food because Most things are not single size. When I started weighing my food, I realized I was over eating my meats/seafoods (I had to reduce to about 1/3 amount). Also too many carbs. Weighing pasta or breads is important for me to lose. The other item is use a table spoon for dressings.