Figuring out serving sizes is making me want to break things

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  • maryjay51
    maryjay51 Posts: 742
    i dont weigh anything..ill buy a lb of ground turkey breast and split it up four ways = 4oz a serving .. chicken breast i figure that 4oz is about the size of what in the palm of my hand or chunk it up and throw it in a measuring cup to get a cup of it ... i dont worry about exact details and just use most of these measurments and oz as a general guideline. lost 80lbs so far so i must not be doing too bad with that way of doing things
  • frugalmomsrock
    frugalmomsrock Posts: 1,123
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    The last picture shows how silly my scale gets when it's been tared with something on it. I don't know why it does that. I usually just use saran so I don't have that problem. I know it's accurate if i just use it without taring with anything on it though. I use it to mail things all the time, and my measurements always match what the post office has on theirs, and they calibrate theirs often.
  • raevynn
    raevynn Posts: 666 Member
    I'd weigh a couple more things that are supposed to be 28g - and see what happens.
  • jmuhnie
    jmuhnie Posts: 93 Member
    I bought an OXO brand scale for my wife and I to use. I think it has created a monster. She weighs everything...on the bright side I get to eat more potato chips (crisps for some people).

    The scale itself is very quick and has a detachable front so I can put large dishes on the scale and zero then.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    I've been having problems figuring out serving sizes ever since I started tracking, so I bought a scale. I'm making tacos tonight, and I wanted to figure out the servings of all the ingredients.

    The serving size for the shredded cheese is 1/4 cup (28g). Out of curiosity, I weighed out the 28g IN the 1/4 cup measuring cup. As you can see in the photo, it's heaping and falling all over the place because it will not fit in the cup. It actually FILLED the 1/2 cup measuring cup, which would mean 28g is TWICE AS MUCH cheese as 1/4 cup. Even squishing it down wouldn't get it to fit in the 1/4 cup.

    BRC2


    So.....WHICH IS IT?? Which serving has 110 calories as the package states? Because obviously 28g has quite a few more calories than 1/4 cup. Why the hell can't they just make the serving sizes according to WEIGHT for everything that's not a liquid?? How the hell is anyone supposed to know how many calories they're consuming when the measurement system is so completely f**ked?? :explode:

    OMG, this is beyond frustrating.

    Forget cups and anything that says "cup of this" or a "cup of that". Weight is weight and if you have to have say 28g of something, you will know that 28g is 28g on the scales, but in the cup it may not be accurate.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    But where are they even getting the 1/4 cup measurement from when they put the nutritional info on the package? Because obviously you cannot fit 28g into a 1/4 cup. I just want to know how many damn calories I'm eating. When the difference is literally TWICE AS MUCH between the 2 measurements, how do I know which they were using when they got the figure of 110 calories? Because if it was 1/4 cup, then I'm actually eating 220 calories if I go by the weight.

    Who the hell thought it was a good idea to measure anything other than LIQUID in measuring cups? The nutritional info is required by law to be on the package, but what the hell good does it do when it's so inaccurate and confusing? :(

    and you will know EXACTLY how many calories if you weigh stuff and forget the cups :)
  • dustyhockeymom
    dustyhockeymom Posts: 537 Member
    Want to hear something that will totally throw a monkey wrench in. When I weight 28 grams of my shredded cheese, it's less than a 1/4 cup which is also the other unit of measurement listed. :laugh: If I have the option I always go with the weight. Sometimes its more than the volume given and sometimes it's less but I think it is generally the most accurate way to do it.
  • BoxingClever
    BoxingClever Posts: 25 Member
    Want to hear something that will totally throw a monkey wrench in. When I weight 28 grams of my shredded cheese, it's less than a 1/4 cup which is also the other unit of measurement listed. :laugh: If I have the option I always go with the weight. Sometimes its more than the volume given and sometimes it's less but I think it is generally the most accurate way to do it.

    I was talking to a friend about this earlier, and the serving size for her shredded cheese was still 28g, but 1/8 cup. And when she put it in the measuring cup after weighing it, it was closer to 1/4 cup (which is what mine was supposed to be.) UGH!
    If 28g = 1oz (of ANYTHING) then why the hell don't they just put 1 OUNCE as the serving size? Why do they have to bring the cups into the picture? Bah.
  • lexik09
    lexik09 Posts: 132 Member
    It makes sense. A cup of flour doesn't weigh the same as a cup of sugar or a cup of shredded cheese. Shredded cheese is especially rough to measure by volume due to all of the space between the shreds.

    This is why so many of us on MFP keep telling others to BUY A SCALE. :bigsmile: Volume measurements are pretty useless. Weight is where it's at!

    I totally 100% agree!!! you should be weighing your food! thats where you will get the most accuracy! i would be lost without my scale.
  • PAnn1
    PAnn1 Posts: 530 Member
    A stick of butter is 1/2 cup.
  • MummyOfSeven
    MummyOfSeven Posts: 314 Member
    A stick of butter is 1/2 cup.

    That still doesn't tell us how much it weighs, which is pretty much the debate.
    Someone quoted: 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 4oz = (approx) 113g.

    I can't measure solid butter in cups. What am I supposed to do....mash it in til it fits?
    This measuring in cups thing is so hit and miss.
    *hugs scales fondly* :love:
  • jmuhnie
    jmuhnie Posts: 93 Member
    One stick of butter out of my fridge weighs 111 grams, 114 with the wrapper. So 1/2 cup is approximately 111 grams, 110 g for rounders. Now I hope the wife doesn't figure out I pretty much wasted a stick of butter messing around. :-)
  • Jain
    Jain Posts: 861 Member
    That definitely looks like 2-3oz of cheese. :P I WISH that was only 110 calories but it couldn't be as a simple cheese stick which is less cheese then that is 80 calories.

    I think your scale is wonky or I've been screwing myself over for awhile. :mad:

    There's nothing wrong with my scale. What's wrong are the units of measurement they're choosing to use for this crap. If it's not liquid, it shouldn't go in measuring cups. I would have to use a hydraulic press to get this 28g of cheese to fit in this damn cup. (okay, so I could probably do it by hand, but it would take quite a bit of effort)

    And I understand the suggestion to "err on the side of caution" and just use the cup, but then I'm ingesting HALF the nutrients that I intended to, if indeed the weight is what equals the 110 calories. Why would I want to mark down 1/4 cup of cheese as 110 calories if it's only 50?

    I guess what it boils down to is me just venting at this point. Whoever decided that solid objects should be measured in cups instead of by weight should be shot. I guess that concludes my case. Thanks for tuning in, everyone.

    The use of cups as a measure is historic. Early cookery books give all measurements in cups, because everyone had access to a cup, very few, if any, people had scales. I'm not sure why America has hung onto this way of measuring, but all the US cookbooks I have I've 'converted' the cups to weight. It's far more accurate.

    And I wouldn't take much notice of 'serving sugestions' 'cause thats all they are, sugestions.:smile:
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