Measuring food

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mamabear0222
mamabear0222 Posts: 455 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Do you actually measure everything or guess?

I'm speaking specifically about meats ... I measure anything that can be measured properly with a cup or spoon measurement but I have no idea how much my chicken breasts weighs in oz for example ...

Do you have a food scale?
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Replies

  • cheerforsteelers
    cheerforsteelers Posts: 686 Member
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    I try and prepare meals the night before so I'm able to weigh everything out. I do have a scale that I got off of groupon and it has different settings like ounces and grams. It helps me realize how much I'm eating of everything and where I need to modify in terms of portions.
  • SONIA820
    SONIA820 Posts: 208 Member
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    I use my food scale for EVERYTHING!! I love it!!
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    Nothing can be measured correctly with a cup or a spoon.

    That's why we have scales.
  • ElderMae
    ElderMae Posts: 6 Member
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    I'm usually try to put everything on the scale but sometimes just eyeball it. For meat I like to weigh it out because my idea of a serving and the reality of a serving haven't quite lined up yet :)
  • HelenDootson
    HelenDootson Posts: 443 Member
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    I weigh everything!!
  • droogievesch
    droogievesch Posts: 202
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    I just got a food scale (they're not that expensive). My question is: Do I measure my meat raw or cooked? A 5oz steak raw ends up being a lot less once it's cooked.
  • missashley884
    missashley884 Posts: 188 Member
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    i would rather weigh my stuff.
  • mamabear0222
    mamabear0222 Posts: 455 Member
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    Nothing can be measured correctly with a cup or a spoon.

    That's why we have scales.

    Sorry for my ignorance but if I'm having a cup of milk, can I not just measure it in a cup?
    Or a tsp of peanut butter etc?
  • missashley884
    missashley884 Posts: 188 Member
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    I just got a food scale (they're not that expensive). My question is: Do I measure my meat raw or cooked? A 5oz steak raw ends up being a lot less once it's cooked.


    i usually weigh it raw
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    I use a food scale for anything calorie dense or easy to weight. Meat, fruit, grains, nuts, yogurt, etc. LOVE my food scale and I probably use it ten times a day or more. The only foods I don't use it with are liquids (measuring cup instead), greens like spinach or lettuce (too few calories for me to care about a gram here or there), and things like bread where the calorie count is per slice. Though fun fact: bread often weighs more than it ought to so you're consuming more calories than you think. I just don't care enough to weigh and do the math :)
  • mamabear0222
    mamabear0222 Posts: 455 Member
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    I just got a food scale (they're not that expensive). My question is: Do I measure my meat raw or cooked? A 5oz steak raw ends up being a lot less once it's cooked.

    Great question! I'd like to hear the answer to that too ...
  • missashley884
    missashley884 Posts: 188 Member
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    Nothing can be measured correctly with a cup or a spoon.

    That's why we have scales.

    Sorry for my ignorance but if I'm having a cup of milk, can I not just measure it in a cup?
    Or a tsp of peanut butter etc?


    lol liquids i would say are ok to measure, because they have the same density, as for the other stuff, weigh!
  • moss11
    moss11 Posts: 236 Member
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    Yip! I weigh everything I can. Fruit, veg, cheese, meat, cereal, nuts practically everything. It's been a real eye opener particularly baking potatoes!!!!!!
  • sarabluebell
    sarabluebell Posts: 68 Member
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    i use my scale for as much as i can...what a serving is and what i want a serving to be often differs,,,this way i know for sure
  • robinhardysmall
    robinhardysmall Posts: 246 Member
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    I weigh everything~ to the gram or ounce! and had much better success since starting to do so. I don't care if it is pretzels, chicken, steak, peas, etc...everything gets weighed.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    Sorry for my ignorance but if I'm having a cup of milk, can I not just measure it in a cup?
    Or a tsp of peanut butter etc?

    Liquids are typically measured in a measuring cup and the calories are determined by milliliters, not grams/ounces. Therefore, yes - use the measuring cup for liquids. It's pretty rare for a nutrition label to list info for liquid in grams.

    For peanut butter, I use a scale.
  • prairiedawg2014
    prairiedawg2014 Posts: 367
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    i use a flat digital food scale and i measure everything. that scale helps me tremendously! they aren't expensive....i think i paid $25
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    I estimate the weight of meat based on how much I prepare and what portion of the prepared meat I eat. So, If I cook a one pound package of chicken and I eat 1/4 of it, I enter 4 ounces of chicken in my diary.
  • crystal_darling
    crystal_darling Posts: 53 Member
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    I usually guess based on what the meat deparment put on it. For example yestarday I bought 2 chicken breasts and they were a little over a pound, I ate one and my bf ate one. Since there are 16 ounces in a pound I cut it in half, so 8, and added a few more ounces just incase.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    I just got a food scale (they're not that expensive). My question is: Do I measure my meat raw or cooked? A 5oz steak raw ends up being a lot less once it's cooked.

    Meat labels are usually for the raw weight. If you're using the MFP database, just choose the database item that matches the state of your meat.

    I most always weigh my meat raw, so I search for "chicken breast raw" and use the entry for that.

    I sometimes forget to weigh it raw, so then I search for "chicken breast cooked" and use that entry. However, I don't think that's as accurate. If you cook the *kitten* out of chicken, it's going to weigh less than a moist, perfectly cooked piece of chicken but the calorie count won't change.

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