Accurately measuring peanut butter
 

Alright ladies! I have a seemingly silly question. But how do you guys accurately measure your peanut butter? I've found that its more doable in my head to split the serving of PB (2 TBSP) into 4ths, so a teaspoon and a half each time. Do you guys just use your tbsp measurements and level it off with a knife? This morning when I was spreading my PB on my english muffin, it seemed like my teaspoon and a half was actually quite generous. It is just because I'm measuring wrong?

Thanks, I know this seems silly, but PB is such a trigger food for me, and I get a little freaked out when I see that a serving is 190 calories and 16 grams of fat. BUt I can't live without it! I just want to make sure my portion that ive divided is correct.

Yes-as you stated, just level it off with a knife. :)

Thanks Aphil-
Funny how when you start to calorie count, you want everything "just so". Thanks again.

Or you could weigh it.

When you level it off with the knife, try not to actually eat what remains on the knife. That could get you into trouble, calorie wise. ;)

You can buy a set of measuring spoons with a teaspoon and a half measure. ;) My tablespoon of PB always looks so tiny to me when I measure it out, so I can't imagine how small half of that would be. :lol:

Originally Posted by rockinrobin:
When you level it off with the knife, try not to actually eat what remains on the knife. That could get you into trouble, calorie wise. ;)

Falling into the jar is also frowned upon in calorie counting circles....but it's not unheard of. ;)

Haha! You guys make me laugh...yeah I'm trying to avoid that whole, head first into the jar thing. Seems like I'm less likely to do it if I know I was accurate, and diligent. No licking the knife! Check!

The only way I can really, accurately measure peanut butter is to leave it all in the jar on the shelf at the grocery store. For me, serving size = 1 jar. :(

I have decided to just leave it in the shelf too, I just can't do it. I start with all good intentions, I put it in the TBS, level it off with the knife....somehow mysteriously my tounge ends up on the knife...and sometimes the knife finds its way back in the jar for just another 'little' taste....oh I just can't do it. I don't know what it is about that stuff, I just can't control myself. :)

Hi! I was thinking about starting a calorie/kilojoule controlled diet, but I didn't realise that it comes down to measuring you rpeanut butter! Hats off to you ladies, I don't think I have that much patience!

Kylie

I'm glad I'm not the only one with PB issues! When I was doing Atkins a few months ago, I lost control one afternoon and found myself sitting down with a jar of PB and a spoon. The only thing that kept me from eating the entire jar is the fact that it was only half full to begin with! But man, was it good.

I sort of guesstimate it most of the time.

I use an old trick from my grandmother. She would show the kids how she was putting the (expensive!) butter on thick. Then she would turn so they could not really see and pass the knive over it, scraping a lot away again.

When done, you can see a lot of the bread still through the PB. It's for the taste, it doesn't feed me :) Plus -- I have found that I love saving calories, building that calorie deficit that I can snack with later on :)

If I really want to know though, I would weigh it. I do weigh my own home made bread for example. Weigh most warm foods as well. Salad and often veggies are less controlled.

I have found the absolutely easiest way to get the correct portion size is to use my food scale. I set the knife on the scale and hit the tare button to zero it out. Then I dig into the peanut butter. Then I weigh the knife and the PB. If I need a little more, I put a little more on the knife. If I took too much, I scrape some off into the peanut butter jar.

I hate trying to wash the measuring spoon after using it for peanut butter.

Kimberly

Originally Posted by paperdollme:
Alright ladies! I have a seemingly silly question. But how do you guys accurately measure your peanut butter? I've found that its more doable in my head to split the serving of PB (2 TBSP) into 4ths, so a teaspoon and a half each time. Do you guys just use your tbsp measurements and level it off with a knife? This morning when I was spreading my PB on my english muffin, it seemed like my teaspoon and a half was actually quite generous. It is just because I'm measuring wrong?

Thanks, I know this seems silly, but PB is such a trigger food for me, and I get a little freaked out when I see that a serving is 190 calories and 16 grams of fat. BUt I can't live without it! I just want to make sure my portion that ive divided is correct.

I put my bread on the scale and zero the scale, then spread my PB (well in my case Almond butter) on the toast and weigh it. (or celery or whatever)

My typical serving is 5/8 oz - thats just what I tend to scoop.

Originally Posted by Elerine:
Hi! I was thinking about starting a calorie/kilojoule controlled diet, but I didn't realise that it comes down to measuring you rpeanut butter! Hats off to you ladies, I don't think I have that much patience!

Kylie

I am the laziest calorie counter around. I call all salads "salad" all eggbeater omelets the same. Basically if a low calorie food like veggies are involved I have a custom fitday of the most common ones i use combined in one food and just go with that and figure it averages out

I only weigh/measure high caloric foods or foods I havent had in awhile just to reacquaint myself with what a portion looks like.

I'm a scale fiend and weigh my pb too. Though I have to say, I seem to be pretty accurate knowing what 1 tbsp is. I still weigh it when I'm at home though.

You know you weigh your food when you wish recipes would give you weights and not volumes for ingredients!

Thank you to all you suggested weighing PB instead of measuring it in a measuring spoon. It's SO much easier and less messy!! I'll never go back. :D

OMG, Meg, you learned something from US! That is so cool!! I guess I think of you as the wisdom dispenser. It's good to be reminded there's always something new to learn.

If I felt like I had to weigh everything or use a knife to level off a tablespoon to make sure I'm getting 90 calories instead of 95... I think I'd hang myself. Or at the very least, give up and just be fat the rest of my life.

I want to feel like a normal human being who's just making good food choices. So, I eyeball. And I eyeball *honestly*. If you need to measure a tablespoon, I'd think doing it once or twice would give you the idea of what it should look like... I'm curious as to why someone would need to measure it that way every single time? Reminds me of a show I saw about an anorexic who would count out and weigh every single thing she put in her mouth. It became a weird obsession.

Not that y'all are anorexic, it was just a weird similarity.

smartbutt, I weigh periodically because I have found that tablesoons tend to grow on me over time if I am not careful. Its also why I weigh instead of measure. I dig out what I think is the right portion and spread it on my bread and then check. I dont correct it if I am wrong, I just log the amount. Then I see what it looks like both on the bread and on a knife, but it moves me away from reliance on measuring devices.

for a lot of people pb is a trigger food. It is a useful technique to control trigger foods if you measure every time. I weigh icecream most of the time because of that.

Smartbutt -- it's not a bad question. I weigh when I can, because as ennay said, portions tend to grow in my mind when not matched by reality from time to time.

I get what you're saying. I calorie count to try to make healthier choices and make myself accountable. I know I'm not 100% accurate in many situations, and I'm okay with that.

But I know that when I let myself get complacent, my portions grow.

I eat peanut butter every day, and have done so for about 6 months. It was only a month ago that I stopped measuring it almost every day. It kind of just became a routine more than an obesession...I didn't really focus on it all that much. I did measure one more time a few days ago, just to see if I was still on track. However, I no longer feel the need to measure it out daily...the bread and the appearance of the amount of the peanut butter is enough for me now. However, I'm not trying to lose any more weight, so I may have more leway that those who are seriously trying to lose, particulary since peanut butter is so calorie dense.

I do measure a couple other things out, and to some extent it's because I want to enter them into fitday. However, it also just helps me to get the right amount of food that I want. I measure my cream of wheat and milk in the morning so that the ratios of the ingredients are pretty consistent. In this way, I know exactly how much time it needs in the microwave...I avoid an "overflow" situation that way! I also get exactly the amount that I need to stay satisfied until lunch. I also know exactly how long a bottle of Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce will last because I use 1/3 of a cup every day. I measure my rice that I cook for dinner, and each time, I get exactly what I need to satisfy me.

So...I do like measuring. Though it may seem like it's a little neurotic at times, it also helps to make sure you cook the perfect amount of food to keep you well fed!

I don't own a food scale, so I've never weighed anything -- I estimate weights in my mind unless it's provided for me on the package.

Don't get me wrong, I measure and weigh certain things, because it is hard to guesstimate something you don't eat all the time. I guess I was just a little startled by the "use a knife to level off your tablespoon" accuracy. To be 100% honest, that scares me :eek:

I guess if it is a trigger food, using strict discipline would help in some cases.

I just worry that talk like that will scare off new people, like the person who posted earlier. I don't want anyone thinking that calorie counting must entail keeping a ruler, measuring tape, and scale with you at all times. :)

I'm another one who only measures/weighs from time to time. I do it the once to get an idea and then I kinda eyeball it. But I do find it beneficial to "remind" myself every now and then of what a TBS of peanut butter looks like, or a 4 oz. chicken cutlet, a 1/2 cup of grapes etc., etc. Portion control was/is/was a very big issue for me and I never want to fall in that trap again of eating more then I "should".

For dense calorie foods like PB, I almost always measure or weigh them when I'm eating at home, but I will just eyeball it if I'm eating outside my home. (and try to estimate high). I am much less vigilent even at home for things that are pretty calorie-friendly (lettuce, veggies, etc.) or that aren't trigger foods.

Level it with a knife or you could easily end up with twice the cals you want.:)

I measure everything and I'm as obsessed with it as I am with flossing.

Five days, 20 hours, 2 minutes. 116 cigarettes not smoked, saving $35.01. Life saved: 9 hours, 40 minutes.

Thought about this discussion again today. Like I mentioned above, I don't own a food scale. I haven't purchased one at this point, because on some deeper level, I do fear that I might be going a little over the edge into obsession if I buy one. Still, I can't help but to think about getting one. I continue to use my measuring cup and spoons, but on some level, I do understand the trepidation that some people have about getting into the habit of measuring everything.

At this point, I've been calorie counting officially for about 6 months, and things haven't gone badly without a food scale. I think about buying one to be more precise, but then I have to stop and think about what the point of that is. If my weight is doing fairly ok without one, it's makes me wonder if it's mental and not physical need for a food scale. It might make me a little less "normal" in my approach to eating, I guess.

The interesting thing about my story is that I never strictly counted calories until after I was pretty much done losing weight. For me, it was more about maintaining my weight in a situation where my daily life had changed drastically from what it was when I lost my weight (I had a pretty involved work schedule at that time). I've been basically unemployed for the last 6 months (with studying for some board exams in there somewhere), and I was worried about the eating getting out of hand while home so much. Now, I'm starting work very soon. I wonder if I'll stop calorie counting as precisely as I am now once I'm more busy with work.

Tara, I can completely understand why you started counting calories. It makes perfect sense to me.

Like I mentioned earlier, I DON'T measure everything. Although I do from time to time. I have never measured vegetables. I don't even measure oil, I think I know what a teaspoon of oil looks like. I approximate my calories. I always count up, figuring it's better to err on the side of caution. So far I'm steadily losing. If that were to stop, I think it's a real possibility that I might measure A LOT more often. Or always. I really hope it doesn't come to that. But I am willing at this point to do whatever it takes to keep on losing. That didn't come out right. I'm not willing to do WHATEVER it takes. I'm only willing to do what is healthy.

Originally Posted by rockinrobin:
But I am willing at this point to do whatever it takes to keep on losing. That didn't come out right. I'm not willing to do WHATEVER it takes. I'm only willing to do what is healthy.

Amen.

Originally Posted by SmartButt:
Don't get me wrong, I measure and weigh certain things, because it is hard to guesstimate something you don't eat all the time. I guess I was just a little startled by the "use a knife to level off your tablespoon" accuracy. To be 100% honest, that scares me :eek:

I guess if it is a trigger food, using strict discipline would help in some cases.

I just worry that talk like that will scare off new people, like the person who posted earlier. I don't want anyone thinking that calorie counting must entail keeping a ruler, measuring tape, and scale with you at all times. :)

I don't use a measuring tape with my food. :) For an apple, a small one is about 80 calories. The difference is, small ones come in the "bags", and the larger ones are the ones that are in the bins by themselves, that you bag yourself. Those large apples are often double the size...once you know that, you don't have to measure apples. :lol: So, I don't. I just buy the small ones.

I own a food scale, but the only thing I ever use it for is meat. I am not obsessive about that at all.

As far as measuring portions...if I am at someone else's house, or at a restaurant, I eyeball. BUT-I do measure at home. Really, it isn't a big deal. It takes me 5 seconds extra, tops to measure peanut butter.

For me personally, I am more careful with my measurements on butter, oil, and peanut butter than most other foods-because they are very caloric foods for the serving size.

If you are eating a 1 cup serving of grapes or berries, going over a tad when you eyeball might put you at an extra 5 or 10 calories...but going over a tad on peanut butter or oil might set you back 50-60 if you overestimate. If you do that on a daily basis...it could be 400 calories by the end of the week.

If I have juice or milk or another higher calorie drink-I found a very simple way to ensure the proper portion without measuring it and then pouring it into a glass. I have a shaker cup that has ounces marked on the side (like a baby bottle would) and I just pour it directly into that cup. Problem solved.

There are so many tricks to calorie counting to make it easier and not obsessive.

I find though, that when I keep track of my portions better at home, that when I am somewhere else, I can eyeball more accurately. If I stopped measuring for a month, my 1/2 cup eyeball would slowly turn into 3/4 cup I am sure...

I am aiming this at new people as well-because the first couple days you might think calorie counting is so hard, and so time consuming. It really isn't. You memorize the calories of foods that you eat often, and you no longer have to look them up.

In my case for instance-large egg-70 calories, 1 cup of strawberries-45 calories, 1 serving of oatmeal (in cannister)-150 calories, small banana-110 calories...I don't have to look any of this up-I already know them! I could rattle off hundreds more... :lol:

It really isn't difficult or obsessive, once you get things down. I am so used to THIS, that memorizing the induction phase of South Beach Diet would seem tedious and difficult. :lol: