Beware: the Perils of measurement by volume, not weight
You'd think I'd know what I was doing by now ... I've been struggling the past few weeks to lose several pounds I gained on a recent international business trip. Usually the pounds would bounce back off in no time, but not this time. Truth be told, I have been creeping up a bit over the last several months, nearing my "red line", but not over it, so I figured I was OK. (I'm working out so it's muscle, sure, it's muscle not real weight gain, right?!) I have been faithfully logging and counting my calories and staying within "budget", so I couldn't figure out what was going on.
I remember that someone posted a video link not long ago, that visually demonstrated the variation between measuring foods by volume (tablespoon, cup, etc) and by WEIGHT. I've always measured by volume. So, I went out and bought an inexpensive scale that reads out to the nearest gram or .01 ounce and started measuring by weight to see if that was the problem.
Oh my oh my, a BIG difference! Some food servings weigh out at almost HALF of the supposedly-corresponding volume!! Which means that I've been underestimating the calorie count of those foods by nearly 50%, in other words, eating twice the calories I thought!
Not everything is like that, but enough. So, my problem is two-fold: In maintenance, I'd gotten a bit lax in my volume measurements anyway (eyeballing, heaping the cup full, etc) AND had re-introduced some higher calorie density foods that I was significantly undercounting because the volume measures I was using are actually more than a serving size.
So here I sit ... 2.5 pounds ABOVE red-line, looking at having to lose that last 5 pounds -- again. But at least now I understand what is going on.
So, if you are "plateau'd" and can't understand why, this may be a factor to consider.
I may not have been the one you remember, but I've posted that link a couple of times (it was oatmeal and peanut butter). I did an example like that in another thread a day or two ago. It was a simple breakfast where I weigh out my butter, bread and fruit. Easy enough to do. Eyeballing could have added almost 20% to the calorie count though. It's really easy to do, even when you think you're being careful.
i think that of the two issues (weight vs volume) and eyeballing, that eyeballing is the bigger issue. 1 TBSP is NOT A LOT of CREAM CHEESE or PEANUT BUTTER... or SALAD DRESSING
Weighing my food has changed my world. It's easy to round a T of peanut butter (especially the chunky kind), or to slice off an extra millimeter of butter, or whatever.
This is something professional bakers have known for years, though. If you look at most pro recipes, things like flour and sugar are measured in grams, not cups.
It does require a readjustment of your thinking though, doesn't it?
I saw that same link, the one with the video of the woman measuring by volume and then weighing the amount, right? I think it was on YouTube, I'll see if I can find it...
It totally changed me too - I went out and bought a food scale and I had been doing the volume thing with rice, trail mix, peanut butter, granola... I think I figured out that I was eating 300-600 more calories per day than I thought pre-scale.. I even bought a travel scale for work so I could weigh my trail mix snacks!
But ... on say, FitDay or CalorieKing ... how do we know if the calories they list are based on weight and converted to volume, or vice versa? Or measured separately for each?
Hungry Girl had a topic a month or so ago about measuring with a cup versus weight on cereal. It took me about 2 seconds to realize that eating fiberone cereal was part of the reason I was gaining weight. Cereal breaks during transport and if you measure using a measuring cup you are eating way more cereal than the manufacture represents.
I saw the video you're talking about! I can't remember where it was, but I was an eyeopener to me too! I went and bought a scale that I can tare and that weighs grams as well as ounces.
I can really pack a bunch of ice cream into a half cup, but when you are weighing it, you see what a difference it is.
I remember that my weight loss had significantly begun slowing until I purchased a food scale- found out I was both under and over estimating a lot of things- and suddenly the weight loss picked up pace again. Thanks for posting, I hope that maybe some struggling measuring cup people may see this and get inspired to buy a food scale of their own!
Photochick - I've been doing a bit of playing around with high-protein snack cakes (ie. 30% plus protein) and I really do find that weighing my ingredients is faster than measuring them. I drop a light metal bowl onto the scale and zero the ingredients, zeroing as I go. It seems to make the items more consistent as well. I haven't done it with bread yet, but I might start doing that as well.
JulieJ08 - I can't speak for CalorieKing, but I know that FitDay they appear to be generated separately. I say that because I tried measuring a cup of fruit (I think raspberries) this summer, and I definitely got a different number than the per ounce measurement. On packaged food (in Canada) you usually see the recommended serving size, followed by grams. That's when you start to see where they're off. My favourite flatbread does not equal the weight that two pieces is supposed to weigh, but that's okay because I always weigh it now. Same with the hummus. It's become a habit to put the plate on the scale and just plop on what I've decided to take, zero the scale, and then add my carrots.
I've started weighing (of all things) my protein powder. It turns out that a scoop was lighter than the serving size on the side of the container. And since I'm taking it to raise my protein levels, being light was a bad thing!
Anne - I weigh my protein powder, too, and I found the same thing! The container says one 'rounded scoop' is 29.4g, and when I weighed my 'rounded scoop' I got 20g. I guess it means a tightly packed, rounded scoop!
Beware: the Perils of measurement by volume, not weight
