Weighing your food

Meet my most used kitchen item. I did not personally buy this scale. I told my Grandma I wanted one for Christmas and she thought I like The Biggest Loser, so she bought me a Biggest Loser food scale. It works, so I don't care, but I really don't like The Biggest Loser.

I weigh ALL my food. The reason is that it seems that a slice of cheese or a piece of bread often weighs much more than the serving size states. That is why when I write out what I ate, it always says the grams or ounces, not a slice, or a piece. This is why.

My first example is this piece of provolone.

A serving size on the package is one slice/21grams. Obviously, this slice is more than 21g. The funny thing is there is actually a piece missing, so a slice could add up to 26g. I know you are saying this is not a big deal, but if you are doing Weight Watchers (or even counting calories) this will push your WWpt up from 1 to 2pts.

I always "trim" pieces off so that I can stay within the serving size. At the end of the bag I usually have enough trimmings to add up to another full slice.

Another example are Ezekiel Tortillas. A serving size is 57g. Most people would assume that one tortilla would be a single serving. Wrong.


This tortilla is 63grams.

You have to take off almost a quarter of the tortilla to equal out to the serving size on the bag.

Conversely, some things actually weigh less than the serving on the package. Bread is notorious for this. Obviously, not all slices are going to weigh the same. This slice is only 35g and a serving is 42g.

This excites me because I can add a few more pieces for nibbling.

I know this might seem really obsessive (hey, I do have OCD), but every thing adds up and I really like to know how many calories I consume a day. Not just for weight loss, but to make certain I don't go to low.

Lastly, I always weigh my oats. 1/2 cup does not equal what the container states a serving is. It is such a habit now, that I don't even think about it. I even put my dessert on my scale and measure out my whip cream.

Just make sure that you always have extra batteries on hand. Jeff had to go to CVS one night just so I could weigh my oats for the morning. Oh the joys of living with an obsessive-compulsive!