SherrieC's Journal, 08 May 2014

The packaging gives nutrient info. by dry weight, at least on the ones I've seen. So I'd think to be accurate you'd need to weigh before you cook. Plus or volume after cooking would be somewhat dependent on how much water was absorbed. My 2 cents anyway, have a great day. 

I go with dry...if it's anything other than spaghetti, i just use a Pyrex measuring cup...if it is spaghetti, yeah, a cheap kitchen digital scale is best.  

So relieved for you that you can still go to your old doctor! As for the spaghetti questions, I've done it both ways. A kitchen scale is a MUST! I don't use it as much now, but it helped me determine what a 1 oz. serving of cheese looked like and how many frozen sweet potato fries constituted that 4 oz. serving size. Spaghetti is easier to measure in its cooked form because it fills the measuring cup without a lot of spaces. Rigatoni, not so much. I guess I just go by whatever the package says (prepared or dry) and then double check other entries here on FS to look for consistency of calorie count vs. amount. Hope that helps! If you buy a kitchen scale, make sure it has the "tare" feature so you can put a bowl or plate on it and then "zero" it out. Then, you can place food items that would roll off or not stay in the small area (such as rigatoni, lol). Once you measure an item one or two times, you get a feel for how much to serve in the future. 

I weigh everything. I find it helps me be more accountable and accurate. There comes a point when you are in the last stages of losing where the scale helps to determine a greater ratio of success, so even if you don't need it now, you may find you need it later anyways.  

Absolutely, buy a scale. It's amazing how wrong we all tend to guess. If you can weigh it, weight it. Something like cooked pasta, you're pretty much stuck with measuring cups. I even weight my eggs in the morning. It's routine now. 

I hate how offices won't tell you where your doctor moves. I get the whole contract and customer thing... but this isn't a financial advisor(which we had to track down or last one after he opened his own business, lol), this is a medical doctor and people aren't going to be comfortable with just anyone. I'm glad you were able to find out where your's went. For the noodle question, I have a scale in the kitchen but don't use it for noodles. For noodles I dump them in a measuring cup and eyeball about the amount of serving I want (half a cup, three fourths, whole cup, etc...). 

Great news on the doctor front. I completely understand how attached you can get to a doctor you've been with and like! Sorry, but I'm no help with the spaghetti as I rarely cook and am not a pasta eater. Xoxox 

I go with the dry measurement as well. 

I picked up the $5.00 scale and it has worked great.... yea for the doc situation.  

Okay so tomorrow I go out and buy a scale. Thank you all for your help. Things have gone well all day so far, I spent a couple of hours cutting down some brush and small trees along the garage lean to. Started to get some blisters. Called it a day and went to visit my dad and have a few beers with him. Now time to make dinner while hubby is at the gym. Talk with you all soon. 

SherrieC if it helps, you may no need scales. Everyday I write up in my diary the things I'm likely to eat for the day. With this app, everything you plug in gives you calorific value for a size eg an apple shows in small, medium or slices, or a cupful and so on. I find this helps me with portion size, so I hope it helps you too :) Good luck and hang in there. 

I have a digital food scale & I love it! 

Would you recommend buying scales? Does it help keeping portion size under control?  

Hi Stick. It really is essential. I read once that the average individual guesses their intake at 50% lower than it actually is. It's a diet buster without it. 

it's great for accuracy. most things will be more accurately by weight than by volume. i eat a lot of whole veggies (potatoes are my favorite) so i weight them and enter by the gram. you can also use it to weigh mail too ;) pretty handy!  

I weigh my protein powder as well. A 'scoop' doesn't mean much as powder settles. I have a large scale that I use for most everything that weights in 5 gr increments. I have a small electrical jeweler's scale that I use for small stuff. I'm a little 'off' myself. 

Thanks Northernmusician. I can see how a dash full of this evolve into a cup full :)