Why You Should Weigh Your Food

As I mentioned before, whether you're looking to lose weight or gain weight, monitoring your calories can be the biggest factor! There is no such thing as a "bad calorie," it is just a unit of measure. Yes, some foods have more than others (way more), but the food choices we make offer different benefits, or not, to our bodies.

Now, about that "healthy protein smoothie". So you blended your almond milk, oats, whey, banana, and Greek yogurt. Here's the problem--you measured your serving sizes with that measuring cup. Yes, this smoothie is going to give you that morning boost of energy and provide your body with a ton of wonderful nutrients, BUT you may have just consumed more than half of your calories for that day. This isn't a problem for people who have busy lifestyles and struggle to gain weight; but for people who are trying to lose weight, this can be a major inhibiting factor.

In the image below, I demonstrated using a measuring cup and a scale. One serving size of oats, based on a 2,000 calorie diet, is 40 grams, or 1/2 cup. I weighed 40g of the dry oats, and by default, this is 150 calories. When using the measuring cup, the total weight was 54g. This equates to 203 calories! That's 53 calories more than a serving. Now, if it was only the oats you were using a measuring cup for, then it does not greatly impact your calories throughout the day. But if you're that careful, I doubt you decide not to weigh your oats, only.

Using a scale over a measuring cup to portion your meals can greatly impact your calories and help you be more accurate while dieting--regardless of your goal.

Message me with any other fitness or diet-related questions you have and I would love to post your answers!

-Maria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb1jV2Rt3zE