r_wichman

Why is it that I can no longer create a custom food that has a volume measurement... i.e. cup. The only options I see now are weighted measurements.

mlschaeffer

I totally agree. I am new to Fitday and find this very frustrating. When adding custom foods, it would be easier to add the serving as 1/4 c. or 1 t., etc. Also when estimating the quantity of a portion, for example, from a restaurant meal, it is easier to eyeball the quantity as 1/2 c. for example rather than 3 oz. Did they just change this recently?

rusty_u

Agreed, this needs to come back.

MunaAmin

I disagree. Every cup has a different size, 100g of anything is always 100g, measuring with 'cups' as units is rather estimating.

llkilgore

Maybe so, but I don't have an analytical grade scientific balance in my kitchen, and the cheap dietary scale I do have isn't nearly so accurate. The standard measuring cups and spoons in my kitchen may not be scientific grade either, but unless void volume is an issue (as with sliced fresh mushrooms, for example) I'm a lot more comfortable with the level of precision I get from them than from the scale.

Probably the strongest argument for allowing use of volume measurements is that American cooks, at least, can't avoid them in the real world. Measuring something in a cup or tablespoon because the recipe calls for it to be measured that way, or because of the serving size specified in a nutritional facts panel, and then weighing it on a cheap dietary balance so we'll know how to enter it in the database does nothing to increase accuracy. Quite the opposite.

The only way around the problem seems to be to set serving size = 1 serving. What kind of sense does that make?

01gt4.6

yep. I use my digital food scale for everything. In fact went went bad the other day and I had to run out and get another one. $20, you get beat it.

llkilgore

So if a recipe calls for, say, a tablespoon of whipping cream, you... what?

01gt4.6

then I enter a tablespoon depending on what I'm cooking, I've been cooking for so long that I can usually eyeball it. Many of the recipes that I use already have the nutrition content listed, so it's not like I'm going to break everything down that's in the recipe into FitDay are you? If so, then weight out how much a tablespoon of whipping cream weighs. But the recipe will usually have either a serving size listed as weight or amount of servings that it makes, then I can weight it out from there. weighing your food sounds so tedious... until you do it then you realize how much easier it is.

llkilgore

Oh, I see, you use the scale, not so much for accuracy, as for convenience. You wouldn't talk about eye balling if accuracy were an overriding issue. I routinely use my scale for convenience too, unless it's more convenient to dispense with the fudge factor and use measuring cups or spoons instead. Or to eyeball something.

I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong with either approach, I just wish FitDay were more supportive of those of us who prefer to use the traditional measuring devices called for by the traditional recipes we're following in our traditional American kitchens.

01gt4.6

I use a scale for accuracy AND convenience. Trust me, if I'm cooking something that has whipping cream in it, which I do on occasion (Alfredo sauce), I'm not going to measure it. When I make an Alfredo sauce, it's going to be a cheat meal. I don't bother weighing, measuring, or anything for my cheat. I rarely even log them. Things with little nutritional value, I don't weight either, such as lettuce. You could eat a cup or a gazillion pounds (slight exaggeration)and the cals aren't going to differ much.

Oh I just logged my V8 juice, and it has an option for cup. Maybe you could find something like that in the database and edit it to meet your needs if you measure by size.