Grams and cups

andi · Sat, December 31st, 2005, 05:01 PM

Greetings all! I'm back! (I've got a new journal in the VIP section called "188.4" if the members wanna read.)

It's new years day here in Australia! Happy New Year! I started with a nice hard ride on the Lifecycle and a healthy breakfast, which I'm now attempting to enter into Fit Day.

Just one problem.

I've noticed Australian foods are labeled weirdly- they're inconsistent as to serving size measurements, calories vs. kilojoules (some list only kJ, others list both), etc.

I just had one US cup of cereal. The label gives values based on a 40 gram serving. How the heck do I figure this out?

From http://www.onlineconversion.com/faq_03.htm:
"If the substance is food, such as flour, sugar, or a dietary supplement, about the only thing you can do is find a scale and weigh it. I'd like to give an easier answer, but there just isn't one."

Unfortunately I don't have a food scale. Any suggestions? Should I just guess?!

guava · Sat, December 31st, 2005, 06:21 PM

Does fitday give an option to select ounces of cereal? That can be converted from grams.

Because grams is a weight and cups is a volume, they cannot be converted in general; only for specific foods. The packaging in Canada lists both cups and grams for most cereals, and there's a large variation based on the type of cereal. 30 g is 1 C of Cheerios, or 2/3 C Shreddies. My frosted Mini Wheats list grams only and equates it to pieces of cereal, not volume.

If you're going to always be eating the same cereal, you can dump out the package and measure how many cups are in it, then calculate it from there. Otherwise, just guess.

I suppose your recipes work the same way then, do they? Cookbooks from England drive me nuts. I do have a scale, packed away somewhere, but it's so much easier to scoop out a cup of flour than to weigh how much I need to use.

andi · Sat, December 31st, 2005, 07:51 PM

Yep, fitday does ounces. Here's a stupid question... when I google "ounces in a cup" it specifies that it's 8 fluid ounces. Does that matter? Cuz if a cup of cereal really is 8 ounces, that's roughly 227 grams. Crap! It says on the cereal that a serving is 40 grams!!!

Hort · Sat, December 31st, 2005, 08:51 PM

Try this site: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/gram_calc.htm

Go to the main conversions page for many more options.

guava · Sat, December 31st, 2005, 08:52 PM

Fluid ounces are different than ounces. I've never understood what fluid ounces are.

Watch Out!
Always remember to double check your recipe. There is a big difference between Fluid Ounces which is a volume measurement and Dry Ounces which is a weight measurement.

1 pound = 16 ounces = 454 g

8 ounces of cereal is 227 g, but that's WAY more than a cup.
A cup of cereal is about 25 - 45 g depending on how dense it is. If your cereal is about as airy as Cheerios or Bran flakes, then 40 g is more than a cup. If it's heavier like granola, then 40 g could be closer to 3/4 C.

andi · Sat, December 31st, 2005, 09:06 PM

Thank you both! Hort, using the main conversions page I was able to determine that Guava is right, my cereal (wheat, corn, oats and rice flakes with berries) is about 40 grams. Awesome.

It's weird walking into a grocery store and not being able to find Kashi anymore

Hort · Sun, January 1st, 2006, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andi

It's weird walking into a grocery store and not being able to find Kashi anymore

But you can get Vegemite...

A buddy of mine from Whyalla mailed me some...

andi · Sun, January 1st, 2006, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hort

But you can get Vegemite...

Yeah, the smell of that stuff alone has kept me from putting any in my mouth. Come on. Who really wants to eat brewer's yeast leftovers from beermaking?? Gross.