Kitchen scale... Use em?

azcowgirrlup

I am wondering how many of you use a kitchen scale. . They seem rather inexpensive, but I don't need another kitchen tool that I don't use. . Are they really helpful to you? I do wonder if some of my portions are off, but I am curious if a scale has helped any of you. TIA!

ChoiceNotChance

Absolutely. Every day. I count calories as well as carbs and that's the only way I really know what's going in.

GSD_Mama

I use scale all the time, it's getting to the point that I pretty much know what food weights what, but sometimes I need that assurance to keep with my macros and goals

wabmester

GSD_Mama wrote: »

it's getting to the point that I pretty much know what food weights

That's what I found. I only used it in the early days till I was pretty well trained on portion sizes.

CoffeeNBooze

Yes, much more accurate with my scale. And a lot fewer measuring cups/spoons to clean.

DittoDan

azcowgirrlup wrote: »

I am wondering how many of you use a kitchen scale. . They seem rather inexpensive, but I don't need another kitchen tool that I don't use. . Are they really helpful to you? I do wonder if some of my portions are off, but I am curious if a scale has helped any of you. TIA!

Ditto all of the above. If your plan is to lose weight, then a scale is an excellent tool. I religiously use MFP and a kitchen scale. Now that I've used the scale for 8ish months and since I will be entering maintenance by the end of the year, ~ I want to be able to know how much food I am ingesting. Yes, its a hassle now, logging and weighing, but they are teaching tools. My goal, in maintenance, is to eat properly without the use of scales and MFP.

And its certainly an eye opener to how easy it is to put too much (calories and/or carbs) on your plate. To not use a scale & MFP, would be like trying to run a company without the use of accounting software, and not write down your checks in your checkbook ledger. Use this analogy:

Kitchen scale/Weighing food = how much the check amount is
MFP = a checkbook ledger and/or accounting software

Do you think a company could survive without the two things above? MFP and scales help us correctly account for carbs & calories.

I help people now in my church, and I tell them to forget about successfully losing weight if they can't, at minimum, do MFP. I further tell those, that eat a lot of home cooked meals, to get a scale. If you eat at chain restaurants, you pretty much can find the correct size/portion on MFP. But the home cooked meals don't have bar-codes on them.

I hope this helps,

Dan the Man from Michigan
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups
Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet
DittoDan's Keto Blogs

35in90

I love mine! Also comes in handy for recipes.

radiii

I use it, and unlike lots of kitchen things, it really takes up very little space and is not expensive compared to many other things you can get for the kitchen.

AlabasterVerve

I don't think you need one -- in fact I know you don't need one. Before MFP I never weighed my food and was just as successful counting calories approximating serving sizes and using measuring cups but I have a scale now and use it everyday. It's quicker and easier and it's really nice to know exactly how much meat and produce I'm eating instead of guesstimating.

It's not needed but I think most people find it helpful; it takes the guess work out of logging.

pedidiva

Love my scale. Daily user. It is a pretty cheap one. Got it at WalMart.

professionalHobbyist

An accurate scale leads to an accurate food log.

Potentially



If you use it!

I like my scale. Used it this morning to weigh some mixed nuts. Last night after trimming a steak.

Monklady123

I use one and it's very helpful. Very! It's amazing to discover how much I'd really been eating. Seeing how many cashews is 1 oz. vs. how many I'd been eating before. omg...

I bought a digital one that's really flat and fits nicely on top of my microwave which has a very small clearance between it and the cupboard above. So the scale isn't in my way at all. I don't even worry too much about if it's getting dusty because I never put food directly on it. I use a plate or something and put the food in that. So I just wipe it as I'm wiping up around the counter.

minties82

I definitely need one.

professionalHobbyist

Monklady123 wrote: »

I use one and it's very helpful. Very! It's amazing to discover how much I'd really been eating. Seeing how many cashews is 1 oz. vs. how many I'd been eating before. omg...

I bought a digital one that's really flat and fits nicely on top of my microwave which has a very small clearance between it and the cupboard above. So the scale isn't in my way at all. I don't even worry too much about if it's getting dusty because I never put food directly on it. I use a plate or something and put the food in that. So I just wipe it as I'm wiping up around the counter.

On the cahsews...

1/4 cup serving. That is silly. Who eats that tiny bit? That is a tease not a serving!

A single ounce as well. Just not right.

CoconuttyMummy

You NEED a kitchen scale if you want to log accurately - id be lost without mine.

azcowgirrlup

Thank you everyone sooooo much! I just ordered one and it should be here Monday. I see now that I probably should have bought one sooner, but I really didn't even think of it until today. I am wondering how far over I am going to discover I have been on my estimating... Yikes!

I really need to succeed at this and I agree, it will be a necessary tool for my success.

You are all so supportive. Thank you!

CoconuttyMummy

Great stuff, azcowgirrlup - it'll really help you get to grips with portion sizes etc and improves your accuracy with logging ten-fold.

KetoGirl83

When I joined MFP I thought that to weigh and log everything was a bore. I sometimes used to log but I guesstimated the weight. Then I started ZC and because it was such an extreme diet I wanted a rigorous idea of what was happening so for the last month I weighed everything except seasonings. Guess what? My "guesstimates" were almost always wrong, sometimes by a lot. So, still a bore but now I use the scale for everything and log what I actually eat.

Fvaisey

I use mine pretty much every day. Doesn't use much space and keeps portion creep away.

auntstephie321

I use mine daily, I actually found for a lot of things that my guesstimates were under what the actual serving size was. You definitely need one for accurate logging.

spush

I use mine too! Can't be dealing with guessing and cup sizes

pamsdish

I too have the slim flat type, I weigh everything, well mostly, I am terrible at guessing weight and shocked at what I consider a portion weighs so much.

professionalHobbyist

I have been amazed at how much fat I pay $9 a pound for!

In trimming steaks to get rid of some fat calories, I weigh the trimmings of fat or gristle.

Steak is a tiny chunk for a half pound. Cod fish is a big chunk for a half pound.

The old fist sized portion isn't a good accurate measure for me!

azcowgirrlup

My scale arrived today and I used it to make some burgers to keep in the freezer. They all looked the same until I weighed them. I wanted to see how well I would do without the scale... not very well! I was surprised by how much blue cheese is in an ounce though, way more than I thought.

Carol_

Love the scale! And weighing food! My very old scale, ( likely a cheap one from Walmart ) broke last week. But it took up very little room and I loved it and had it for about 10 years. The one I now use every day..is bigger ( A Weight Watcher's digital scale)..and still fits right on top of my Microwave. But, I'm sayin' the old cheap one was good, and lasted forever..AND fit in a freezer bag in my pocketbook. Weighing gets easier..and actually fun! lol

tomatoey

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

I don't think you need one -- in fact I know you don't need one. Before MFP I never weighed my food and was just as successful counting calories approximating serving sizes and using measuring cups but I have a scale now and use it everyday. It's quicker and easier and it's really nice to know exactly how much meat and produce I'm eating instead of guesstimating.

It's not needed but I think most people find it helpful; it takes the guess work out of logging.

I lost the bulk of my weight just using measuring cups and doing some estimation/math (e.g. dividing the total by portions, eyeballed, but carefully). OTOH, back then, I was able to burn a lot more via exercise, so maybe that gave me a greater margin of error.

The scales I've used have all gone wonky on me, but I might get another one to stop having to do math so often.

Carol_

tomatoey wrote: »

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

I don't think you need one -- in fact I know you don't need one. Before MFP I never weighed my food and was just as successful counting calories approximating serving sizes and using measuring cups but I have a scale now and use it everyday. It's quicker and easier and it's really nice to know exactly how much meat and produce I'm eating instead of guesstimating.

It's not needed but I think most people find it helpful; it takes the guess work out of logging.

I lost the bulk of my weight just using measuring cups and doing some estimation/math (e.g. dividing the total by portions, eyeballed, but carefully). OTOH, back then, I was able to burn a lot more via exercise, so maybe that gave me a greater margin of error.

The scales I've used have all gone wonky on me, but I might get another one to stop having to do math so often.

That is the way I did it at Weight Watchers too. And I lost weight almost every week. I think my 'guessing & estimates' must have been better back then. lol PLUS...I was working 12 hour shifts some days.

professionalHobbyist

13.5 ounce steak

Looks smaller than 10 ounces of hamburger

So I could have cheated myself out of some steak here if not for the scale!

tlmeyn

*Yep, weigh most things in grams. sometimes I use spoons, but mostly grams

DianaElena76

I was so excited to get my scale! And I learned I was definitely underestimating my cheese intake. But I don't use it every day. I used it to get a feel for how much an ounce is, etc., and then I don't use it for a while. Then I use it again for a few days... or any time I have a question or feel like I might not be logging accurately. So yes, I have one, and yes, I find it helpful, but no, I don't use it religiously. I'm glad I have it though!!

SkinnyKerinny

I just eyeball it just because if I spend too much time logging foods I may not continue due to the hassle factor. My health is really important and I am serious about getting the extra weight off but I have such limited energy I try to spend it in the areas that will help the most. As long as I'm losing I won't use a scale. But if I'm not then it would make sense to use one.