for those of you who don't like to hear "buy a scale and weigh"
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All individually before cooking. In particular high calorie items such as the oil (and finding an entry where the oil is in grams is always fun).
If you want to be (starts with a, err) thorough, about it, weigh the final product too in total before splitting it into portions.
I.e. 300g broccoli, 300g chicken. 300g onion, 300g carrots raw are 1000cal based on the entries in the database.
Cooked they yield 1000g product.
So if you eat 410g of finished product you know that it would be 410Cal
I get really ticked these days if things dive out of the pot after they've been weighed!!!!
All numbers random for illustration purposes.
this seriously changed my life. I was like ok so I'm making lasagna how am I going to know what my little portion is. everyone should know this!
Recipe builder, though the various entries may take a bit of tweaking after the fact till you find the right ones.
I generally just jot the ingredients on a piece of paper and deal with the data entry afterwards.
Initially select a random portion size. Then when you're done and you know the final weight, go back and edit the recipe again, and make the total portions such that a portion ends up as either 10 or 100g depending on what makes more sense to you.0 -
LiftAndBalance wrote: »lindaloo9331 wrote: »
Make sure you weigh the dish its going in before u fill it up so u can subtract that weight without having to dirty another pan just to weigh the finished food. I forget sometimes and am really mad at myself when I have to transfer it all out of whatever I cooked it in. I hate washing dishes!All individually before cooking. In particular high calorie items such as the oil (and finding an entry where the oil is in grams is always fun).
If you want to be (starts with a, err) thorough, about it, weigh the final product too in total before splitting it into portions.
I.e. 300g broccoli, 300g chicken. 300g onion, 300g carrots raw are 1000cal based on the entries in the database.
Cooked they yield 1000g product.
So if you eat 410g of finished product you know that it would be 410Cal
I get really ticked these days if things dive out of the pot after they've been weighed!!!!
All numbers random for illustration purposes.
this seriously changed my life. I was like ok so I'm making lasagna how am I going to know what my little portion is. everyone should know this!
I have a list on my phone with the weight of all my pots and pans because I always forget to weigh them when I cook.
Ha!!! Guess what Im doing when I get home!?!?!?!?
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I was completely delusional about portion sizes - particularly pasta and bread - weighing my food was essential for my progress. Now that I have got more used to portions, I trust myself to guess in situations in which I am unable to weigh such as restaurants and social occasions.
I might be getting a new job which has a funded buffet canteen. I will be going down a few floors and eating with my colleagues in a communal dining area, there will be no opportunity to sneak my food off to a corner to weigh it. That will be challenging. I will have to trust myself to eye-ball my lunch every day. I think I am up for it though and will still weigh my breakfast and dinner and weigh myself daily to see that I stay on track.
For me personally, but perhaps not for others (I notice on this site that unless you are specific about your disclaimer, people get their panties in a knot and accuse you of speaking for them - newsflash folks, if someone is posting something, they are always stating an opinion, it really should be a given) weighing my food with a digital scale is easier and less stressful than guessing portion sizes. I am pretty certain that this will stay a part of my life from this point onward.0 -
I had no idea how much I was eating. For example, in 2005 I was 152, 2010 was 188, 2015 starting weight 213! So January I bought a food scale, used mpf, got a fitbit. Current weight 176 and still losing a pound every week! Just from knowing how much to put in my body and how much I burn. Thank you food scale!0
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starling01 wrote: »I spent the last couple of years losing 70 pounds, put some of it back on last fall/winter when I ran into a perfect storm of divorce, illness, financial collapse and the long slow death of my beloved dog to diabetes. I crawled under the covers so to speak and ate pizza and brownies for months. It was atypical for me; I don't ever want to eat another brownie either.
I never weighed anything when I began to lose weight the first time. I bought a scale once and couldn't figure out how to change the battery when it died so I never replaced it. When I started losing again last month, I didn't bother with a scale at first. After reading threads here, I bought one a few days ago.
My experience is exactly the opposite. I consistently underestimated the weight of the food I eat. Looking at the scale now, I don't believe it and I'm still going to cut the portions to be sure. I could make one chicken breast last almost a week, so I think I'm going to continue to eat that way just in case I'm weighing it wrong.
It's interesting to see the variety of methods that work for different people.
Huh? A single chicken breast? Last more than a meal let alone a week?
Does not compute
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I've been weighing my food for over a year and it's no hassle to me at all
I have been cooking for years too...I'm still rubbish at eyeballing portions ...absolutely get it wrong ...all the time
Sometimes I test myself and don't look at the scale
Nope still wrong
I shall be weighing for life I think0 -
I used a scale to lose most of my 20 lbs. And for part of maintenance. It really helped a lot and gave me a better idea of serving sizes. And then I began intuitive eating and took a break from the scale. And it worked. It was fine. I'm now trying to lose that last bit of fat that I want to lose and I'm back to the scale most of the time (when my MIL cooks or I go out, obviously I have to guestimate, and I'm okay with that too). I think flexibility is a good thing in life.0
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starling01 wrote: »I spent the last couple of years losing 70 pounds, put some of it back on last fall/winter when I ran into a perfect storm of divorce, illness, financial collapse and the long slow death of my beloved dog to diabetes. I crawled under the covers so to speak and ate pizza and brownies for months. It was atypical for me; I don't ever want to eat another brownie either.
I never weighed anything when I began to lose weight the first time. I bought a scale once and couldn't figure out how to change the battery when it died so I never replaced it. When I started losing again last month, I didn't bother with a scale at first. After reading threads here, I bought one a few days ago.
My experience is exactly the opposite. I consistently underestimated the weight of the food I eat. Looking at the scale now, I don't believe it and I'm still going to cut the portions to be sure. I could make one chicken breast last almost a week, so I think I'm going to continue to eat that way just in case I'm weighing it wrong.
It's interesting to see the variety of methods that work for different people.
Huh? A single chicken breast? Last more than a meal let alone a week?
Does not compute
Haha same here. I will say that I did find that I was over estimating chicken as well, and was able to add more. Especially the boneless skinless types, those aren't always too high per serving (check the package!) LOL
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starling01 wrote: »
Huh? A single chicken breast? Last more than a meal let alone a week?
Does not computestarling01 wrote: »I spent the last couple of years losing 70 pounds, put some of it back on last fall/winter when I ran into a perfect storm of divorce, illness, financial collapse and the long slow death of my beloved dog to diabetes. I crawled under the covers so to speak and ate pizza and brownies for months. It was atypical for me; I don't ever want to eat another brownie either.
I never weighed anything when I began to lose weight the first time. I bought a scale once and couldn't figure out how to change the battery when it died so I never replaced it. When I started losing again last month, I didn't bother with a scale at first. After reading threads here, I bought one a few days ago.
My experience is exactly the opposite. I consistently underestimated the weight of the food I eat. Looking at the scale now, I don't believe it and I'm still going to cut the portions to be sure. I could make one chicken breast last almost a week, so I think I'm going to continue to eat that way just in case I'm weighing it wrong.
It's interesting to see the variety of methods that work for different people.
Huh? A single chicken breast? Last more than a meal let alone a week?
Does not compute
I don't eat a lot of chicken at this point. After three years of chicken every single day, I try to make up for the protein in other ways. The pics of various weights of chicken (size of deck of cards, etc.) don't match what the scale is saying, that's all.0 -
I'm shocked at how many people think weighing is so time consuming and whatnot...it's really fecking easy to put a plate on a scale...slap on 4 ounces of chicken and tare...3 ounces of black beans and tare...6 ounces of veg and tare. It's way faster than using measuring cups and whatnot and you don't have a million dirty dishes to wash.
I'm also shocked at how many people don't actually know how to use a food scale...I don't know, maybe it's because I worked in the food service industry and we used scales all of the time...but really, using a food scale takes about zero skillz0 -
Yeah, I put the plate on the scale instead of the counter and hit TARE a couple of times.0
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I get this little burst of excitement when I weigh my food and it is dead on the first time. Who's da wo-man?! Lol. It's also fun when you see your portion size is bigger than you thought it was.
It doesn't take that much time, food scales are inexpensive, and I need my diary to be as accurate as possible - especially when I'm finally starting to close in on my GW and because there are times that you simply cannot weigh your food (at a restaurant, someone else's home, etc.) Invest people! It will help!
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I've been weighing my food for about 8 years now and not only have I stopped noticing it taking more time than eyeballing, I get so so so uncomfortable when I don't weigh. Maybe not entirely healthy but meh 0
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DeguelloTex wrote: »Yeah, I put the plate on the scale instead of the counter and hit TARE a couple of times.
My scale goes up to 20 lb so I can put the pan or the bowl on it and weigh all of the ingredients directly into it (taring after each one). The only thing too heavy with container and food combined is my crock pot (the crock itself is about 15 lb) so I use a bowl and dump into the crock after weighing.
I also play the guessing game by taking a serving, guessing the amount, then weighing it. I am usually pretty close these days. Close enough that I don't take the scale when I go visit my Mom because I am confident enough in my eyeballing to not worry about it when I am not at home. Back home, back to weighing!
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starling01 wrote: »
I don't eat a lot of chicken at this point. After three years of chicken every single day, I try to make up for the protein in other ways. The pics of various weights of chicken (size of deck of cards, etc.) don't match what the scale is saying, that's all.
I think that's kind of the point when people say weigh! Various estimating methods are not always that reliablecwolfman13 wrote: »I'm shocked at how many people think weighing is so time consuming and whatnot...it's really fecking easy to put a plate on a scale...slap on 4 ounces of chicken and tare...3 ounces of black beans and tare...6 ounces of veg and tare. It's way faster than using measuring cups and whatnot and you don't have a million dirty dishes to wash.
I'm also shocked at how many people don't actually know how to use a food scale...I don't know, maybe it's because I worked in the food service industry and we used scales all of the time...but really, using a food scale takes about zero skillz
I'll go you one better - never knew what the heck one was until I read about it on the forumz. But a $15 tool that could help me lose weight in a way that was rational and I could understand, I felt I had absolutely nothing to lose!
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I actually have 2 scales, one for home and one for work. This allows me to bring a bag of produce or a thing of yogurt into work and weight it out there, it also means that if I decide impromptu to have something that's in the break room I can weigh it.0
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girlviernes wrote: »I actually have 2 scales, one for home and one for work. This allows me to bring a bag of produce or a thing of yogurt into work and weight it out there, it also means that if I decide impromptu to have something that's in the break room I can weigh it.
that's a great idea. Smart!0 -
I have lost almost 74 pounds since Jan 1 and have never weighed my food.0
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Thank you0
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