Weighing and measuring.
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alfonsinarosinsky
Posts: 198 Member
I am female 61 years old, 5'10". I have an electronic food scale which I weigh my food in grams or ounces. I've been reading a lot of threads that say to weigh everything. Is it safe to trust, say, a can or package that gives the nutritional values?
I am fluctuating between a pound down then 2 or 3 pounds up. Most of the time I'm eating back 50% of my exercise calories. My calories before exercise are set at 1200. It was 1300+ but I manually changed it the other day. I have been far from perfect with my eating back calories at times and was even going over my calories but for the last several days I've been perfect and have gained weight lol.
I work out 6 days a week. With 3 days of weight training with a personal trainer. I do notice differences in my clothes etc but why does the scale move so slow or up. I was 223 on August 4 and this morning I am 226. Go figure.
Any suggestions would be very appreciated.
I am fluctuating between a pound down then 2 or 3 pounds up. Most of the time I'm eating back 50% of my exercise calories. My calories before exercise are set at 1200. It was 1300+ but I manually changed it the other day. I have been far from perfect with my eating back calories at times and was even going over my calories but for the last several days I've been perfect and have gained weight lol.
I work out 6 days a week. With 3 days of weight training with a personal trainer. I do notice differences in my clothes etc but why does the scale move so slow or up. I was 223 on August 4 and this morning I am 226. Go figure.
Any suggestions would be very appreciated.
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Replies
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I believe it is safe to use the cans nutrient values... some quantities in the can may be off by 10%-0%, ie. ounces. It really is not much usually, . so I wouldn't worry about it.
How long have you been at this.... if only 2 weeks, give it more time, there is some water weight due to increase exercise.
On the sugar, macros... don't worry about going over on these, (unless medical condition) watch the calorie number.
Be sure on the calorie count of the foods you eat... some in mfp can be wrong. Usually not a big deal but it does happen.. I just watch for things that "seem to me" to be to low so then I check them with other items in mfp or go to another source to check it.
It looks like you are doing good, as long as you are weighting your food/drink, so keep at it, It takes time. Be patient.
Congrats on doing the weight lifting !!!!!
Best thing for you and the hardest for me to do...
good luck.0 -
Weight fluctuate daily due to your level of hydration. Hydration levels can be affect by sodium, water intake and for other reasons. You will not gain two to three pounds of fat in a day because that would require a caloric excess of a minimum of 7000 calories.
As you weight train, you will gain some muscle mass which is a good thing. If your clothing is fitting looser it is an indicator that you are losing fat. The scale may not being going down as fast as wish because you are gaining muscle while in the process of losing fat.
Don't stress out on the scale. The scale only shows a total number. For example if I had a bag of fruit consisting of 10 lbs of ranges and 10 lbs of apples, now assume the apples represent fat and oranges represent muscle. The total weight of the fruit int the bag is 20 lbs. Now it I remove one lbs of apples and add one one lbs of oranges the bag still weights the same. My point here is the scale can't tell the difference between fat and muscle.
How you clothes fit is a very good indicator of progress. So, whip out the tape measure every couple of weeks and measure you waist , hip and neck and record your numbers. If you are losing fat, those number will get smaller. Continue to weight yourself but not everyday.
Weighing you food:
I've been weighing my food for fours years now and it makes a difference. Weighing is more accurate the say a cup of fruit etc. because how much fits in a cup depends on how the items is chopped.
The label on package for the most part is reliable. By law they are allowed a 20 percent variance. Therefore is the labels says 100 calories, you maybe getting anywhere between 80 to 120 calories.0 -
I wanted to be precise and weighed everything.
It's a control issue.
Over time, I stopped weighing, because calorie estimates just became second nature.
I even stopped logging altogether after years of daily faithfulness.
I lost 100 pounds and have maintained the loss for almost 3 years now. I have not logged foods for over 2 years.
It's sub-conscience, and I can look at any foods and get a picture of it's calorie content as macro breakdown.
My point is do what works, log everything and let your mind develop into this habit. Over time food intake awareness will become as automatic as a heart beat.
GOOD LUCK
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I believe it is safe to use the cans nutrient values... some quantities in the can may be off by 10%-0%, ie. ounces. It really is not much usually, . so I wouldn't worry about it.
How long have you been at this.... if only 2 weeks, give it more time, there is some water weight due to increase exercise.
On the sugar, macros... don't worry about going over on these, (unless medical condition) watch the calorie number.
Be sure on the calorie count of the foods you eat... some in mfp can be wrong. Usually not a big deal but it does happen.. I just watch for things that "seem to me" to be to low so then I check them with other items in mfp or go to another source to check it.
It looks like you are doing good, as long as you are weighting your food/drink, so keep at it, It takes time. Be patient.
Congrats on doing the weight lifting !!!!! Best thing for you and the hardest for me to do...
good luck.
Thank you. I've been at it for awhile now. I've been trying to lose weight since forever but got serious about 2 months ago. Before I was losing at a good pace but it's gone to a creep now or like I said a gain0 -
Barbados1965 wrote: »Weight fluctuate daily due to your level of hydration. Hydration levels can be affect by sodium, water intake and for other reasons. You will not gain two to three pounds of fat in a day because that would require a caloric excess of a minimum of 7000 calories.
As you weight train, you will gain some muscle mass which is a good thing. If your clothing is fitting looser it is an indicator that you are losing fat. The scale may not being going down as fast as wish because you are gaining muscle while in the process of losing fat.
Don't stress out on the scale. The scale only shows a total number. For example if I had a bag of fruit consisting of 10 lbs of ranges and 10 lbs of apples, now assume the apples represent fat and oranges represent muscle. The total weight of the fruit int the bag is 20 lbs. Now it I remove one lbs of apples and add one one lbs of oranges the bag still weights the same. My point here is the scale can't tell the difference between fat and muscle.
How you clothes fit is a very good indicator of progress. So, whip out the tape measure every couple of weeks and measure you waist , hip and neck and record your numbers. If you are losing fat, those number will get smaller. Continue to weight yourself but not everyday.
Weighing you food:
I've been weighing my food for fours years now and it makes a difference. Weighing is more accurate the say a cup of fruit etc. because how much fits in a cup depends on how the items is chopped.
The label on package for the most part is reliable. By law they are allowed a 20 percent variance. Therefore is the labels says 100 calories, you maybe getting anywhere between 80 to 120 calories.
Thank you for a lot of great information. I'm going to buy a tape measure today and start measuring each month. Also I'm putting the scale away. I think it a mental thing that I think if I don't weigh myself each day I'll gain 10 lbs lol which is impossible if I am tracking. Thanks again.
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I always weigh packaged foods. 95% of the time, the food is heavier than what the package says (and depending on the food, that can mean an extra 50 calories).0
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Pinnacle_IAO wrote: »I wanted to be precise and weighed everything.
It's a control issue.
Over time, I stopped weighing, because calorie estimates just became second nature.
I even stopped logging altogether after years of daily faithfulness.
I lost 100 pounds and have maintained the loss for almost 3 years now. I have not logged foods for over 2 years.
It's sub-conscience, and I can look at any foods and get a picture of it's calorie content as macro breakdown.
My point is do what works, log everything and let your mind develop into this habit. Over time food intake awareness will become as automatic as a heart beat.
GOOD LUCK
Thank you so much. Congratulations on your awesome weight loss. Hopefully I'll be able to one day eyeball food and also have the discipline to stay within reason without tracking. Thank you again.
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Life's too short to get fat again to save five seconds at a time.GuitarJerry wrote: »Life's too short to weigh pre-packaged foods.
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GuitarJerry wrote: »Life's too short to weigh pre-packaged foods.
When you put it that way... Lol yes!!!
Update. After reading another post about the discrepancies from someone who does weigh prepackaged, it can be substantial.
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Often water retention can mask a loss.0
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Life's too short to get fat again to save five seconds at a time.GuitarJerry wrote: »Life's too short to weigh pre-packaged foods.
After reading another post from Francl127 about how off packaged foods are I think I will weigh them also.
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »Often water retention can mask a loss.
Thank you Lis0 -
Everything we do in weighing and measuring is a rough estimate. Calories are an estimate. Your actual weight is an estimate. You know what works? Get as close as you can while weighing and measuring, then pay attention to your weight trend over several weeks. If you're losing - keep going. If you're not losing - readjust some numbers.0
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GypsyByTheSea wrote: »Everything we do in weighing and measuring is a rough estimate. Calories are an estimate. Your actual weight is an estimate. You know what works? Get as close as you can while weighing and measuring, then pay attention to your weight trend over several weeks. If you're losing - keep going. If you're not losing - readjust some numbers.
Thanks. Makes sense
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alfonsinarosinsky wrote: »GypsyByTheSea wrote: »Everything we do in weighing and measuring is a rough estimate. Calories are an estimate. Your actual weight is an estimate. You know what works? Get as close as you can while weighing and measuring, then pay attention to your weight trend over several weeks. If you're losing - keep going. If you're not losing - readjust some numbers.
Thanks. Makes sense0 -
alfonsinarosinsky wrote: »I believe it is safe to use the cans nutrient values... some quantities in the can may be off by 10%-0%, ie. ounces. It really is not much usually, . so I wouldn't worry about it.
How long have you been at this.... if only 2 weeks, give it more time, there is some water weight due to increase exercise.
On the sugar, macros... don't worry about going over on these, (unless medical condition) watch the calorie number.
Be sure on the calorie count of the foods you eat... some in mfp can be wrong. Usually not a big deal but it does happen.. I just watch for things that "seem to me" to be to low so then I check them with other items in mfp or go to another source to check it.
It looks like you are doing good, as long as you are weighting your food/drink, so keep at it, It takes time. Be patient.
Congrats on doing the weight lifting !!!!! Best thing for you and the hardest for me to do...
good luck.
Thank you. I've been at it for awhile now. I've been trying to lose weight since forever but got serious about 2 months ago. Before I was losing at a good pace but it's gone to a creep now or like I said a gain
2 month is not to long, but you should see a little downward movement. If you charted your weight loss for those 2 month would the overall look be downward? as you probably know weight loss is not linear.
If not, double check your calorie count, you may be eating more than you think or as said water weight.
The way it sounds to me is your are trying hard with exercise and counting cals. but have a few slip up days. Then after 2 months no weight loss... answer... eating more than you think. Do you have any medical issues. thyroid.?
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alfonsinarosinsky wrote: »Liftng4Lis wrote: »Often water retention can mask a loss.
Thank you Lis
Working out causes retention. Processed foods, equals sodium, equals retention.0 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »Life's too short to weigh pre-packaged foods.
Yeah but... I've had some 160 calories English muffins turn out to be 205-210 calories. For people who subscribe to Graze snacks (which I love), some snacks ended up 70 extra calories (that one hurt). Those waffles I love (Waffle Waffle) turned out 360 calories instead of 280 at the time (they changed the formula since, less calories, less taste, sad Fran, but still more calories than what the package says).
It just takes 2 seconds to weigh. Place your granola bar on the scale, zero it, open it, put the wrapper back on the scale, done. 90% of my granola bars are 3-5 more grams than what the package says (out of 38-45g, typically).
I'm saying that and still don't weigh my yogurt though, got to get to it... but with the fruit on the bottom stuff it's not accurate either anyway if you're like me and only leave fruit mix.
It's not a huge deal if you have a big deficit though, and most people on MFP do, but I don't (on good weeks I have a 1500 deficit at this point), so those calories matter to me.0
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