Food weighing?

Options
nicediva007
nicediva007 Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Before visiting these forums, if never given much thought to weighing my food. But lately, I've been *trying* to focus on eating cleaner and considering that I'm actively in weight loss mode and trying to adopt better lifestyle choices, I'm interested to learn more about it.

Can you tell me what kind/brand of food scale is the most economical but yet a great value in terms of accuracy/ease of use? Can I just go get one from Walmart? Is Amazon a better bet? Plz point me in the right direction!

Also, what kinds of foods do you weigh? Everything?

Thanks!
«134

Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Options
    Weigh everything.
  • JeffBrown3
    JeffBrown3 Posts: 161 Member
    Options
    Walmart scles are just fine... Just make sure its digital. They are under $20, its the best money I've spent on anything diet wise.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited August 2015
    Options
    Many good products <$15 regardless of where you buy. I think all online retail offers "most popular" ratings or reviews. I've been using this a couple years, and it's a champ. I use it every day. Multiple times. Very convenient.
    ETA: Weigh everything. Too convenient not to.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    Options
    Weigh everything indeed. :)
  • tabl_23
    tabl_23 Posts: 46 Member
    Options
    Got mine from walmart. It has both grams and ounces. Weigh absolutely EVERYTHING. And hers how you do it. Say you are going to have a salad for lunch...put the bowl on the scale...then tare (set the scale to zero) the scale....then put lettuce in the scale until it hits your desired amount....tare the scale again...do this with each ingredient (including dressing...weights on items are much more accurate than measurments....always use the weight). After each item tare your scale....while leaving the bowl (full of already added ingredients) on the scale. This may seem like "common sense" but it took me a long time to learn to use my scale accurately without using a million dishes.

    Good luck!
  • ellerist
    ellerist Posts: 29 Member
    Options
    Mine is Ozeri from Amazon. Would never ever be without a food scale in my life again. Good luck!
  • cndkendrick
    cndkendrick Posts: 138 Member
    Options
    Whichever scale you choose make sure you are able to view the numbers with a large plate or bowl on it. Once you're familiar with conversions you'll love using the scale for cooking too! Saves me so many measuring spoons while baking and preparing meals (I prefer to meal prep 2 weeks at a time). I know BedBathandBeyond has scales where the number part detaches from the actual scale so that if a large dish is on it, you are still able to read the numbers. Example of a detachable display:http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/oxo-good-grips-reg-11-lb-food-scale/120843?Keyword=scale
    I know its pricey, but one is always able to find good deals online. I am a firm believer in researching for good products and getting what you pay for (without paying full price).
    If you find one online you like head over to www.retailmenot.com for some coupon codes.
  • NJGamerChick
    NJGamerChick Posts: 467 Member
    Options
    I use this one and I love it! http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/sharper-image-reg-precision-digital-food-scale/1017490583
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    Options
    Yes, weigh everything. (except liquids - you have to measure them). My first digital scale was $15 and the only reason I had to replace was because I wore it out. You don't have to spend a lot.
  • YorriaRaine
    YorriaRaine Posts: 370 Member
    Options
    I had a 10 dollar one from Amazon that lasted me a year, however I had some minor annoyances with it because if I put a bigger dinner sized plate on it I couldn't hardly read the scale because the plate would be covering the display. So I opted for this one when that one died and I love it because its so easy to read the display because of the curve. http://amazon.com/gp/product/B005WLPVUG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
  • cndkendrick
    cndkendrick Posts: 138 Member
    Options
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    Yes, weigh everything. (except liquids - you have to measure them). My first digital scale was $15 and the only reason I had to replace was because I wore it out. You don't have to spend a lot.

    you are very much able to weigh liquids... the difference you are thinking of is probably volume. With that being said a teaspoon of flour and water will not weight the same -IE; a TS of water is 5ml/g whereas a TS of flour is about 3ml/g (depending on what type of flour it is
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    Options
    Definitely weigh everything including liquids! I love not having so many dishes to do since I got my scale a whe back! It's so much easier and faster.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    Options
    cndkendrick wrote: »
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    Yes, weigh everything. (except liquids - you have to measure them). My first digital scale was $15 and the only reason I had to replace was because I wore it out. You don't have to spend a lot.

    you are very much able to weigh liquids... the difference you are thinking of is probably volume. With that being said a teaspoon of flour and water will not weight the same -IE; a TS of water is 5ml/g whereas a TS of flour is about 3ml/g (depending on what type of flour it is

    Some scales will weigh liquids that way; some will not. And some that do are not very accurate, depending on the density of the liquid.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    Options
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    cndkendrick wrote: »
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    Yes, weigh everything. (except liquids - you have to measure them). My first digital scale was $15 and the only reason I had to replace was because I wore it out. You don't have to spend a lot.

    you are very much able to weigh liquids... the difference you are thinking of is probably volume. With that being said a teaspoon of flour and water will not weight the same -IE; a TS of water is 5ml/g whereas a TS of flour is about 3ml/g (depending on what type of flour it is

    Some scales will weigh liquids that way; some will not. And some that do are not very accurate, depending on the density of the liquid.

    i weigh liquids too lol
    Ones i know that that half cup is xxx grams than i use it all the time for that liquid
    So almond milk is 42 grams ( the amount i use in my mixed coffees for example) Than i keep on using that. Handy and indeed saves dishes.
    New/strange or rare liquids i use a cup for. But as soon it becomes a regular liquid i weigh them out in the cup and next time i just pore the amount of grams ( that normally the cups hold of that liquid) directly into my recipe/bowl that is on the scale :)

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited August 2015
    Options
    cndkendrick wrote: »
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    Yes, weigh everything. (except liquids - you have to measure them). My first digital scale was $15 and the only reason I had to replace was because I wore it out. You don't have to spend a lot.
    you are very much able to weigh liquids... the difference you are thinking of is probably volume. With that being said a teaspoon of flour and water will not weight the same -IE; a TS of water is 5ml/g whereas a TS of flour is about 3ml/g (depending on what type of flour it is
    You can weigh liquids that have about the same specific gravity as water because one milliliter of water weights almost exactly one gram and the scale is measuring grams but labeling them milliliters. You can weigh broth and milk and things like that and the nutritional information will be close. You can't weigh things like salad dressing or thickened soup because they weigh more than water for the same volume so you can't directly convert between milliliters and grams.

    ETA:
    BWBTrish wrote: »
    i weigh liquids too lol
    Ones i know that that half cup is xxx grams than i use it all the time for that liquid
    So almond milk is 42 grams ( the amount i use in my mixed coffees for example) Than i keep on using that. Handy and indeed saves dishes.
    New/strange or rare liquids i use a cup for. But as soon it becomes a regular liquid i weigh them out in the cup and next time i just pore the amount of grams ( that normally the cups hold of that liquid) directly into my recipe/bowl that is on the scale :)
    I hadn't thought about doing it that way but that works too.
  • cndkendrick
    cndkendrick Posts: 138 Member
    Options
    I just feel like the serving size (per the bottle) is 2 tablespoons of salad dressing or 28-30mls or 28-30 grams...If not... the company not to mention the FDA has a lawsuit on their hands.
    Regardless... use a tablespoon to weigh your dressing, sno' skin of my nose ;-)
  • cndkendrick
    cndkendrick Posts: 138 Member
    Options
    Just because I am familiar with conversions, I am able to tell you that Trish enjoys approximately 3 tablespoons of almond milk in her coffee.
  • cndkendrick
    cndkendrick Posts: 138 Member
    Options
    Then again... it is always best to double check the serving size, where they recommend in cups, grams, and ounces.
  • JeffBrown3
    JeffBrown3 Posts: 161 Member
    Options
    cndkendrick wrote: »
    Whichever scale you choose make sure you are able to view the numbers with a large plate or bowl on it. Once you're familiar with conversions you'll love using the scale for cooking too! Saves me so many measuring spoons while baking and preparing meals (I prefer to meal prep 2 weeks at a time). I know BedBathandBeyond has scales where the number part detaches from the actual scale so that if a large dish is on it, you are still able to read the numbers. Example of a detachable display:http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/oxo-good-grips-reg-11-lb-food-scale/120843?Keyword=scale
    I know its pricey, but one is always able to find good deals online. I am a firm believer in researching for good products and getting what you pay for (without paying full price).
    If you find one online you like head over to www.retailmenot.com for some coupon codes.

    That's the scale that I have, and I absolutely LOVE it. I also love that the weighing platform detaches so it can be washed. I didn't pay $49 for it though, I think I paid like 20ish at a reclaimed freight store. I guess I lucked out.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited August 2015
    Options
    cndkendrick wrote: »
    I just feel like the serving size (per the bottle) is 2 tablespoons of salad dressing or 28-30mls or 28-30 grams...If not... the company not to mention the FDA has a lawsuit on their hands.
    Regardless... use a tablespoon to weigh your dressing, sno' skin of my nose ;-)
    Solids are measured by weight (grams) and liquids are measured by volume (milliliters) and they are not the same thing. No lawsuit. ;) Water is a special case of 1g~=1ml because of how grams and liters were originally defined.

Categories