Electronic Food Scale!
PinkPixiexox
Posts: 4,142 Member
Hello every one :]
I've seen many "Why am I not losing weight" posts and many "Buy a food scale and weigh every thing" answers. I'm going to admit - I haven't ever weighed my food and I guess I became pretty good at guessing. Today however, with thanks to the many posts I've seen here - I purchased an electronic food scale! I am actually shocked at the calorie differences in food I've simply 'guessed' in the past!
I was missing 30 calories from my daily banana, 20 from my daily apple and my bowl of granola came in at over 100 calories more than I had been guessing! Already I had been under guessing by 150 calories just for my breakfast alone! I dread to think how inaccurate my evening meals were!
I may have lost 30lbs regardless of not having scale but I am so glad I invested today! It really does show the important of weighing - there are vital calories being missed out on and it all adds up! I just thought i'd share in case you were debating whether or not to buy one. People definitely aren't saying 'weigh your food' to be awkward, it's true and I imagine it can really make a difference for those who are struggling with their losses!
Happy Sunday every one - and thanks again for all of your amazing and VERY helpful advice
I've seen many "Why am I not losing weight" posts and many "Buy a food scale and weigh every thing" answers. I'm going to admit - I haven't ever weighed my food and I guess I became pretty good at guessing. Today however, with thanks to the many posts I've seen here - I purchased an electronic food scale! I am actually shocked at the calorie differences in food I've simply 'guessed' in the past!
I was missing 30 calories from my daily banana, 20 from my daily apple and my bowl of granola came in at over 100 calories more than I had been guessing! Already I had been under guessing by 150 calories just for my breakfast alone! I dread to think how inaccurate my evening meals were!
I may have lost 30lbs regardless of not having scale but I am so glad I invested today! It really does show the important of weighing - there are vital calories being missed out on and it all adds up! I just thought i'd share in case you were debating whether or not to buy one. People definitely aren't saying 'weigh your food' to be awkward, it's true and I imagine it can really make a difference for those who are struggling with their losses!
Happy Sunday every one - and thanks again for all of your amazing and VERY helpful advice
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Replies
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I still play guess the weight every day lol and I am never right!
Weighing isn't crucial when you have a lot of weight to lose but when you get down to the last 7-10lbs or so it is vital I think.
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Hi Pinky You've done great with your guesstimating so far but just think how much quicker your journey will be now you are being accurate
yayyy!!! 0 -
I started with estimating and lost weight. I then hit a wall, and bought a food scale. I started weighing everything, and to be honest, I really was not that bad off in calorie counting without it.
Have I lost more weight because of the scale, no.. I am just able now to see that a handful of this or that, it a bit smaller or even larger than what I was eating..0 -
The thing is with food scales is that the closer you get to your goal, the more important they are. A lot of people start off and lose weight easily just by "eating healthy" because the amount of energy their bigger body needs is higher than "eating healthy". Then they lose the weight and suddenly the amount of energy their smaller body needs drops to a point where it's equal to the amount they are eating by "eating healthy". It's only at that point where weightloss has slowed/stalled, that the scale is necessary.
I love my scale... best investment ever!0 -
I've got 10lbs to go so making sure I'm tight my logging is pretty vital for me!
I wouldn't have even considered buying a food scale if it wasn't for you lovely MFP beauties suggesting it! Definitely learning. And it only cost £9! All round win :]0 -
Yep, Salter digital scale from Tesco £9 - bargain!!!0
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The thing is with food scales is that the closer you get to your goal, the more important they are. A lot of people start off and lose weight easily just by "eating healthy" because the amount of energy their bigger body needs is higher than "eating healthy". Then they lose the weight and suddenly the amount of energy their smaller body needs drops to a point where it's equal to the amount they are eating by "eating healthy". It's only at that point where weightloss has slowed/stalled, that the scale is necessary.
I love my scale... best investment ever!
I do still weight everything now.. I got mine to see if the wall I hit was calories consumed... and it was not... and it was part of my assurance that getting over the plateau was consistent with making dietary and deficit changes with the food weighs everyday.
I am not knocking the food scale, because I weight everything because I want to get the right amount of the serving and not over eat it or under eat it... my food is important to me everyday..
To all those reading, get the food scale.. I have an Ozeri and the best 20 bucks I spent for healthier eating! 0 -
Food scales are critical, especially for calorie dense foods... steak, carbs, etc.
I don't worry too much about the other stuff, but I do weigh whatever I can.
The experience itself is also helpful because I can look at some foods now and pretty accurately tell you what it will weigh. :-) I think I can look at a live chicken from 50 meters and tell you how much her breasts will weigh.
R
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suziecue20 wrote: »Yep, Salter digital scale from Tesco £9 - bargain!!!
Yay, that's the one!
And matches my kitchen colour scheme - double win
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yep - I spent a long time not weighing food but I was much bigger then. But there's a lot less room for error now. I have to admit that I really like weighing my food. It appeals to the ocd side of me I guess... haha.0
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When I started on MFP, I had honestly never considered weighing my food before. Then I started lurking on the boards and eventually came to realize how important it is - especially because I only have a little weight to lose. When I finally ordered one off of Amazon, I was so excited! And I think it's really helped.
I find the discrepancies between eyeballing and weighing are the biggest for things like cereal, granola, and bread. Also when I occasionally eat pre-packaged food like Clif Bars, they always end up weighing more than what the label would suggest.
Good luck in the next stage of your journey!0 -
It never even occurred to me that I should weigh my bananas and other fruits..:o I always use the medium banana entry or what have you. I'll have to start,I wonder how many calories I have missed out on eating lol.0
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It never even occurred to me that I should weigh my bananas and other fruits..:o I always use the medium banana entry or what have you. I'll have to start,I wonder how many calories I have missed out on eating lol.
watch this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY 0 -
Over several months of going crazy with bananas--not weighing them and logging the "medium banana" calories--I gained about 7 pounds! (I like them a LOT.) I HAVE a food scale, just didn't think I needed to weigh bananas. Now I do, and I dropped the 7 pounds!! 0
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Over several months of going crazy with bananas--not weighing them and logging the "medium banana" calories--I gained about 7 pounds! (I like them a LOT.) I HAVE a food scale, just didn't think I needed to weigh bananas. Now I do, and I dropped the 7 pounds!!
I actually posted a response on a different topic about the ridiculousness of weighing bananas and apples. I remember being a little too cocky and saying "This isn't NORMAL behaviour!!!". I am totally eating my words now and if anyone is reading this who saw me say that in that thread, I hold my hands up! I am now a banana and apple weigher! I used to log my bananas as 'large' or 'medium' and I have been well out all along!
I am wondering if I'll need to continue to weigh as I enter maintenance? But I imagine i'll have to cross that bridge when I get there! 0 -
PinkPixiexox wrote: »Over several months of going crazy with bananas--not weighing them and logging the "medium banana" calories--I gained about 7 pounds! (I like them a LOT.) I HAVE a food scale, just didn't think I needed to weigh bananas. Now I do, and I dropped the 7 pounds!!
I actually posted a response on a different topic about the ridiculousness of weighing bananas and apples. I remember being a little too cocky and saying "This isn't NORMAL behaviour!!!". I am totally eating my words now and if anyone is reading this who saw me say that in that thread, I hold my hands up! I am now a banana and apple weigher! I used to log my bananas as 'large' or 'medium' and I have been well out all along!
I am wondering if I'll need to continue to weigh as I enter maintenance? But I imagine i'll have to cross that bridge when I get there!
Yeah, I saw that thread 0 -
queenliz99 wrote: »PinkPixiexox wrote: »Over several months of going crazy with bananas--not weighing them and logging the "medium banana" calories--I gained about 7 pounds! (I like them a LOT.) I HAVE a food scale, just didn't think I needed to weigh bananas. Now I do, and I dropped the 7 pounds!!
I actually posted a response on a different topic about the ridiculousness of weighing bananas and apples. I remember being a little too cocky and saying "This isn't NORMAL behaviour!!!". I am totally eating my words now and if anyone is reading this who saw me say that in that thread, I hold my hands up! I am now a banana and apple weigher! I used to log my bananas as 'large' or 'medium' and I have been well out all along!
I am wondering if I'll need to continue to weigh as I enter maintenance? But I imagine i'll have to cross that bridge when I get there!
Yeah, I saw that thread
Hehe *Hangs head in shame!*;)0 -
I am glad I switched to weighing as well. It is actually so much easier than using measuring cups! And using recipe builder is way more exact (which is why I started weighing in the first place, almost all my dinners use recipe builder) than eyeballing how many total cups are in a soup or curry or whatever.0
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Over several months of going crazy with bananas--not weighing them and logging the "medium banana" calories--I gained about 7 pounds! (I like them a LOT.) I HAVE a food scale, just didn't think I needed to weigh bananas. Now I do, and I dropped the 7 pounds!!
Yeah I weigh everything else and have lost 77 pounds so far,I just somehow mistakenly assumed all fruit of the same type weighed the same lol.Just never occurred to me.
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Love my scaleeeee. Best tool ever, and for me I get to eat more if I use it. Before I was on scare mode, and always ate less than what I could actually.0
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I use my scale regularly but i fruit didn't dawn on me, lol, but I have been known to weigh prepackaged items to see if it really is what it says, that started from measuring all the chicken and beef in packages to see if the store lied!!!0
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Can I just double check with you guys - what exactly should I be weighing? Literally every thing?
If I have a ready-meal and it has calories on the pack, can I accept that and log as such? Just wanting to clarify exactly what I should be weighing! Thanks 0 -
Packaged food is not accurate either, it can be off as much as 20%. I weigh everything.0
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So with packaged food - Scan it on the bardcode scanner - weigh the package and then enter the grams in to the tracker? Sorry - new to it!queenliz99 wrote: »Packaged food is not accurate either, it can be off as much as 20%. I weigh everything.
If I am out and I buy a prepackaged sandwich, am I okay to simply log the calories on this box in this case? :]0 -
I weigh ready meals too, as it's now a habit. I put my plate on the scale and tare between items (not separate items in the ready meal though!), and use the pack data per 100g.0
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@PinkPixiexox The 20% error margin doesn't apply to the UK. You will still have to double check the entries though, even if you scan it. I make my own entries so that I know they are right, and don't share them with the general database. Once you've added something, it will stay in your foods (recent, my foods or whatever the other one's called).0
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I scan and add it before cooking, then weigh as I'm serving and tweak the entry.0
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PinkPixiexox wrote: »
So with packaged food - Scan it on the bardcode scanner - weigh the package and then enter the grams in to the tracker? Sorry - new to it!queenliz99 wrote: »Packaged food is not accurate either, it can be off as much as 20%. I weigh everything.
If I am out and I buy a prepackaged sandwich, am I okay to simply log the calories on this box in this case? :]
When I weigh sliced bread it is not accurate most times.0 -
Wait until you weigh some pasta! The shock.0
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