Do you allways wheigh your food?
mds438
Posts: 18 Member
Honestly? Do you wheigh your food all the time?
I know it is the best (or only) way to know the kcal-amount in the food, but it appears too much for me to fathom.
And what about dishes with meat and veggies in it? And what about eating out or with friends? And what when the desired wheightlos is achieved?
I also know this could be the reason for not loosing wheight. I am not new to counting kcal, but I have not wheight all my food. It appears time-consuming and massive, which I also find kcal-counting and logging to be. This being the reason I have tried different non-counting diets both with and without results.
Sorry for all the questions - just something I have been wondering about.
I do not have that much to loose, only about 7kg, but they stick like glue.....
I know it is the best (or only) way to know the kcal-amount in the food, but it appears too much for me to fathom.
And what about dishes with meat and veggies in it? And what about eating out or with friends? And what when the desired wheightlos is achieved?
I also know this could be the reason for not loosing wheight. I am not new to counting kcal, but I have not wheight all my food. It appears time-consuming and massive, which I also find kcal-counting and logging to be. This being the reason I have tried different non-counting diets both with and without results.
Sorry for all the questions - just something I have been wondering about.
I do not have that much to loose, only about 7kg, but they stick like glue.....
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Replies
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If the food is made/prepared at home, yes it gets weighed. Anything else I try not to stress over.
Recipes - I weigh each ingredient and put it into the recipe builder. Then weigh the final dish and divide that weight by the number of servings I want to come up with how much a serving should weigh.
I actually find that weighing food takes less time then using measuring cups and is less clean up. You just put the bowl or plate on the scale, press tare and place what you want to eat on it (pressing tare between each ingredient).
You could do batch cooking once a week and only use the scale that day to get your food portioned out. Then just stick the meals in the fridge/freezer and the rest of the week all you have to do is grab & go.11 -
I weigh all my meat, since it seems I'm no good at guessing the portion size...it weighs much more than I think it does. It doesn't bother me at all...I have 2 scales, 1 digital and 1 regular old style kitchen scale. I put on my dish, then zero it out, then weigh it. The ones that bug me are the portions that say "1 cup etc, 1 tablespoon." because I'm not going to fill up my measuring cups with food every time just to dump them out and wash them! When it comes to eating out, I just use the information on the restaurant web site. Not near my maintenance weight yet, so don't know if I will still do it then or not. Maybe I will know proper portion size by then!0
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I weigh everything at home. It actually doesn't take much time at all. I usually prelog everything in the morning and just adjust weights when I go to eat. Like I already have my lunch in there and I guessed the approximate weight of my chicken (having a shredded chicken wrap) but will adjust the weight accordingly when I get home for lunch.
If I'm eating out, I make best guesses, usually overestimating. But I don't stress too much about it, don't want to get too OCD about it and end up taking my scale everywhere
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Yes, when at all possible.1
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Honestly? Do you wheigh your food all the time?
I know it is the best (or only) way to know the kcal-amount in the food, but it appears too much for me to fathom.
And what about dishes with meat and veggies in it? And what about eating out or with friends? And what when the desired wheightlos is achieved?
I also know this could be the reason for not loosing wheight. I am not new to counting kcal, but I have not wheight all my food. It appears time-consuming and massive, which I also find kcal-counting and logging to be. This being the reason I have tried different non-counting diets both with and without results.
Sorry for all the questions - just something I have been wondering about.
I do not have that much to loose, only about 7kg, but they stick like glue.....
When I'm at home, yes. Otherwise, nope. But I eat at home 90% of the time.
It's really not that time consuming to weigh though - all you do is put your plate on a scale and hit a button. That's it. It's annoying when making dishes though, but I'd still rather do that and know how much I'm eating than having to guess and potentially be completely off.4 -
Yup, I weigh everything. I rarely eat out these days so 99% of my diet is homemade by me. So everything gets weighed.4
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No. I don't weigh everything I eat all the time. I do log everything as best I can. I prelog my food for the whole day every morning. It takes very little time usually and then I just eat the amount I logged.
I weigh stuff when I am home. I usually eat all of my meals except one per week prepared from home.
When I am home I definitely weigh yogurt, meats, cheese, nuts, etc. I don't stress about weighing out the spinach for my salad though.
A food scale is a handy tool. Logging food and drink is a handy tool. My weight loss has been more succesful and consistant using these tools. People lose and maintain weight without doing these things. If you are struggling though give them a few months trial and it might make things easier.
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95% of mine. I get lazy when using milk for tea but weigh my cereal milk. I only have at most 2 per day, sometimes don't have any so not stressing over it1
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Honestly? Do you wheigh your food all the time?
No, because I am not currently logging (been at maintenance for a while, although I may choose to lose more).
When I was, I did not weigh foods at restaurants or meals at friends or some things I sometimes bought or brought for lunch (I'd estimate fruit and veg sometimes if I brought it to work or bought it on the go or use the calorie count from a lunch place or off a protein bar or container of yogurt).I know it is the best (or only) way to know the kcal-amount in the food, but it appears too much for me to fathom. And what about dishes with meat and veggies in it? And what about eating out or with friends? And what when the desired wheightlos is achieved?
Two things:
(1) If you don't want to weigh, you may not need to. I lost weight initially without weighing and have in the past. There are ways to estimate and just adjust if you seem to be estimating too low.
(2) I think you are mistaken as to how difficult or burdensome weighing is, however. I switched to weighing in part because I was undereating and wanted to assure myself I could loosen up on my food choices, but also because I find it a lot easier than having to estimate everything and certainly preferable to measuring cups. Also, most of what I eat is homecooked foods like meat and vegetables, and those don't come with a package and calorie information, so weighing is just as easy--when logging I use the USDA entries and weigh when I'm cooking as part of the preparation. It adds no time and is fun.I do not have that much to loose, only about 7kg, but they stick like glue.....
Simply writing down what you eat and then making an effort to cut back/reduce portions of higher cal foods can work for some (I've done this in the past). The main thing for many is being mindful of what you eat.0 -
This will depend on who you ask. Many people weight every single thing they eat at home... I am not one of them. I try to weigh as often as possible but I find many entries in MFP go by amount or cups rather than gram weights.
I try to do the best I can but no one's perfect!1 -
Not at all. First of all, it isn't practical as I'm not in control of everything I eat (restaurants, over at families/friends). Secondly, for packaged easily countable uniform goods (single slice of cheese, single serve candy bar in a wrapper, etc...) I figure it is close enough most of the time and I'm getting the results I expect so it must be close enough. Everything else gets weighed.
If I wasn't getting the results I expect I would weigh more stuff.1 -
Like others, I weigh everything at home, and use nutritional info available on line when I eat out, so the best educated guess ! I find it easy and convenient to use a scale, and rewarding and motivating to be doing it and seeing the results I am getting.0
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Everything except eating out. I rarely eat any exercise calories so that's my buffer zone for eating out. I'm still careful and estimate. An example just from the last week:
Chinese BBQ style pork: label says calories per serving: 130. Number of servings: about two. There were over three servings in the package when I pulled it out and weighed it. That would have resulted in over 150 extra calories. Oh, and dragging it through sesame seeds make a difference and weren't even addressed on the label.
Thin sandwich roll: calories per 43 gram serving:100. Every roll in that package is over 48 grams. Yeah. A sandwich every weekday, another 100 calories I didn't know I was having.
Lunch meat: impossible to deal with by number of slices, never correct.
Uncooked pasta, nut butters, cheese, avocado, oils and meats make a huge difference. It's not a big deal when you have a lot to lose, but as you you slim down, that deficit gets harder and harder to keep up.
Another reason: denial! I have a couple of friends on Weight Watchers and they were putting rice into a cup to measure and log. I can't even properly explain how firmly packed that rice was in there. They had trouble getting it out of the measuring cup and onto their plates.5 -
I don't weigh my tub of yogurt. Even if it's twenty percent more, that would only bring it up from 60 to 72 calories.
I don't weigh when I'm not at the house or when I'm on vacation. I will weigh fries and the like if I bring home fast food. Packaged foods are weighed if eaten at home.1 -
When it's convenient to do so.2
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I don't weigh or measure, and never did. Apparently I'm pretty good at eyeballing things, and my hunger cues are pretty trustworthy. You may or may not need to weigh or measure food. If you find that your weight loss stalls, it's another tool in the arsenal to use. You may never need it, but if you do, you'll be glad to have it!2
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I weigh everything at home. I use the recipe builder A LOT because we eat cooked meals mostly. I weigh all the ingredients I put in, log them in the recipe, then after the meal is done I weight all of it and decide how much is a portion. I don't weigh stuff which comes in items and the calories on the package are given per item, like sausages or sliced cheese or sliced bread.0
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99% of the time at home. I weight prepackaged stuff just to see if it matches, i weigh my creamer, meats, pretty much you name it. I have a guessing game to see if I'm right. When i'm out nah. but I RARELY eat out. If i do I prelog.1
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I only weigh certain things like my meats and things like pasta and nuts and what not...I've never weighed a prepackaged item and I don't really weigh less calorie dense things. I also tend to use measuring cups for things like quinoa or rice or whatever as I'm not an idiot and know how to properly use a measuring cup.1
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cwolfman13 wrote: »I only weigh certain things like my meats and things like pasta and nuts and what not...I've never weighed a prepackaged item and I don't really weigh less calorie dense things. I also tend to use measuring cups for things like quinoa or rice or whatever as I'm not an idiot and know how to properly use a measuring cup.
why would you say the idiot part? have you weighed what goes in a CUP, depending on the item you can get so much more or less for the weight.6 -
I really have never weighed my food. I have a feeling that my wife would go crazy if I did that to everything. I'm doing my best job at estimating (over-estimating sometimes) portions and I've lost some weight so far.1
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sashayoung72 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »I only weigh certain things like my meats and things like pasta and nuts and what not...I've never weighed a prepackaged item and I don't really weigh less calorie dense things. I also tend to use measuring cups for things like quinoa or rice or whatever as I'm not an idiot and know how to properly use a measuring cup.
why would you say the idiot part? have you weighed what goes in a CUP, depending on the item you can get so much more or less for the weight.
I've measured out my 1/3 cup dry oats and compared to the scale...it might be a gram or two off, not a big deal...people make like using a measuring cup for something like that is some kind of deadly sin...if you know how to properly use a measuring cup, you should come out pretty dang close. The scale is great for things that don't really work with a measuring cup like meat or pastas or things that are of varying sizes...little grains of rice are fine IMO.
Don't worry, I'm ok...I lost all of my weight and have been maintaining for over three years...I got this.1 -
Unless it's an egg I always weigh everything1
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I always weigh everything unless I'm eating a few pieces of chocolate from the candy jar at work, which then I don't have access to a food scale.1
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Annahbananas wrote: »Unless it's an egg I always weigh everything
I'll bite. Why not an egg?0 -
I do not take a scale to work. I get the free junk at work. I check that the Nutrition Facts label matches the food database and then trust the law of averages. I don't weigh the powdered ginger I sprinkle on my evening meal. I log it as 1 g. I don't weight the olive oil that I spray into the pan. I do enter a teaspoon of olive oil in my food diary and hope that I'm within 50% of accurate. I don't weigh the NoSalt that I sprinkle on my beans and rice. I don't weigh the juice of 1/4 lemon that I squeeze onto my salmon. I don't weight the ice and water that I add to my protein shake. Once I did, and it was about 6 oz. Everything else, I weigh. I get frustrated with weighing the Ricotta and the salsa. I put the heavy plate on the scale, zero it, and add the 2-3 teaspoons of ricotta. That quickly registers a weight of about 14 g. At an interval of about 2 seconds, the gram weight increases by 1, and for as long as I've waited and watched, it continues to increase by 1 just about every 2 seconds and I've never waited long enough to see it stop. I record the first 14 g weight, zero it again, and add the salsa. That's usually 18 g. And it starts adding 1 g/2 seconds again. I record the first 18g, complain again, and eat. And I don't weigh eggs either.1
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I don't even have a food scale.
Don't let weighing stuff get between you and counting calories. Weighing might be better than measuring by volume, measuring by volume might be better than eyeballing, and even eyeballing is probably better than not logging at all.
I also let my intake swing hundreds of calories above and below (mostly above) my target intake and don't log every physical exertion throughout the day, either. The only thing I'm strict about is at least attempting to log (almost) everything. I'll let up to 50 calories of incidentals (breath mints, 10 calorie sodas, etc.) slide each day, but otherwise I'll at least use the quick calorie feature to ballpark every intake.
I'm chronically laid back, but so far it's working for me. Lots of folks on here do it differently because that's what works for them. What works for you?4 -
Meat, fruit, and whole veggies go straight on the scale. Everything else with a per gram serving gets weighed. No label or cup measurement only? I put it in a measuring cup, then weigh it. I don't mind the extra washing.
If I'm out I eyeball it. That's why I still use measuring cups. I can eyeball one or half cup servings. No way I can eyeball a 75 gram serving.Annahbananas wrote: »Unless it's an egg I always weigh everything
And I weigh eggs. Crack them into a bowl and weigh them. Doesn't matter if they are raw or cooked. But I have weighed boiled eggs in the shell right on the scale
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samwiserabbit wrote: »I don't even have a food scale.
Don't let weighing stuff get between you and counting calories. Weighing might be better than measuring by volume, measuring by volume might be better than eyeballing, and even eyeballing is probably better than not logging at all.
I also let my intake swing hundreds of calories above and below (mostly above) my target intake and don't log every physical exertion throughout the day, either. The only thing I'm strict about is at least attempting to log (almost) everything. I'll let up to 50 calories of incidentals (breath mints, 10 calorie sodas, etc.) slide each day, but otherwise I'll at least use the quick calorie feature to ballpark every intake.
I'm chronically laid back, but so far it's working for me. Lots of folks on here do it differently because that's what works for them. What works for you?
OP this obvisously seems to be working for her.. not recommended by us in the communicnty that have been there with weight stalls and even getting to those last few pesky pounds that are difficult to get off.. this is where the food scale is even more important than ever..
Once you do it for a while you get the hang of it and it will be just like brushing your teeth, just another thing that you need to do to take care of your self!
I weigh everything at home (everything except eggs and sandwich bread.. and I have lost the weight.. and I still do it) and but I do not worry over family/friends nights out.. You will learn how to deal with events or issues that are out your control as they arise.
This does not have to be OCD labeled, it can just be a necessary thing that needs to be done to keep you within reach of your goals.
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Everything at home except individual cups of yogurt, which I've found to always come up less than the amount. Out of the house? I just do my best to estimate.2
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