Losing weight and not needing to weigh food

cee134

I see some people making a 2nd job out of measuring and weighing. When I lost 100 lbs in 2 - 3 years. I didn't weigh my food once. I'm not saying it's not helpful at times. I did have an idea of my measurements (a cup of food was my most common) but eating healthy and giving myself alittle kcal cushion was what worked. I feel sorry for those people that weigh everything, all the time.

I know when you are closer to your goal weight it can make more of a difference. But after gaining back the weight I lost (in a 2 year span, for reasons like not logging at all) I have been able to lose another 30 lbs, still not weighing.

I think sometimes people make too much of a deal about measuring. Has anyone measured their food and logged
routinely for 8+ years?

My concern is my goal, to eat healthy and do what I need to to lose weight and than keep it off, and be able to keep that up for decades (i.e. the rest of my life). I can't imagine weighing food for so long.

I thought, after losing 100 lbs, I had an idea of portions, but it turns out I did not if I wasn't logging my food.

Maxematics

I don't know why people get so hostile about other people weighing or measuring food. For some strange reason, people on this board love to attach negative connotations to the actions of weighing or measuring food. The reality is that most posts on the General section of the forums titled "Help! Not Losing Weight!" occur because people are eating more than they think. There are various ways to get around this: not eating back exercise calories, leaving a calorie cushion (as you mentioned), or the most precise way which is weighing the food you eat.

You lost 100 pounds in a span of 2 to 3 years which is awesome. A person with a food scale can, and probably has, done the same thing in less time due to their level of accuracy. Furthermore, the heavier you are to begin with, the less you really do have a need for a food scale so there is more room for error. I started my weight loss at 139 pounds which was already in a normal weight range, just at the high end. A food scale was crucial for me, as I was undereating big time when I started losing weight. Without knowing I could eat more, I could have easily exhausted myself, binged, and gave up on weight loss. However, here I am a year later at 108 pounds which I got down to with ease by using a scale. If that makes people feel sorry for me, so be it. I could just as easily say I feel sorry for people who have 100+ pounds to lose to begin with but that isn't reflective of how I actually feel and it would be quite callous of me to do so.

Do I weigh everything all the time? No. When I go out to eat, I estimate high and don't bother with a food scale. If I'm eating at someone else's home or given food by someone else, I'm not using a food scale either. Do I weigh stuff out at home? Sure do, as it takes no more than an extra second to do and I'm still trying to get a grasp on my maintenance calories, as I'm still trending a loss on 2000+ calories right now and I don't want to lose any more weight. Will I use a food scale or logging for the rest of my life? Unlikely, but I sure will if I ever notice weight gain going on.

A food scale is just another weight management tool just like a bodyweight scale, a fitness tracker, or the MFP food diary itself. I think the amount of flack that weighing and measuring food gets from people on the boards is absolutely ridiculous. In general, people absolutely suck at portion sizing and most people underestimate by a lot. If measuring and/or using a food scale helps them improve that, what is the problem?

3dogsrunning

^ All of what she said.

We are on a calorie counting site. The easiest way to know how many calories you are eating is to measure. Are there other ways to lose weight? Sure. But when someone asks if they are eating enough or not reaching calorie goal, it is hard to give advice to eat less or more when the very real possibilty is that they are eating more (or maybe less) than they are estimating. Taking the estimation out of the question - or at least lessening the degree of error - is an practical way to figure it out.

lemurcat12

Is this actually a debate thread? If so, what's the debate?

Personally I find logging and weighing useful but I don't think either is necessary for me to lose weight.

JenHuedy

Don't feel sorry for me. I've been weighing most of my food for almost 2 years and lost (and kept off) 90 pounds in the process. It works for me and I find it far easier than using cups because I have fewer dishes to wash. I may wean myself off of measuring and logging in the future, but for now I don't find it any more of a chore than brushing my teeth or keeping a daily calendar.

Have you tried weighing? Or are you just turned off by the idea of it? Because it really is easy.

LaceyBirds

cee134 wrote: »

I feel sorry for those people that weigh everything, all the time.

I feel sorry for those people who need to start a thread putting down others who do things in a different way than they do in order to feel superior.

grannynot

Coming from a scientific standpoint - weighing is the most accurate way to know how much you've consumed. For many people (myself included) our concept of a "portion" easily gets skewed by restaurants serving football-sized potatoes and pasta comes in horse-trough-sized bowls. If I find myself not losing, when I'm logging all my food - then the OBVIOUS answer is that I'm not gauging my portion sizes correctly. The scales fix that.

Personally, I tip my hat to those who weigh. Yes, it's more work; but clearly, they're serious about portion control!

diannethegeek

You're welcome to feel sorry for me, but I don't. I lost the bulk of my weight without a food scale, so I won't ever say that using one is a necessity for weight loss. But making the switch has been faster, easier, less time consuming, fewer dishes to wash, and it freed me up to cook as I like (a handful of this and a little of that) instead of sticking to cup/spoon measurements of things.

I posted this in the food scale ocd thread and I'll repost it here: I enjoy pretending to be a mad scientist every morning when I pour my coffee creamer into my coffee on a food scale. But most of the time I just don't think about it. The same way I don't think about whether or not to shower or brush my teeth. It's just something I do. The scale is there on the counter. Why not use the same amount of coffee creamer every day? I get more consistent coffee because I'm crap at eyeballing it and I use less coffee creamer overall, which saves me money.

Therealobi1

i am really confused about your post. so you dont understand people who log all the time?
but then you said at the end after losing 100 pounds you still didnt understand portion control if you weren't logging.
did i read this wrong?

p.s i am not a fan of logging but dont feel sorry for those that do, because if i didnt log in the first place i wouldnt have lost what i did.

you didnt write your post very well.

cee134

Therealobi1 wrote: »

i am really confused about your post. so you dont understand people who log all the time?
but then you said at the end after losing 100 pounds you still didnt understand portion control if you weren't logging.
did i read this wrong?

That has to do with people that would say, after weighing for a long time they have an idea of portions. Well after counting and measuring for a long time, I thought I did too, but I was wrong. Also if I didn't see how much calories a meal had, I might over eat, thinking I wasn't eating as much as I was.

Therealobi1

cee134 wrote: »

Therealobi1 wrote: »

i am really confused about your post. so you dont understand people who log all the time?
but then you said at the end after losing 100 pounds you still didnt understand portion control if you weren't logging.
did i read this wrong?

That has to do with people that would say, after weighing for a long time they have an idea of portions. Well after counting and measuring for a long time, I thought I did too, but I was wrong. Also if I didn't see how much calories a meal had, I might over eat, thinking I wasn't eating as much as I was.

ok so then why do you feel sorry for people who log if it works?

cee134

FYI - I never said you where wrong to measure. I do find there is a growing tread where newbies feel like they have to measure to lose weight. I think, if that works for you great. But I know it doesn't work for everyone, and for those people, I don't want to see them give up because they can't weigh their food for reasons. I'm letting those people know there is more then one way.

I wanted to get an idea about what people thought about weighing food. And most importantly, what they planed to do in the future after they started to maintain their weight. I would like to know if there are long term people that still weight, I'm betting there is not.

pzarnosky

Are you going to use a measuring cup for the rest of your life? Weight is just a different (and for me, better) way of accounting for what I'm eating. I set my container on the scale and dump the food in. Instead of a cup I use a scale. Realistically, the scale is more accurate.

No, I don't weigh everything I eat anymore. But my food scale is still in the same spot in the kitchen. It's always available if I think I'm beginning to be a little to generous with my portions.

I hope/think the ultimate goal for all of us is to be in control of our eating habits and not need scales or measuring cups for the majority of our life. But MFP helps teach methods that you can fall back on should you notice you unintentionally start gaining back what you lost.

Therealobi1

cee134 wrote: »

FYI - I never said you where wrong to measure. I do find there is a growing tread where newbies feel like they have to measure to lose weight. I think, if that works for you great. But I know it doesn't work for everyone, and for those people, I don't want to see them give up because they can't weigh their food for reasons. I'm letting those people know there is more then one way.

I wanted to get an idea about what people thought about weighing food. And most importantly, what they planed to do in the future after they started to maintain their weight. I would like to know if there are long term people that still weight, I'm betting there is not.

some people are great at eyeballing and some people arent. If you are one of those people who are not and want to lose weight and are not , then logging is the way to go. as soon as you learn to eyeball then away you go. after all i know many slim people who have never logged in their life

Need2Exerc1se

If you don't want to log all the time then I'd suggest trying to maintain your weight within a 10 margin. Instead of trying to maintain a weight of 135, try to maintain your weight between 130-140 (for example). If you are nearing or at your upper level, then you know you need to cut back your calories a bit.

This is how I maintain weight without weighing, measuring or logging. Trying to eat a consistent number of calories per day or week and/or weighing/measuring/logging everything I eat seemed like having a second job to me so I knew there was no way it was going to be sustainable. I don't feel sorry for people who weigh/log though. Different strokes and all that.

VioletRojo

I lost weight with a 200 calorie deficit, so I had no wiggle room at all. I could not have lost the weight eyeballing my foods. I continue to weigh because I have goals other than simply maintaining my weight and weighing my food and logging it gives me all the data I need to achieve those goals.

I don't know why people have an issue with others' dietary habits. If weighing isn't for you, don't do it. I'll continue to weigh until I decide it's no longer necessary.

zyxst

I will use a food scale because I can't eyeball/guess "proper" portion sizes. I don't bother people who don't weigh/measure their food, so how about the same courtesy?

chocolate_owl

cee134 wrote: »

My concern is my goal, to eat healthy and do what I need to to lose weight and than keep it off, and be able to keep that up for decades (i.e. the rest of my life). I can't imagine weighing food for so long.

I thought, after losing 100 lbs, I had an idea of portions, but it turns out I did not if I wasn't logging my food.

Sooooooooooooo you want to be able keep the weight off for the rest of your life, but when you stopped logging, you started gaining again. But then you "feel sorry" for people who weigh their food, even into maintenance. You know, people with the goal of keeping the weight off for the rest of their lives. They've obviously found something that works for them. How about you find something that works for you, and accept that your method and other people's methods will differ?

This pity for people who weigh their food seems to be the new "So sorry you have to log your food, you should learn to eat intuitively!" It's annoying as hell. Different tools work better for different people, given that we all have different histories with weight and food, brains that respond to data collection differently, and different long-term goals for our bodies. Just do you.

Christine_72

Wait until you're around 5-10lbs away from your goal weight. Then you'll be grateful for the accuracy a food scale gives you.

I don't know how much longer I'll be weighing and logging my food. I've been doing it for 2yrs now and i still enjoy it, it also doesn't rule my life though. I also look forward to prelogging my day every morning, it's the first thing i do after turning on the computer.
Once doing this starts to feel like a chore or second job then i will revisit stopping.

I think it's awesome if someone can get down to their goal weight in a timely manner, and stay there, without weighing or logging their food. For these people owning a food scale would be pointless.

shadowfax_c11

I weighed hundreds if portions a day for 10 years working in a restaurant. I don't see why I can't do the same for myself at home. It really isn't all that time consuming once you get used to it. Of course there are times when it isn't practical to use a food scale and I have to estimate things but thanks to the time I spend preparing my own food and using a scale I am likely to be a little more accurate in my guesses.