Weighing Food Takes Too Long And is OBSESSIVE!

AnnPT77
AnnPT77 Posts: 34,226 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Nah, just kidding. It isn’t. It’s much more accurate than estimating, and much quicker and easier than measuring with cups and spoons.

Whaaat? Yeah! All you need is a few scale-wrangling tricks:
  • Assembling a salad in a bowl, a stew in a pan, sandwich on a plate? Put the bowl/pan/plate on the scale, zero, add an ingredient, note the weight, zero, add the next ingredient, note the weight . . . .
  • Using something from a carton or jar, or cutting a slice from a hunk of cheese? Put the container or chunk on the scale, zero, take out portion, note the negative value (it's the amount you took out).
  • Eating a whole apple, banana, un-hulled strawberries, corn on the cob? Weigh the ready-to-eat food, eat the yummy parts, weigh the core/hulls/peel, subtract & note.
  • I like to keep a few clean plastic yogurt-tub lids around to weigh small items, like a handful of nuts or chopped hardboiled eggs or something. Drop the lid on the scale, zero, add item, note weight, eat or use - just a quick rinse of the lid under the faucet & you're done.
  • I also use an old junk-mail envelope to scribble the items while I’m cooking to spare spills on my electronic device, and record the results after.
No measuring spoons to scrape out, or wash, except when you need to measure liquids . . . and you can weigh some of them, too.

Plus a decent scale only costs that $15 or so that you used to spend on a large pizza with all the goodies. You can afford it!

You may do just fine estimating portions when you have a good-sized margin of error, but as you get closer to goal and things get tighter, or your loss starts stalling even though you’re for sure eating at a deficit, remember this post.

But don’t go getting so obsessive you refuse to eat at friends’ houses or non-chain restaurants. Go ahead & estimate those. You’ll do fine. ;)
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Replies

  • everher
    everher Posts: 909 Member
    marieamethyst wrote: »
    Eh, to each their own. I tried it for a week - just wasn't worth the hassle. I got to goal just estimating and was happy with the result. Some people need it, some people don't. Definitely worth a try though if you find yourself stalling for some reason. :)

    I don't weigh my food and as of now, 11 weeks into this journey, I don't foresee having to weigh my food. I have weighed my food in the past, but I've been at this weight loss game so long (yo-yo dieting for well over a decade) I know what a serving looks like.

    I am sure I am underestimating some foods and overestimating others but it doesn't bother me and it's working for me. Almost 20 lbs down since 10/23.

    I believe weighing food is a good tool for those who can't eyeball though or eat a lot of calorie dense foods.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    JennGardner1 wrote: »
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    I've been weighing my food for 2 years, and i stiiiiiill get the judgmental looks and comments from my husband. None of my family know i weigh my food, or else I'd cop it from them too, not in a mean way, more confused than anything. I can just see the "i feel so sorry for you, you crazy obsessed lady" looks I'd get :noway: They know i count my calories, but haven't twigged to the scale usage.

    I get that a lot, myself. I really catch flack from my mom who is convinced that CICO doesn't work and it's all about moderation and good calories/bad calories. She's all like, "counting calories doesn't mean anything if you're going to put that on your sandwich" or "if you just ate better, you wouldn't have to weigh things". BAH!

    Grrrr that would really grate on my nerves!

  • MalkinMagic71
    MalkinMagic71 Posts: 1,433 Member
    I honestly don't weigh things much at all anymore unless it's something that I haven't eaten in a while. I've learned to eyeball things pretty well over the last year or so. Early on though a food scale was a very essential part of my success in losing weight.

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