Weighing Food Takes Too Long And is OBSESSIVE!
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Verity1111 wrote: »It is also unnecessary for a lot of people. I'm a total grazer AND I also don't weigh my food anymore although I have in the past.... I still lose, and quickly. The key is setting my goals low so I have wiggle room. xD Less stressful.
Conversely, if I graze, I easily overeat because I will literally put something in my mouth every 5 minutes.17 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Verity1111 wrote: »It is also unnecessary for a lot of people. I'm a total grazer AND I also don't weigh my food anymore although I have in the past.... I still lose, and quickly. The key is setting my goals low so I have wiggle room. xD Less stressful.
Conversely, if I graze, I easily overeat because I will literally put something in my mouth every 5 minutes.
Same, it's amazing how good I am at lying to myself about how many calories could possibly be in that mouthful of stuff I just stuck in my headhole!20 -
I don't think it's click bait at all. It's very insightful. It's how I felt when I started weighing my food. Like I was being judged by my family for being obsessive while they ate their normal food without thought. So thanks for writing this. It was a great read.11
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I don't think it's click bait at all. It's very insightful. It's how I felt when I started weighing my food. Like I was being judged by my family for being obsessive while they ate their normal food without thought. So thanks for writing this. It was a great read.
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.9 -
Thanks @AnnPT77, a great outline and especially useful this time of year.
Being brought up in the UK I was use to weighing out ingredients for recipes so never found it weird or strange doing it for food in general.
When I came to Canada I couldn't understand, or adapt to, the cups and spoons, especially when baking.
Basically it is a good skill to have and use when needed.
Cheers, h.8 -
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!
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My food scale is a useful tool.
Some good tips.6 -
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!
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I'm one of those folks that doesn't want to weigh my food. Yeah my weight loss slowed after 6 months, diet fatigue set in. On the request of a trainer I weighed for two weeks to recalibrate. It was eye opening! I'm back to eyeballing BUT I know why my weight loss slows!!7
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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.4
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Do you know what agony is? It is accidentally taring your scale as you put your hamburger on top of your already-measured-out spaghetti and sauce.19
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ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »These kinds of threads are annoying because it's just bait to get people in then the poster switches to what we all already know and agree with.
Considering how many "Why can't I lose weight when I'm eating so little?!?!?!" threads we see, I'd guess that NOT everyone knows and/or agrees with this.
It's great advice at this time of year with all the enthusiastic newcomers around. The title is likely to attract those who wonder why so many people seem to recommend it, especially if they're thinking the same thing, and hopefully they'll read it and understand why it's suggested so often. Nice work, @AnnPT77 !
If someone is not using a food scale and they're still losing weight, then that's great! Some people are just really good at eyeballing portions, others have enough weight to lose that any inaccuracies don't matter for a while. But I would hope that anyone who stopped losing weight and wondered why, would try accurately weighing their food first before they assume some other issue is the cause.
I weigh most of my food, but I know I can sometimes be a bit slapdash with it. So that would be the first thing I'd tighten up if I had a problem with losing.
(P.S. @middlehaitch I didn't realise you were a Brit in Canada too! I hate using cups for baking, it's weird... I'm used to recipes having weights. I weigh my ingredients and write the weight of a "cup of flour" or whatever on the recipe so that I can make it the same way next time!)10 -
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.
I hope not weighing is working for you. I've yo-yoed for about 40 years and it wasn't til I went through the process of weighing and measuring every bite that I was able to break that cycle. I think more than the accuracy of the calories, it gave me focus. I'm not as meticulous as I was since reaching my goal, but I know I still have to be careful. Down 50 pounds since 1/5/16, 60# total after a little up and down since 2013.
As of now it is. The first time I ever lost weight (some 14 years ago) I didn't even know weighing your food on a food scale was a thing and managed to lose 80lbs and reach a healthy BMI.
I maintained that weight loss for years until I became less active, stopped weighing myself regularly, and honestly, went back to old habits of overeating and just not monitoring my intake.
Over the past eight years or so I've gone on more than few diets where I would be super restrictive and lose 20 lbs or 30 lbs but eventually cave and binge.
About two years ago I read about using a food scale and decided to implement it. I used it consistently for about six months, but I was never far off what I thought a serving was. Just seemed like an extra step for me.
I lost my food scale in my move last year and when I started this journey I just couldn't be bothered to buy another one when I felt I didn't really need it.
I started off 11 weeks ago needing to lose 61 lbs to reach a healthy BMI. I need to lose 41 lbs now to reach that goal so I'm about a third of the way there. Weight loss has not stalled so far nor have I ever recorded a gain in my 11 weeks.
If anything changes, I will use a food scale, but based on my previous weight loss attempts and my current weight loss I don't believe I need to use one at this time.7 -
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.
I hope not weighing is working for you. I've yo-yoed for about 40 years and it wasn't til I went through the process of weighing and measuring every bite that I was able to break that cycle. I think more than the accuracy of the calories, it gave me focus. I'm not as meticulous as I was since reaching my goal, but I know I still have to be careful. Down 50 pounds since 1/5/16, 60# total after a little up and down since 2013.
As of now it is. The first time I ever lost weight (some 14 years ago) I didn't even know weighing your food on a food scale was a thing and managed to lose 80lbs and reach a healthy BMI.
I maintained that weight loss for years until I became less active, stopped weighing myself regularly, and honestly, went back to old habits of overeating and just not monitoring my intake.
Over the past eight years or so I've gone on more than few diets where I would be super restrictive and lose 20 lbs or 30 lbs but eventually cave and binge.
About two years ago I read about using a food scale and decided to implement it. I used it consistently for about six months, but I was never far off what I thought a serving was. Just seemed like an extra step for me.
I lost my food scale in my move last year and when I started this journey I just couldn't be bothered to buy another one when I felt I didn't really need it.
I started off 11 weeks ago needing to lose 61 lbs to reach a healthy BMI. I need to lose 41 lbs now to reach that goal so I'm about a third of the way there. Weight loss has not stalled so far nor have I ever recorded a gain in my 11 weeks.
If anything changes, I will use a food scale, but based on my previous weight loss attempts and my current weight loss I don't believe I need to use one at this time.
That's awesome. I may get to a point where I'm comfortable without my scale, but right now it's still my best buddy along with my dog and my hiking shoes. I chuckle when I think of my attempts in the past to lose weight, I didn't have a freakin' clue, but I did have a little bitty paperback book (printed in the 70's) that listed the calorie content of common foods. No help whatsoever because I was clueless and so was the book.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Saw the thread title.
Saw who the OP was.
Knew this would not be a train wreck in spite of BuzzFeed nature of title.
Fear not. There's still time.
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I just discovered USDA listings for mom & pop no name Chinese restaurants. I feel much better with those listings than choosing the generic ones. They have the food listed in grams instead of "half order, cup, per item", etc. I know they're still not perfect but it's better than nothing.5
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WinoGelato wrote: »
Lol. I've been there. I've been afraid to comment in that one.2 -
Scale is a lifesaver for me, oh lawdy I do testify. I can see how people who are good at estimating don't need it and consider it a bother but I'm not one of those people. A "handful" of raw broccoli and a "handful" of kettle corn apparently are 2 vastly different volumes of material if I let my brain do the estimating.8
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WinoGelato wrote: »
I can believe that thread is still going on...
I read a couple of pages...I just can't bring myself to read hundreds of posts about POP TARTS!2
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