Weighing Food Takes Too Long And is OBSESSIVE!

12467

Replies

  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,646 Member
    Hamsibian wrote: »
    I am trying to gain weight while eating on a restricted diet for health. It wasn't until I came on this site and bought a food scale to realize how much I was under eating. I know some people don't need to weigh or measure to reach their loss/gain goals - I am not one of those people. I can take the extra few minutes every day if it will improve my health in the long run.

    This is a good point. I don't get the moralizing some people use about food scales. Like it's somehow superior to not use one. They're tools. If you don't want to use it, that's cool. But that doesn't make you any better or worse than someone who is choosing to use one. It's just a ... gadget. There's no moral value to a gadget that quantifies something.

    There is no better or worse way to do this, and everyone has different ways of achieving their goals. If some of us choose to use a tool, I don't see why others feel the need to pass judgement on that choice.

    I've said this in the past. I need my eyeglasses to see the world properly. I need my food scale to see portions properly.

    So much this... Even on this thread.
  • Larissa_NY
    Larissa_NY Posts: 495 Member
    Larissa_NY wrote: »
    I've never weighed or measured my food in my entire life. I've also never been obese or even significantly overweight, and I've never had trouble losing ten or fifteen pounds when I needed to.

    Weighing and measuring is okay if you need it, I guess, but not everyone does.

    My wife is like that. And it is absolutely fine for those that it works for. Some are calling it intuitive eating. So,yes. Not everyone one does.

    But a lot of us on this website are not that way, which is why we are here. I need a food scale and to learn proper portions etc.

    People do. When I first started surfing weight loss web sites, I was amazed to discover that there were people who thought they were supposed to fill their entire plates corner to corner with food and eat all of it. It legitimately never even occurred to me to do that. Your food would touch your other food, and ick, who wants that?

    That was kind of my point. Yes, there are some people who will just never have time in their lives to weigh and measure their food. There are people who think it's obsessive and don't want to do it. Those people aren't necessarily wrong. Saying "Well, I weigh and measure every morsel that goes into my mouth and it only takes .4375 seconds per day, I know because I time it" is fine for people who like doing that sort of thing, but it's not right for everyone just because it's right for the OP. People managed to diet and lose weight long before calorie-counting apps and food scales were created, just as people managed to get fat before Cheetos and Hot Pockets were invented. Just because something works for the OP doesn't mean it's a sine qua non for weight loss.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    edited January 2017
    I don't get the moralizing some people use about food scales. Like it's somehow superior to not use one. They're tools. If you don't want to use it, that's cool. But that doesn't make you any better or worse than someone who is choosing to use one. It's just a ... gadget. There's no moral value to a gadget that quantifies something.

    I've felt that sort of vibe from some people on the forums in the past, now you come to mention it. Whether they actually mean it that way or not, it sometimes comes across as a kind of feeling that there must be something wrong with me if I can't learn to closely estimate a portion size.

    I like your analogy with the glasses - I have to wear them too. Sometimes I can fumble around without them for a while, just like sometimes I can make a half-decent stab at the correct portion of a few foods. But I'd much rather be able to see clearly! :)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Larissa_NY wrote: »
    Larissa_NY wrote: »
    I've never weighed or measured my food in my entire life. I've also never been obese or even significantly overweight, and I've never had trouble losing ten or fifteen pounds when I needed to.

    Weighing and measuring is okay if you need it, I guess, but not everyone does.

    My wife is like that. And it is absolutely fine for those that it works for. Some are calling it intuitive eating. So,yes. Not everyone one does.

    But a lot of us on this website are not that way, which is why we are here. I need a food scale and to learn proper portions etc.

    People do. When I first started surfing weight loss web sites, I was amazed to discover that there were people who thought they were supposed to fill their entire plates corner to corner with food and eat all of it. It legitimately never even occurred to me to do that. Your food would touch your other food, and ick, who wants that?

    That was kind of my point. Yes, there are some people who will just never have time in their lives to weigh and measure their food. There are people who think it's obsessive and don't want to do it. Those people aren't necessarily wrong. Saying "Well, I weigh and measure every morsel that goes into my mouth and it only takes .4375 seconds per day, I know because I time it" is fine for people who like doing that sort of thing, but it's not right for everyone just because it's right for the OP. People managed to diet and lose weight long before calorie-counting apps and food scales were created, just as people managed to get fat before Cheetos and Hot Pockets were invented. Just because something works for the OP doesn't mean it's a sine qua non for weight loss.

    Weighing and logging is definitely not a prerequisite for weight loss, it just happens to make life easier for me.

    Yes, many people lose weight without weighing a single crumb, and that's fine too because it's what works for them. The only time i recommend a food scale here is on one of the many, many posts from people lamenting about their lack of weight loss, it's just the first and most obvious place to start. Usually if they're not losing or gaining they are eating more than they think, and using a food scale rectifies it quick smart.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    I've done both. I've lost and made it to goal without a food scale. Gained everything back bc of personal reasons. Then I decided it was time to lose the weight again, started without a scale, stalled, read the boards, and invested in a food scale. Made it to goal weight.

    You can do it both ways. I prefer with the scale bc things moved quicker once I had it. It was like a formula, I can eat X amount of calories to lose X amount of weight that week. That was easy for me to understand and get behind.

    There's nothing wrong with intuitive eating and there's nothing wrong with using a scale. Different strokes for different folks.

    But for me, I choose the scale.
  • everher
    everher Posts: 909 Member
    I do feel weighing your food is pushed a bit on MFP.

    I think it can be a great tool for some, but other people simply don't want to or don't have to do it.

    And yes, in some people I think it can contribute to disordered thoughts and some people may be hesitant to do it because of exactly that reason.

    However, I encourage everyone to find what works for them whether it's weighing their food or not weighing their food, etc.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,454 Member
    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. :)
    In 20 years, you maybe singing a different song.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    edited January 2017
    Weighing and measuring everything is kinda senseless. I weigh the important stuff, like a portion of high calorie lasagna but take a swag when loading up my plate with veggies.
  • IamBorg
    IamBorg Posts: 49 Member
    I weigh some things, though it's at the point now where I can guesstimate pretty accurately for foods I commonly eat. Plus I don't have a need to be exact with some things - particularly veggies. I do like to be more exact with cheese because for some reason my mind refuses to accept that tiny bit of cheese is already a whole ounce!
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,097 Member
    ninerbuff 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. :)
    In 20 years, you maybe singing a different song.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Why do you think this? Many people have been successful and maintained without ever owning a food scale.

    Don't get me wrong...I use a food scale...I don't however plan to use it on a daily basis for the rest of my life. Right now I am using the food scale as learning tool for portion sizes.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,097 Member
    MaybeLed wrote: »
    I cook and bake a lot, always trying new recipes. Because I'm a Brit, that means weighing things.

    So when I decided to lose weight and people said 'use a scale' it wasn't a chore. I don't weigh everything, only calorie dense things but when something is 25% more than it says that adds up.

    I do appreciate how if you've not been brought up with that it's a new skill to learn and quickly could become irritating

    In other news, when I was baking an American cookie recipe that was a massive chore, working out 1 cup = 250ml by volume and weighing out sugar after I’d guestimated by volume in my old Pyrex jug.
    And that was after frantically googling confectioners’ sugar……

    For some of us Americans baking and cooking means weighing too. If a recipe doesn't give grams I just convert it. I keep my staples in containers. On the outside I have listed the measurements in grams...40g(1/4 cup)...etc.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    everher wrote: »
    I do feel weighing your food is pushed a bit on MFP.

    I think it can be a great tool for some, but other people simply don't want to or don't have to do it.

    And yes, in some people I think it can contribute to disordered thoughts and some people may be hesitant to do it because of exactly that reason.

    However, I encourage everyone to find what works for them whether it's weighing their food or not weighing their food, etc.

    I agree that "weighing your food is pushed a bit on MFP." So much so, in fact, that it seems like a religion. Every time someone says they aren't losing weight at some low calorie count someone is sure to say it is because they aren't weighing their food. So I like to give people a hard time about it, even though I own a scale and I actually use it for some things.

    One of the things people don't seem to get is that a food scale will accurately tell you how much food you are eating but it doesn't give you an accurate calorie count. If people want to use a scale that is fine, but if they think it means they don't have to allow for inaccuracy in calorie counts then they are sadly mistaken.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    The thing is, we're on a calorie counting website, so I have to wonder why it seems so crazy to want to actually be accurate about it. If anything, you're more likely to overeat if you log your food and constantly underestimate everything (as opposed to following a low carb diet or something, where treats are pretty much forbidden and you stick to 'a lot of veggies and lean meats' pretty much)... 'oh look, I ate so little today, I can fit a 200 calorie cinnamon roll'. Except you didn't eat so little, you were already 300 calories over your goal, and your 200 calorie roll is actually 300 calories, so you end up with a tiny deficit and basically eating at maintenance (especially if you ate back all your exercise calories too, and used MFP's number).

    Again, obviously it's not a huge deal if you don't eat back exercise calories or if you leave a buffer every day. But a lot of people don't, and think they are a special snowflake that can't lose weight on 1200 calories, that's when using a food scale can really help.

    I find that I tend to overeat more frequently when I weigh my food than when I don't. When I don't weigh my food I tend to give myself a bigger margin of error in order to make sure that I'm not overeating.