Will I always need a scale?

seska422

amtyrell wrote: »

Who knows. You ned one now and so do I. The future will be different and technology may change.

I keep hoping for a Star Trek tricorder that I can wave at my plate and have it record all sorts of relevant data.

BlueSkyShoal

I also wanted to add that there is no guarantee that the website / app will be around forever, or that it will always be free. Which is one of the reasons I don't want to rely on it too much, even though I do find it a useful tool. (Especially when I was first starting out and constantly getting shocked by how many calories were in this or that food.)

You just never know on the internet.

seska422

BlueSkyShoal wrote: »

I also wanted to add that there is no guarantee that the website / app will be around forever, or that it will always be free. Which is one of the reasons I don't want to rely on it too much, even though I do find it a useful tool. (Especially when I was first starting out and constantly getting shocked by how many calories were in this or that food.)

You just never know on the internet.

This is very true. Just ask the people who used Calorie Count. Don't expect a certain program to last forever.

I'm double-logging right now on MFP and on a downloaded calorie counting program called DietOrganizer. Some people use Excel to track intake and crunch numbers. If push came to shove, I could move to index cards for each food's nutritional info and a notebook for daily recording. The last thing I want to do is regain this weight again and I'll do whatever I need to do to keep it off.

rdmitch

It's different for everyone. I have NEVER weighted anything and don't even own a scale.
I can eyeball things out and and can use a measuring cup to see what is a cup of food.
If I buy food,and the label says it's 1 pound I can estimate that a fourth of the package is 4 oz.

Have never had an issue losing weight by estimating food quantities, I probably,figure on the low end.

kommodevaran

GaveYouPower wrote: »

seska422 wrote: »

GaveYouPower wrote: »

fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »

I will never stop logging my food. It's something I have to do, to manage my weight - I know this and I am fine with it. Weighing my food goes along with that. Nothing unrealistic about it, in my opinion. So, for me, I will always need the scale.

This is depressing to read. You're basically a slave in this scenario.

I disagree. That's like saying that someone who's nearsighted is a slave to glasses and should strive to figure out how to live without them. Why eschew a simple tool that gets the job done easily and effectively?

Are you depressed by the prospect that you'll need to shower on a regular basis for the rest of your life?

Many people can figure out how to eat intuitively and maintain weight without logging or weighing. That's great and more power to them. Those who can't do that should not be looked down upon when they choose to use the tools available to them. I'd much rather take 20 minutes per day to weigh and log than to have my weight creep upward year after year.

I get your analogies however they don't exactly equate to what we're talking about here. One is a physical impairment the other is a psychological one. Very different.Now I'm not saying you must quick tracking in it's totality in one day. That's absurd. I'm saying one can get help to return to a state to which such individual has a healthy relationship with food.

I found MFP (including weighing and logging correctly for months) a very effective tool, along with other great tools, like the hunger scale, certain books, articles, videos, to achieve a healthy relationship with food. I lost 50 pounds, and more importantly (because I had lost weight before, too) I learnt how to keep weight off effortlessly. I don't track calories anymore, but I do weigh a lot of my foods; this is not so much for the calories (I generally started to eat better, not just stop overeating, because of the stressfree enviroment MFP provided, and it is more difficult to overeat on a nutritious diet), but for meal planning, to be able to eat balanced and varied and fresh food, while at the same time save money. Meal planning is necessary for me to navigate a challenging food enviroment and it ensures my relationship with food stays healthy. Calorie counting is just a more accurate meal planning, and is necessary for many others to eat well.

Morgaen73

ksmommy5 wrote: »

I am meticulously weighing everything for the last 65 days.
When did you stop weighing your foods? I really hope I will not need to weigh everything forever...that doesn't seem like a realistic lifestyle change. I can't picture myself at 70 busting out the scale for my 5 almonds lol
When did you become confident enough in eyeballing accuracies?

Almost 4 years down the line and I still weigh everything lol

Some people judge intuitively but I cant so my scale will be there with me when I am 70 ...

sijomial

I didn't weigh everything to lose weight - just calorie dense items.

Now at maintenance I don't log at all or weigh anything apart from my porridge (precision helps to avoid boiling over in the microwave!).

I'm not an intuitive eater at all as my intuition would lead me to overeat by about 500 cals a day. You can still be calorie aware without logging or weighing.

Francl27

I'm 5 years in and still weigh everything. I'll do the odd week when I don't (because I'm not at home), and then I overestimate everything, but it's easier to just weigh, frankly. When I weigh, I don't have to worry about whether I can fit that cookie or not if I really want it, you know? But after 5 years of this, I do have a better idea of how many calories are in things, and what a portion size is.

That being said, 100 calories is an extra 20 minutes walk. My TDEE can go from 1600 to 2800 depending on how active I am. That will make a much bigger difference than a 100 calorie difference will.

AFGP11

I have very specific fitness goals, so I will weight everything for the foreseeable future. This is due to wanting a particular body composition. I like the security of logging though because I have had problems with binge eating in the past. It gave me a negative relationship with food and guilt over eating certain things. When I know food fits into my daily calories, I don't have the guilt issues with eating things and I am emotionally much better off. Everyone is different though.