No scale, is there another weigh to be accurate about calories.

Theo166

MoiAussi93 wrote: »

amyrebeccah wrote: »

MoiAussi93 wrote: »

If I wanted to use a scale, I have to weight the everything separately. It is just a major hassle. And do you use a clean dish for each thing you weigh?

No, I use the tare function like other people have described. If you don't like weighing for some reason, that's fine, but pretending that it's more work than it actually is is either hyperbole designed to make your point or a misunderstanding of the way scales work. Which is fine for you, but can mislead others who are reading this thread.

You must to be accurate, otherwise cottage cheese residue with throw off your hummus weight and then the world will come to an end! How do you account for the sauce on the chicken since you can't separate it from the chicken to weigh separately? And what do I do when I go out to have a nice dinner at a restaurant? Panic? Bring my scale and sit there weighing my steak? Demand to speak to the chef and find out exactly how much butter or oil he used? No...I just estimate like I do at home by eyeballing it and making a guess on oils and things.

I'm not saying EVERYBODY should do things my way. But I lost 100 pounds and went from obese to a normal weight with no scale or stress, and millions of people in human history have done the same. You don't NEED a scale. If you like weighting, WONDERFUL! I'm happy for you. It's just not my thing.

Well, you certainly don't bring your measuring cups and spoons to the restaurant, either. You seem very attached to your system, but I don't see why you need to completely mischaracterize what other people are recommending in order to defend your point. I've not had your journey, I've never been overweight, but occasionally I do want to lose 5 or 10 vanity pounds. That leaves me with less room for error than you had. So my method may work better for me, and yours for you. But I'm not going to go around claiming that your method requires you to spend hours and hours washing measuring cups as they fill your sink and take over your kitchen in order to make my point.

And when I choose to eat the last serving of cottage cheese straight from the container because I don't want to dirty a dish for no reason, how does tarc work then? Or am I supposed to weigh the entire thing, find some paper and write down what it weighs, then weigh the empty container again after I eat and find the difference? Or when I eat of tablespoon of peanut butter directly from the spoon as a snack, as I often do, what exactly am I supposed to weigh?

And I don't need to take cups and spoons to a restaurant because I have done it enough previously to trust my eyes. I rarely even use measuring cups at home at all anymore because after you look at a cup of broccoli a couple of dozen times you pretty much can eyeball it. At this point, unless we are talking about very calorie dense foods like olive oil or butter, I don't bother much with even using the cup. Again, this works perfectly for me...but it doesn't sound like it would suit you.

This is not hyperbole...a scale does not fit my lifestyle. It's great that it fits yours, but perhaps you should just let other people do what works for them instead of flinging accusations of mischaracterization and hyperbole. Don't be so sensitive. I have no problem with how you choose to eat...please don't take the fact that I choose to do something differently and, when asked for more detail, gave it, as an attack on your personal choices. It's really quite silly.

Aussie it appears you have been at maintenance for some time, after losing significant weight. Obviously you have skills at eyeballing your food but struggling newbies have yet to develop their own skills. Maybe they do need to get pedantic about it for a week or two while their estimation skills develop.

jenilla1

Blitzia wrote: »

The scale is best but measuring cups are better than nothing.

Confession: I think I'm one of the only people of MFP who doesn't weigh out packaged food. If I eat a tortilla, I'm not checking the weight of it and I'm logging it as one tortilla even if in reality it may be +/- 10% of the serving size weight. I've been losing weight just fine doing it this way, so a little inaccuracy (emphasis on little) won't wreck your weight loss...

No, you're not. There are lots of us out there. I've been maintaining here for over 5 years at goal and I'm not totally precise, either. But it all seems to work out all right for me anyway. Packaged individual servings (like tortillas, bread slices, protein bars, cheese sticks, whatever) may be off by a tiny bit, but it's never seemed to be enough to wreck my calorie goals. I weigh most things, but I'm not that much of a stickler that I need to weigh stuff like that! I didn't even do that when I was trying to lose.

MoiAussi93

Theo166 wrote: »

Aussie it appears you have been at maintenance for some time, after losing significant weight. Obviously you have skills at eyeballing your food but struggling newbies have yet to develop their own skills. Maybe they do need to get pedantic about it for a week or two while their estimation skills develop.

I feel this discussion has gotten off track! I said in my first two posts in this thread that there is nothing wrong with using a scale. I would certainly never try to talk anybody out of doing that. But not knowing any history about the OP, I simply responded to a thread asking if there were other ways to measure calories. I shared my experience, and said it works well for me.

Once again...I know a lot of people weigh and have success with it. I have no problem with that. I even think it can be a great tool if you are inclined to use it...whether forever or just until you learn what you wish from it. All I am saying is that it is not necessary for everybody. Use a scale or don't use one...both can work.