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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?
Replies
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
I didn't weigh food before I lost weight. Now I weigh mostly meat portions, but I also now weigh out baking ingredients when the recipe gives the weights. I have to say, I find more success when I weigh ingredients than using cups/spoons; now I prefer it.4 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
Consistency (if you define it as a specific dish tasting the same day after day whichever chef is making it) and cost control typically aren't elements in cooking shows (at least the ones I watch).
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
By the time they are on TV, they're good at it? It doesn't make for interesting TV? The portions are preportioned into small bowls? A creative process is different than a restaurant for profit?
I worked in restaurants for decades. One of the biggest variables cost wise is food cost. If you think WE have problems with portion creep, multiply that by 200 meals an hour. In restaurants it could be the difference between financial success and failure. Plus in a restaurant you want consistent flavor and not a guy deciding it needs more oil just because.
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janejellyroll wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
Consistency (if you define it as a specific dish tasting the same day after day whichever chef is making it) and cost control typically aren't elements in cooking shows (at least the ones I watch).
I suppose not. I guess in the restaurant they have people for that nonsense.1 -
I don't think weighing everything you eat is mentally healthy. A few hard to estimate and calorie dense items? sure. Everything for a few weeks to get a better sense of portion sizes? good idea. Weighing every single thing as a long term plan is neither sustainable nor mentally healthy.
I think it can become unhealthy for those prone to disordered thinking...but so can going to the gym.
I mean people buying a portable one to me is going too far...unless it's for a competition or a movie part yah no.
I use a kitchen scale now...and actually prefer it when I am baking. I purposely searched for a website I could do the measuring by volume and like it.
Now keep in mind my family thinks it's funny...not my husband but brothers etc..that I use a food scale but eh it works and I don't got too deep into it.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
Lol! What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. One is a demo, the other is a business operation.
In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. I stress the word repeatable, as complaints go up when someone orders something they had before and the portion size or the taste is noticeably different.
On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.5 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
The only time I ever saw weighing the ingredients come up on a cooking show was on an episode of Iron Chef America. They had an ingredient that would have been wonderful as part of a cake, but there was no scale available in the kitchen so the guest chef changed his dessert - he told the audience that without the scale he could not be exact enough to make the cake batter that he wanted to make.5 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.4 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I don't think weighing everything you eat is mentally healthy. A few hard to estimate and calorie dense items? sure. Everything for a few weeks to get a better sense of portion sizes? good idea. Weighing every single thing as a long term plan is neither sustainable nor mentally healthy.
Kitchen scales are only seen as unhealthy because Americans aren't used to equipping their kitchens with them. Other countries use them all the time.
I'm American and I've had a food scale for decades because it's sometimes important for measurements to be exact when preserving food. But that's the only time I drag it out because it's tedious to me.
I would never consider using it when cooking a meal. I rarely measure anything other than with my eyeballs when cooking. The only time I use cups is for grains and the liquid to cook them in and then it's often just a coffee mug.
I never cooked with one before I started losing weight (never cooked with measuring spoons and cups either). I was definitely more of a "by guess and by golly" cook who tasted a lot.
BAKING on the other hand . . . I started weighing my baking ingredients many years ago and was pleased with both the results and consistency. It was a pain to convert all of my old family recipes but worth it in the end. Great-Great Grandma's chocolate cake has never been better. The only exception is bread. I still do not measure or weigh because going by feel is still the best way to get a consistent loaf of bread.
Moving from weighing baking only to weighing everything was really easy for me to do since I was already used to the scale.1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
Originally (pre weight loss) I used the scale for baking only, but it doesn't add time for me to use it when cooking (and sometimes it is helpful in portioning things -- I'm a convert to using it and still do sometimes even when not logging for that portion, and I never use cups for dry ingredients anymore).
What adds time for me is logging or dealing with a larger recipe that I eat only a portion of, and weighing vs. any other measurement method is really not the issue there. What makes it easier for me is that I don't do a lot of stew type things where I can't just log all ingredients separately, and that I don't mind adding up all ingredients and then taking, say, a fourth of them if I am eating roughly a fourth. I dislike making recipes and find that burdensome, but that has nothing to do with scale vs. cup and ultimately if I do make a recipe the scale makes it easier.
Anyway, I totally agree with your point about what is sustainable differing from person to person (I don't currently plan to log in maintenance and am not, but I enjoyed doing so when losing, but I get that many people are fine with logging longterm and many others would not enjoy logging even when losing -- I don't think any of us are for that reason unhealthy!).0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
I started using a scale for my baking after watching Alton Brown.2 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.
I don't watch many cooking shows these days. Like this one, they are all gimmicked up and don't show good technique for the most part. I do like the Chef's Table series as it profiles really creative top end Chef's and shows their background and influences. I also used to really like anything by Jacques Pepin because he would do such a masterful job of demonstrating technique. He actually wrote the definitive modern book of cooking technique that is now out of print, La Technique'. You can still find it on line though. He isn't on TV much these days as he is elderly.
With rare exceptions, most of the Chefs on TV today are more personalities and entertainers than educators. I find most of the formats of the shows pretty useless.1 -
For items that have servings that are listed by volume (teaspoons, cups, scoops, etc.), I always try to find the equivalent ounces/grams and weigh them instead, it is much more accurate. Even though my spouse ridicules me for it, I also do it for mixed drinks at home, pouring the ingredients in the cup while it is on the scale.1
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
I started using a scale for my baking after watching Alton Brown.
Alton Brown is one of the ones who is both entertaining and puts across good, useable information that can improve your cooking technique.
But on the subject of weighing and measuring, I get that it can feel oppressive to some. I just can't fathom how you know your portion size for calorie counting without it.3 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.
I don't watch many cooking shows these days. Like this one, they are all gimmicked up and don't show good technique for the most part. I do like the Chef's Table series as it profiles really creative top end Chef's and shows their background and influences. I also used to really like anything by Jacques Pepin because he would do such a masterful job of demonstrating technique. He actually wrote the definitive modern book of cooking technique that is now out of print, La Technique'. You can still find it on line though. He isn't on TV much these days as he is elderly.
With rare exceptions, most of the Chefs on TV today are more personalities and entertainers than educators. I find most of the formats of the shows pretty useless.
I would agree with this in regards to technique, but I don't watch to learn technique. I watch for entertainment and to get new ideas of food combinations. I used to watch the Galloping Gourmet when I was just a little kid too short to even reach the stove.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
I worked at Taco Bell for a year and a half some years ago. During that time there was a push for us to make the food the right way, by learning the exact amount of lettuce and cheese to put on each item (.1 ounce of cheese for a taco/tostada/most items with cheese as a garnish, BTW. That's hardly ANY). We had a food scale by each line, and we were supposed to weigh every item we made as we assembled it (for the cold ingredients, the hot ingredients had special cups that would supposedly measure out the proper portion every time) and take off the excess until it was perfect.
In practice, of course, we never did it, despite our manager yelling at us to weigh everything. A Taco Bell order has 1:30 seconds to get you through the system, starting from the second you pull up to the speaker and ending when you pull away from the second window. We got in trouble if our order average for the previous day was higher than that, even if our average order was $10 (lots of big orders that take a long time to assemble), and even if we weren't there the day before.
Fast food simply doesn't have the time to weigh and be accurate, not at our store anyway, we were the busiest store in our (very very large) district. We got in trouble for our times a LOT, but there was nothing we could do about them.
But I can't imagine a sit-down restaurant is less worried about portion sizes and costs. They have a little more time than we did, so they can weigh the steak/potato/pasta/etc.1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.
I don't watch many cooking shows these days. Like this one, they are all gimmicked up and don't show good technique for the most part. I do like the Chef's Table series as it profiles really creative top end Chef's and shows their background and influences. I also used to really like anything by Jacques Pepin because he would do such a masterful job of demonstrating technique. He actually wrote the definitive modern book of cooking technique that is now out of print, La Technique'. You can still find it on line though. He isn't on TV much these days as he is elderly.
With rare exceptions, most of the Chefs on TV today are more personalities and entertainers than educators. I find most of the formats of the shows pretty useless.
I would agree with this in regards to technique, but I don't watch to learn technique. I watch for entertainment and to get new ideas of food combinations. I used to watch the Galloping Gourmet when I was just a little kid too short to even reach the stove.
Yup, that makes sense and I sometimes do the same thing. On many of them though I have trouble getting past whatever their gimmick is to sit through the show.1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I don't think weighing everything you eat is mentally healthy. A few hard to estimate and calorie dense items? sure. Everything for a few weeks to get a better sense of portion sizes? good idea. Weighing every single thing as a long term plan is neither sustainable nor mentally healthy.
Kitchen scales are only seen as unhealthy because Americans aren't used to equipping their kitchens with them. Other countries use them all the time.
I'm American and I've had a food scale for decades because it's sometimes important for measurements to be exact when preserving food. But that's the only time I drag it out because it's tedious to me.
I would never consider using it when cooking a meal. I rarely measure anything other than with my eyeballs when cooking. The only time I use cups is for grains and the liquid to cook them in and then it's often just a coffee mug.
I never cooked with one before I started losing weight (never cooked with measuring spoons and cups either). I was definitely more of a "by guess and by golly" cook who tasted a lot.
BAKING on the other hand . . . I started weighing my baking ingredients many years ago and was pleased with both the results and consistency. It was a pain to convert all of my old family recipes but worth it in the end. Great-Great Grandma's chocolate cake has never been better. The only exception is bread. I still do not measure or weigh because going by feel is still the best way to get a consistent loaf of bread.
Moving from weighing baking only to weighing everything was really easy for me to do since I was already used to the scale.
When I had children at home I baked more and did sometimes use measuring cups for baking. But I hate baking and now that it's just my husband and I, I rarely bake and even more rarely bake cakes. I can do cookies, pies and cobbler without measuring.0 -
That's similar to why I read cookbooks -- I get ideas and find them entertaining (depending on the book). I almost never follow a recipe, but I still love cookbooks.
I like some food shows (used to enjoy Alton Brown, still like Top Chef pretty well), but the rest have lost their appeal. I do have some old Julia Child shows on video which are fun.1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.
I don't watch many cooking shows these days. Like this one, they are all gimmicked up and don't show good technique for the most part. I do like the Chef's Table series as it profiles really creative top end Chef's and shows their background and influences. I also used to really like anything by Jacques Pepin because he would do such a masterful job of demonstrating technique. He actually wrote the definitive modern book of cooking technique that is now out of print, La Technique'. You can still find it on line though. He isn't on TV much these days as he is elderly.
With rare exceptions, most of the Chefs on TV today are more personalities and entertainers than educators. I find most of the formats of the shows pretty useless.
I would rather cook than watch somebody do it. The only cooking shows I watched back when I had a TV were Alton Brown and America's Test Kitchen. I would rather learn WHY I should be doing something rather than just be shown how to do it. The science behind things like using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar for some delicate cookies (the small amount of cornstarch in powdered sugar helps the texture) or why you should never boil eggs (cook them at just under boiling temp) are things I can use in many other aspects of my cooking and baking.
ETA: I have a fun book called "What Einstein Told His Cook" which covers many of these things.
2 -
I'm still a "by guess and by gosh" cook, except for what I think of as structural ingredients - things like getting a proper proportion of dry ingredients to liquids in quick bread, for example.
But it's easy to chop the visually "right" amount of onions, put the cutting board on the scale, tare, note, dump in skillet, note grams on junk-mail envelope to log later against 100g database entry. Seconds, and it helps me balance the calorie checkbook.
I feel sooo much better as thin Ann. A few minutes a day to avoid going back to fat Ann? Worthwhile investment. If that makes me mentally unhealthy, I'll take it as as cheap price for what's gained.
Thing is, it doesn't make me mentally unhealthy. Those whose personalities incline them to obsession or compulsion should exercise caution. I don't trend that way. I don't even balance my money checkbook - my bank's computer is much better than I am at arithmetic. I just closely watch what things clear, online. It's all just data, and data management strategies.
I think a lot of people implicitly believe - way down in their guts, unquestioned - that others' brains/minds work just like theirs does; those who say otherwise must then be self-deluding, or lying.
Ain't so.
9 -
I'm still a "by guess and by gosh" cook, except for what I think of as structural ingredients - things like getting a proper proportion of dry ingredients to liquids in quick bread, for example.
But it's easy to chop the visually "right" amount of onions, put the cutting board on the scale, tare, note, dump in skillet, note grams on junk-mail envelope to log later against 100g database entry. Seconds, and it helps me balance the calorie checkbook.
I feel sooo much better as thin Ann. A few minutes a day to avoid going back to fat Ann? Worthwhile investment. If that makes me mentally unhealthy, I'll take it as as cheap price for what's gained.
Thing is, it doesn't make me mentally unhealthy. Those whose personalities incline them to obsession or compulsion should exercise caution. I don't trend that way. I don't even balance my money checkbook - my bank's computer is much better than I am at arithmetic. I just closely watch what things clear, online. It's all just data, and data management strategies.
I think a lot of people implicitly believe - way down in their guts, unquestioned - that others' brains/minds work just like theirs does; those who say otherwise must then be self-deluding, or lying.
Ain't so.
100% agree with that last part. Mostly because I 100% disagree with the bolded part (for me). ::laugh::
Edit: Opened my first checking account 37 years ago. I have never once balanced my checkbook.2 -
I used to think weighing and logging everything forever was a sign of an eating disorder. Because that's what anorexics do, and so it must be bad. But that was when I was at my heaviest and in denial about how much I really ate. When I did weight watchers, I tracked, but very very loosely and the weight fell off, but I didn't realize that was because I just had SO much to lose.
It wasn't until I got on here and started reading threads about the importance of accurate accounting the leaner you go that I "got it". For most people it's not different than balancing a checkbook. If we had healthy relationships with food and could trust our eyeballs all the time, we wouldn't need to be here in the first place.I'm still a "by guess and by gosh" cook, except for what I think of as structural ingredients - things like getting a proper proportion of dry ingredients to liquids in quick bread, for example.
But it's easy to chop the visually "right" amount of onions, put the cutting board on the scale, tare, note, dump in skillet, note grams on junk-mail envelope to log later against 100g database entry. Seconds, and it helps me balance the calorie checkbook.
I'm always going to be that type of cook myself. Measuring is Too Much Work, especially for low calorie foods. Calorie dense foods, I'll measure I guess, but I won't like it.
I like to buy notebooks, but I never use them. I just don't write much. But I now keep one and a pen in my kitchen next to my scale. Weigh, write it down, repeat with next ingredient. While everything's cooking, tally it up in the recipe builder and log it. I get to use my pretty notebooks, I don't have to measure everything Just So, and I'm still pretty accurate!
All without being mentally unbalanced about it.
7 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.
I don't watch many cooking shows these days. Like this one, they are all gimmicked up and don't show good technique for the most part. I do like the Chef's Table series as it profiles really creative top end Chef's and shows their background and influences. I also used to really like anything by Jacques Pepin because he would do such a masterful job of demonstrating technique. He actually wrote the definitive modern book of cooking technique that is now out of print, La Technique'. You can still find it on line though. He isn't on TV much these days as he is elderly.
With rare exceptions, most of the Chefs on TV today are more personalities and entertainers than educators. I find most of the formats of the shows pretty useless.
I would agree with this in regards to technique, but I don't watch to learn technique. I watch for entertainment and to get new ideas of food combinations. I used to watch the Galloping Gourmet when I was just a little kid too short to even reach the stove.
Yup, that makes sense and I sometimes do the same thing. On many of them though I have trouble getting past whatever their gimmick is to sit through the show.
Do you ever watch The Mind of a Chef on PBS? It really takes a deep look into an individual chef's (David Chang, Ludo Lefebvre, etc.) philosophy over the course of the season. I find it to be completely entrancing. With their deepest ideas and feelings condensed into just a few beautifully-filmed-and-produced episodes, it is kind of an amuse-bouche for your eyes and mind.1 -
French_Peasant wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.
I don't watch many cooking shows these days. Like this one, they are all gimmicked up and don't show good technique for the most part. I do like the Chef's Table series as it profiles really creative top end Chef's and shows their background and influences. I also used to really like anything by Jacques Pepin because he would do such a masterful job of demonstrating technique. He actually wrote the definitive modern book of cooking technique that is now out of print, La Technique'. You can still find it on line though. He isn't on TV much these days as he is elderly.
With rare exceptions, most of the Chefs on TV today are more personalities and entertainers than educators. I find most of the formats of the shows pretty useless.
I would agree with this in regards to technique, but I don't watch to learn technique. I watch for entertainment and to get new ideas of food combinations. I used to watch the Galloping Gourmet when I was just a little kid too short to even reach the stove.
Yup, that makes sense and I sometimes do the same thing. On many of them though I have trouble getting past whatever their gimmick is to sit through the show.
Do you ever watch The Mind of a Chef on PBS? It really takes a deep look into an individual chef's (David Chang, Ludo Lefebvre, etc.) philosophy over the course of the season. I find it to be completely entrancing. With their deepest ideas and feelings condensed into just a few beautifully-filmed-and-produced episodes, it is kind of an amuse-bouche for your eyes and mind.
No! Thanks for the tip!! That is what I like about Chef's Table on Netflix. Same type of thing. Have you seen that?1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it's weird how people default to the weighing as unhealthy and not the logging itself. I don't think either is unhealthy, but I do think GottaBurnEmAll has a point that it must be unfamiliarity with the scale as a common tool or, in some cases, with cooking. I find weighing is more convenient than cups and do it for many things when not logging (or counting calories), and used a scale for baking pre weight loss. (I actually had put it in the back of a closet after I stopped baking regularly and then when I decided to lose weight didn't use it and then much later decided to drag it out and found it made logging easier.)
For me, since I chop and so on when cooking, adding a step of placing a bowl on the scale and putting things in before tossing them in a pan is easy, almost not noticeable as extra work. Logging IS much more burdensome to me, but in part it's because it (or something similar and in my mind equally burdensome, like writing down everything I eat in a spreadsheet) makes me stay mindful when I want to not think about eating choices.
And whether I weigh, log, or use some other tool, the fact is that for me if I don't stay mindful, I start gaining weight and can easily slip back into emotional eating too.
I use this same approach. It was also part of how I worked as a chef. You want to be portioning correctly for consistency and cost control. Easy enough to transition to doing it at home.
This is interesting. I watch cooking shows on TV and you rarely see those chefs using any type of measurement and I don't think I've ever seen them use a scale.
What happens on a cooking show and what happens in a restaurant kitchen are 2 very different things. In a restaurant kitchen items are prepared following a recipe that reflects the standard plate cost for that item at a certain, say 4oz, portion. (I say 4oz because that is the most standard portion size for protein or veggies). Then when the items is plated for service, it is either already portioned and just put on a plate or put on the plate using a scoop, ladle or spoon that give the correct portion. But I can assure you, everything is measured or should be if they are a good operator.
The key factors on a restaurant are giving the guest a repeatable approximation of what they think they ordered and doing that at the cost projected on the item. On a cooking show, most of the portioning is done prior to airing and the prep is all done and there waiting when they reacch under the demo counter or into the fridge. They are also not wildly concerned with their food cost as that is now how they make their money.
Makes sense. But I like to cook more like Bobby Flay on TV than the chefs in his restaurant.
Bobby Flay has prep people that do almost everything I described for him before he arrives on set to shoot. He just grabs and demos for the most part. They all do.
Not on all the shows. Beat Bobby Flay for example.
Beat Bobby Flay is the most misleading and disappointing show title ever.
I don't watch many cooking shows these days. Like this one, they are all gimmicked up and don't show good technique for the most part. I do like the Chef's Table series as it profiles really creative top end Chef's and shows their background and influences. I also used to really like anything by Jacques Pepin because he would do such a masterful job of demonstrating technique. He actually wrote the definitive modern book of cooking technique that is now out of print, La Technique'. You can still find it on line though. He isn't on TV much these days as he is elderly.
With rare exceptions, most of the Chefs on TV today are more personalities and entertainers than educators. I find most of the formats of the shows pretty useless.
I would rather cook than watch somebody do it. The only cooking shows I watched back when I had a TV were Alton Brown and America's Test Kitchen. I would rather learn WHY I should be doing something rather than just be shown how to do it. The science behind things like using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar for some delicate cookies (the small amount of cornstarch in powdered sugar helps the texture) or why you should never boil eggs (cook them at just under boiling temp) are things I can use in many other aspects of my cooking and baking.
ETA: I have a fun book called "What Einstein Told His Cook" which covers many of these things.
Did you happen to catch Alton Brown's show in Milwaukee earlier this year? He's on a new tour "Eat Your Science" and it is fantastic. We took the kids and they loved it.1
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