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What are your unpopular opinions about health / fitness?

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Replies

  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags 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?

    I think my husband has been watching episodes but I haven't (I have hardly any time to watch TV in any season involving gardening or harvesting). I see Magnus Nilsson is featured in Season 1, so I will have to watch that...I am obsessed by the Faviken book. I also really like Dan Barber and Stone Barns.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags 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?

    I think my husband has been watching episodes but I haven't (I have hardly any time to watch TV in any season involving gardening or harvesting). I see Magnus Nilsson is featured in Season 1, so I will have to watch that...I am obsessed by the Faviken book. I also really like Dan Barber and Stone Barns.

    I recently read "The Third Plate: Notes on the Future of Food" by Dan Barber and I enjoyed it a great deal. In addition to knowing a lot about food, he's a good writer.
  • This content has been removed.
  • Speziface
    Speziface Posts: 1,687 Member
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags 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?

    I think my husband has been watching episodes but I haven't (I have hardly any time to watch TV in any season involving gardening or harvesting). I see Magnus Nilsson is featured in Season 1, so I will have to watch that...I am obsessed by the Faviken book. I also really like Dan Barber and Stone Barns.

    I recently read "The Third Plate: Notes on the Future of Food" by Dan Barber and I enjoyed it a great deal. In addition to knowing a lot about food, he's a good writer.

    I haven't read it yet--but at least now I've put it in my Amazon basket. Thanks!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    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.

    Hahaha i thought i was the only one using my mail envelopes

    It's what I always did, and still do if I happen to log for a bit!
  • This content has been removed.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags 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.

    No. I really wanted to go but had a family thing that same day.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.
  • Speziface
    Speziface Posts: 1,687 Member
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    If you've never seen Good Eats you've definitely got to give it a watch. Imagine Julia Child meets Mr. Wizard meets Monty Python (and that's Alton Brown's description of the show).
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    For the most part true. Also, a highly experienced Chef can guesstimate things within a small % variance. Again, that should rarely happen in a restaurant kitchen by most line folks. Only the senior folks, like the Sous are trusted with this. And even then, they will check themselves occasionally.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Speziface wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    If you've never seen Good Eats you've definitely got to give it a watch. Imagine Julia Child meets Mr. Wizard meets Monty Python (and that's Alton Brown's description of the show).

    I'm not a big fan Alton Brown. He's kind of annoying.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    So even when they chop it on camera and throw it in a pot you think they are using camera tricks to weigh it off camera?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    So even when they chop it on camera and throw it in a pot you think they are using camera tricks to weigh it off camera?

    Nope, see my post above. Also, as I stated earlier in the thread, they are less concerned on a cooking show than in a restaurant because they are not trying to hit a targeted food cost. It's a TV show! It's entertainment. If not being cut on camera, haven't you ever seen them reach under and pull out the pre-measured item?
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    So even when they chop it on camera and throw it in a pot you think they are using camera tricks to weigh it off camera?

    Nope, see my post above. Also, as I stated earlier in the thread, they are less concerned on a cooking show than in a restaurant because they are not trying to hit a targeted food cost. It's a TV show! It's entertainment. If not being cut on camera, haven't you ever seen them reach under and pull out the pre-measured item?

    Oh sure. And some shows they even have little bowl with everything measured and chopped. Emeril does that a lot.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Anyone watch The Great British Baking Show? It is on PBS in the USA.

    It is a drooling watch if you have a sweet tooth like me, but they use digital scales in they show.

    Personally, being from the UK originally, I never got the hang of cups for measuring, and found USA cook books baffling.
    For as long as I can remember I have had a good old, heavy, Salter balance scale on my counter top. It was a natural thing to use it to weigh my food when I was losing, I did invest in metric weights to complement the imperial that I had always used.
    It wasn't until I was in maintenance that I got a digital scale. Still prefer my salter though.

    Cheers, h.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    Anyone watch The Great British Baking Show? It is on PBS in the USA.

    It is a drooling watch if you have a sweet tooth like me, but they use digital scales in they show.

    Personally, being from the UK originally, I never got the hang of cups for measuring, and found USA cook books baffling.
    For as long as I can remember I have had a good old, heavy, Salter balance scale on my counter top. It was a natural thing to use it to weigh my food when I was losing, I did invest in metric weights to complement the imperial that I had always used.
    It wasn't until I was in maintenance that I got a digital scale. Still prefer my salter though.

    Cheers, h.

    love this show, but haven't watched the most recent season - i think the backseasons are on Netflix
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    Anyone watch The Great British Baking Show? It is on PBS in the USA.

    It is a drooling watch if you have a sweet tooth like me, but they use digital scales in they show.

    Personally, being from the UK originally, I never got the hang of cups for measuring, and found USA cook books baffling.
    For as long as I can remember I have had a good old, heavy, Salter balance scale on my counter top. It was a natural thing to use it to weigh my food when I was losing, I did invest in metric weights to complement the imperial that I had always used.
    It wasn't until I was in maintenance that I got a digital scale. Still prefer my salter though.

    Cheers, h.

    Oooh, I love this show! My husband and 11 year old daughter have been watching it on Netflix, and I will catch an episode here and there when I can (although normally I am off doing things like last night, canning a huge glut of tomatoes and lifting weights in the kitchen...at the same time...you do what you gotta do, but it should be an Olympic sport).
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited October 2017
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    So even when they chop it on camera and throw it in a pot you think they are using camera tricks to weigh it off camera?

    Nope. You are talking cooking where ingredients frequently do not get weighed. Baking is a completely different story and everything gets weighed on the shows, just off camera. When the host dumps flour from a bag, it is just for show. No camera tricks needed, they have several of the same dish in varying steps of completion and just take out the one that pertains to the steps they are currently talking about.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,349 Member
    A lot of food they cook on TV doesn't actually taste good. It's done for show. Cos... show.
  • NEOHgirl
    NEOHgirl Posts: 237 Member
    edited October 2017
    The American baking contest shows I watch also show participants weighing their dry goods. If they skip that step, many results aren't great and in the confessional part of the program the cooks acknowledge that it was their mistake.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    So even when they chop it on camera and throw it in a pot you think they are using camera tricks to weigh it off camera?

    Nope. You are talking cooking where ingredients frequently do not get weighed. Baking is a completely different story and everything gets weighed on the shows, just off camera. When the host dumps flour from a bag, it is just for show. No camera tricks needed, they have several of the same dish in varying steps of completion and just take out the one that pertains to the steps they are currently talking about.

    Oh I never watch baking shows.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,349 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    So even when they chop it on camera and throw it in a pot you think they are using camera tricks to weigh it off camera?

    Nope. You are talking cooking where ingredients frequently do not get weighed. Baking is a completely different story and everything gets weighed on the shows, just off camera. When the host dumps flour from a bag, it is just for show. No camera tricks needed, they have several of the same dish in varying steps of completion and just take out the one that pertains to the steps they are currently talking about.

    Oh I never watch baking shows.

    The thing with cooking savoury meals is you often don't need to measure and weigh ingredients. If I'm not counting calories, I cook almost completely by feel. It generally means I never make the same meal the same way twice, but they always taste good. It's just years of experience, both personal and professional, where I know what works and what doesn't. But weighing and measuring, when I am calorie counting, adds very little time and trouble and the thing is, I still cook by feel - I weigh the amount that I would put in anyway, rather than putting in a specific amount by weight, if that makes sense.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Speziface wrote: »
    mmapags 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've seen it quite frequently. Good Eats immediately comes to mind; so does just about any European cook.

    Never watched Good Eats but I have seen several European chef hosted shows (US shows hosted by Europeans) and while they usually give ingredients in grams I've never seen one weigh anything. They also eyeball it on the shows.

    That's because it is all pre-weighed off camera. If the recipe ingredients are given in weights, be assured that the chef/host cooks by weight.

    So even when they chop it on camera and throw it in a pot you think they are using camera tricks to weigh it off camera?

    Nope. You are talking cooking where ingredients frequently do not get weighed. Baking is a completely different story and everything gets weighed on the shows, just off camera. When the host dumps flour from a bag, it is just for show. No camera tricks needed, they have several of the same dish in varying steps of completion and just take out the one that pertains to the steps they are currently talking about.

    Oh I never watch baking shows.

    The thing with cooking savoury meals is you often don't need to measure and weigh ingredients. If I'm not counting calories, I cook almost completely by feel. It generally means I never make the same meal the same way twice, but they always taste good. It's just years of experience, both personal and professional, where I know what works and what doesn't. But weighing and measuring, when I am calorie counting, adds very little time and trouble and the thing is, I still cook by feel - I weigh the amount that I would put in anyway, rather than putting in a specific amount by weight, if that makes sense.

    I'm sure it all makes sense to/for you. But my experience with weighing ingredients was different. I realize "very little time" is a subjective phrase but it felt time consuming to me to weigh ingredients. But more than the time it was annoying. It sucked the fun out of cooking for me, and cooking is a great source of pleasure for me. Honestly, I would rather have stayed overweight than weighed ingredients when cooking.
This discussion has been closed.