You don't use a food scale?
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glovepuppet wrote: »My confession...
Although I join in the chorus, telling struggling noobs to weigh, I've never done it myself. I don't even measure. I don't own scales. It just seems like far too much faffing around
It is absolutely true that some folks are just naturally able to eyeball portions. Like those *kitten*s who never get lost, they just always know which direction to head in. But like Pickle above you, I bet you will know if you stop losing weight and your numbers seem right that your first troubleshooting stop will be upping the accuracy for a couple of weeks and see if you can find the problem!
I can get lost in a parking lot and can't eyeball portions for the life of me; I wonder if they are genetically related skills lol.
I am actually quite good at eyeballing portions. My wife often asks me what something weighs before she puts it on the scale I can get it really close most of the time.
I still use my food scale though. While I have lost a lot of weight I still have more to go. I assume that at some point my results will force me to tighten up even further because my rate of loss will be too low or not at all but I am not ready for that to happen yet. Since it often takes me 3 weeks to see a new low weight I might not even know I have a problem for over a month.
I have used my scale for 18 months now. It is nearly effortless for me now. I don't want to trust my eyes and get it wrong when the scale is so easy to use.5 -
After 5 years of weighing and logging and finally being successful with my weight loss, I decided to mostly quit weighing and logging over one month ago.
It was never my plan to weigh and log even this long let alone forever. So I made up some guidelines for myself to lose my last few pounds. So far so good. I'm still losing about on schedule. And if I start seeing my weight creep back on then the first thing I will do is start weighing again.
I'm enjoying my new process but it wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't spent so many years learning about an appropriate amount of food for weight loss by weighing my food.8 -
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Good discussion. I got one now3
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just_Tomek wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »
Unless you are doing keto. When on keto, calories, scales, science does not matter.
You forgot to use your sarcasm font.3 -
I bought a scale years ago the first go-round with weight loss, and it's still in the cabinet, but I've never used it. I estimate portions but try to estimate high, so if I'm a little off I don't go over my target for the day.1
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If whatever you are doing is working for you - ie you are losing, maintaining, gaining as desired - then keep doing it.
Of course it also isn't a dichotomy of a) use a scale for everything or b) don't use a scale at all.
Many people, including me, use it for some things and guesstimate/ average/ accept packet readings for others.
Trick isn't to decide which of the 2 approaches a) or b) you want to use - it is to find the happy medium that works for you.4 -
For a long time I had been using a spring scale. I learned the utter folly of that when I switched to digital. Food scales are key to every, calories, portion contols and food budget. Yes, as I use less of things I buy, they are lasting longer as I don't need to replace as often.1
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paperpudding wrote: »If whatever you are doing is working for you - ie you are losing, maintaining, gaining as desired - then keep doing it.
Of course it also isn't a dichotomy of a) use a scale for everything or b) don't use a scale at all.
Many people, including me, use it for some things and guesstimate/ average/ accept packet readings for others.
Trick isn't to decide which of the 2 approaches a) or b) you want to use - it is to find the happy medium that works for you.
Yes! This!! I'm going to utter heresy and admit that I don't measure all BLTs (bites, licks, tastes). If I'm making my son peanut butter and jam and a lentil-sized bit of peanut butter gets licked off my fingers... I don't log it!! But that's because my trend is in the direction I want. I do measure most things (and in the UK if you're cooking you go by weight rather than volume, so that kitchen scale is out for pretty much every meal) and will guesstimate on things like fruit/veg portions, how much of a recipe I'm eating, meals out.
One thing I will say is that after about 9 years of cooking in the UK (I'm American originally) I vastly prefer using the scale to measuring cups. And if you're used to volume rather than weight and struggling with the idea of weighing everything, try swapping your online recipes over to metric. It gets you into a habit of weighing, noting and moving on. Sometimes it is a question of familiarity.5 -
I've been hearing of using digital scale, but i have an analog scale is that okay?0
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I've been hearing of using digital scale, but i have an analog scale is that okay?
Whatever works for you is ok.
A digital scale would be more accurate and easier to read and they are dirt cheap.
But if you have an analog one and are happy with it and your results are what you want - no problem.
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I've been hearing of using digital scale, but i have an analog scale is that okay?
I presume the analog scale uses a spring. That spring can stretch or compress over time and affect the accuracy of measurements. If you have a way to weigh some items of known weight to see how well it works, you may find it works just fine. If you are in the USA, a nickel weighs exactly five grams. Stack up a bunch of nickels and you can test your scale. Test it at many scales - 5g, 50g, 100g, 500g if you have a hundred nickels.
I think the biggest challenge with a spring scale are items that are calorie dense that you eat small masses of, like oil. For BIG things, like dry rice, the small inaccuracy may be hidden in the bigger number. That's what testing with various weights can help assess.
I had a spring scale someone gave me. It was terribly inaccurate. I bought a cheap digital scale, and I love it. The spring scale went to a second hand shop. Digital scales use pressure transducers to determine mass. They don't fail the same way a spring does.3 -
I love food scales. Even when I'm not counting calories (e.g., baking, weighing flour, etc). So much more precise than measuring cups!4
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During my weight loss phase I eat two cups of vegetables for lunch and dinner (along with protein and fruit). I eat a salad with vegetables, but got tried of using measuring cups. So I measured out the vegetables I wanted (my standard said fixings) and then weighed them in grams. I recorded all this. Now I cut up all my vegetables and have them available. When I fix a salad I put the bowl on the scale and add vegetables as needed. I also measure creamer and salad dressing on the scale in grams. I think weighing in general is more accurate than measuring cups. Consistency is key.2
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Go_Deskercise wrote: »
Yep, that's the reason for the bump.3 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Go_Deskercise wrote: »
Yep, that's the reason for the bump.
I have problems with having to scan barcodes... lol2 -
I've been hearing of using digital scale, but i have an analog scale is that okay?
When I tired of my spring loaded analog scale, I realized just how in-accurate my weights were when I started using a digital especially when, with the one I have I can zero it with push of a button and have choices of unit measures oz, grams, ml, pounds. A digital would not be a waste of your money and most are not expensive.2 -
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the best 20 bucks I ever spent was buying the food scale. will be weighing for life. it's not a big deal when it becomes routine.1
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I've been losing weight without a scale. I use the not so accurate estimations in MFP and eyeball. (E.g I look at my piece of chicken thigh and estimate ounces.)
Definitely inaccurate, but it doesn't make a difference for me.
Maybe I'd lose faster and more consistently with a scale, but I ain't have time and energy to obsess.5 -
I've been losing weight without a scale. I use the not so accurate estimations in MFP and eyeball. (E.g I look at my piece of chicken thigh and estimate ounces.)
Definitely inaccurate, but it doesn't make a difference for me.
Maybe I'd lose faster and more consistently with a scale, but I ain't have time and energy to obsess.
You only need to be as accurate and stringent as is required. There's no use making things more difficult or arduous if you're already seeing the results you want.4 -
I've been losing weight without a scale. I use the not so accurate estimations in MFP and eyeball. (E.g I look at my piece of chicken thigh and estimate ounces.)
Definitely inaccurate, but it doesn't make a difference for me.
Maybe I'd lose faster and more consistently with a scale, but I ain't have time and energy to obsess.
That's absolutely fine if it works for you and you're happy with your results.
However, I completely disagree that weighing one's food is either time consuming or obsessive. I just had a Greek salad for my dinner - put bowl on scale, tared, chopped tomato, tared, chopped cucumber...etc*. I was chopping those things and adding them to the bowl anyway. Pressing a button between additions is hardly arduous. The time argument has always mystified me.
As to obsessive - I don't want to be spending any more time on this ride than I need to, but I also want to ensure I'm eating every calorie I can. Weighing my food allows me to do that. I'm actually pretty good at eyeballing, but weighing is simple, so I do. Weighing gives me surety, if I estimated I'd be constantly worried I was either under or over.
*And dammit, I just realised I forgot red onion. No wonder it wasn't up to snuff
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I can't imagine not using a food scale. It an essential part of my arsenal. I like math and precision.
@quiksylver296 Love the squat pic. ^^ Nice intensity & good form.0 -
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Good time to bump this thread but also wanted to add my first hand experience showing the potential issues with the “per piece” way of logging...
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