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You don't use a food scale?
Replies
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I have had my scale for a week now. Perhaps I need a life but I really enjoy using it. I always thought they were a lot more expensive and confusing to use.
I got a TFAL at Canadian tire. Regular $30 but was on sale for $20. It was not expensive at all.
I use the zero/tare button and it could not be easier.4 -
I have been on MFP for 6 years, I was successful at losing weight and hitting my goal without a food scale, since then I had another baby, gained all the weight back, and over the past year and 3 months I have very slowly been losing it, I have my calories set low to make up for over estimating, that being said, I realize how stupid that all sounds and finally ordered a food scale, It comes today
and food prep bento boxes. 8 -
angmarie28 wrote: »I have been on MFP for 6 years, I was successful at losing weight and hitting my goal without a food scale, since then I had another baby, gained all the weight back, and over the past year and 3 months I have very slowly been losing it, I have my calories set low to make up for over estimating, that being said, I realize how stupid that all sounds and finally ordered a food scale, It comes today and food prep bento boxes.
Let us know what you think!2 -
Thanks for the info. I bought a food scale yesterday.8
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I used to weigh, then thought I knew what food weighed by what it looked like. I was pretty spot on for the first little bit, then the portion sizes increased. What I was sure weighed 4oz now weighed 8oz..... It is almost comical that your brain makes this happen lol. I got back into weighing for a time but as I am now gaining (planned) I don't weigh I estimate or measure (cups, tbsp.,etc) but while doing this I make sure I eat well under goal which gives me some leeway7
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I weigh everything. One thing I found interesting is that the slices of bread in a loaf of bread can vary 10-30% in weight because of the tapered ends and slope of the bread. This doesn't apply to sandwich style bread where the slices are consistent.
This is very important to anyone watching their sodium intake.6 -
Secretnotes wrote: »I weigh everything. One thing I found interesting is that the slices of bread in a loaf of bread can vary 10-30% in weight because of the tapered ends and slope of the bread. This doesn't apply to sandwich style bread where the slices are consistent.
True.1 -
Bump.2
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quiksylver296 wrote: »
I weigh liquids, personally. I know "they" say to use measuring cups for liquids, but it hasn't affected my weight loss at all and I'd rather not wash a measuring cup. So, I just put my coffee cup on the scale and weigh my creamer (or whatever). If my weight loss ever stalls, that is one thing I know I can tighten up on.
Me too. And I think the difference is so small.If you always have steady deficit, it won't make a huge difference or stall your weight loss.4 -
There are times when eyeballing your portions is the only option, but the scales are invaluable at home.4
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diannethegeek wrote: »
Not the person you're asking, but I use liquid creamer and I weigh it on the food scale. The first thing I did was measure out a serving with measuring spoons and drop it on the scale to see how close it was. For the creamer I use, it's close enough to water that 1 fl oz = 1 oz. I won't weigh all liquids this way since I know some won't have the same density as water, but for some common ones I test them out and see how they weigh just because I find the food scale so much easier for food prep.
Like @diannethegeek I measured out my cereal milk and then weighed it. Came up with a number in gms that was easily converted into cals/100gms and now I just place my bowl on the scale-zero it, add cereal, zero scale, add fruit, zeroscale and then add my milk. Done in one bowl no extra measuring cups/spoons etc.9 -
Time to bump, based on the threads out there today.7
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I bought their recommended scale, which I love btw, based on watching an older youtube video about scales by America's Test Kitchen, but here is their more recent review video: Digital Kitchen Scales
I highly recommend watching them as they are super informative and very helpful in making a good decision, PLUS they give a budget friendly recommendation at the end!
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I Just jumped on the scale bandwagon last week. I've lost successfully without one, but picked one up just to dial my numbers in a bit better. For example, I have no idea what a 3oz serving of meat actually looks like, so I would just guess high just in case. I'm finding with some things, I've been underfeeding myself due to unsure overestimations. Some things I'm finding I've underestimated and unintentionally overate. I'm still learning to use it effectively. It takes me a while to measure everything, especially when I forget to "tare" before my next ingredient, lol. Also I've noticed scanning the barcode and then weighing isn't always the best thing because I've weighed something, then scanned the barcode and it pulls up the serving as "1 item = x calories"...Then I have to look and see how many grams the serving size says on the package... This requires a lot more math then I realized it would, lol.
Edit: In other words, it's taking me forever in the kitchen! I'm hoping with more experience I'll get faster at this!7 -
Crafty_camper123 wrote: »I Just jumped on the scale bandwagon last week. I've lost successfully without one, but picked one up just to dial my numbers in a bit better. For example, I have no idea what a 3oz serving of meat actually looks like, so I would just guess high just in case. I'm finding with some things, I've been underfeeding myself due to unsure overestimations. Some things I'm finding I've underestimated and unintentionally overate. I'm still learning to use it effectively. It takes me a while to measure everything, especially when I forget to "tare" before my next ingredient, lol. Also I've noticed scanning the barcode and then weighing isn't always the best thing because I've weighed something, then scanned the barcode and it pulls up the serving as "1 item = x calories"...Then I have to look and see how many grams the serving size says on the package... This requires a lot more math then I realized it would, lol.
Edit: In other words, it's taking me forever in the kitchen! I'm hoping with more experience I'll get faster at this!
Oh, you will! It starts to become second nature and very easy after awhile.5 -
very good advice on here! I was faithful with measuring scale and have fallen away. Reminder I need to get back on the bandwagon!
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Crafty_camper123 wrote: »I Just jumped on the scale bandwagon last week. I've lost successfully without one, but picked one up just to dial my numbers in a bit better. For example, I have no idea what a 3oz serving of meat actually looks like, so I would just guess high just in case. I'm finding with some things, I've been underfeeding myself due to unsure overestimations. Some things I'm finding I've underestimated and unintentionally overate. I'm still learning to use it effectively. It takes me a while to measure everything, especially when I forget to "tare" before my next ingredient, lol. Also I've noticed scanning the barcode and then weighing isn't always the best thing because I've weighed something, then scanned the barcode and it pulls up the serving as "1 item = x calories"...Then I have to look and see how many grams the serving size says on the package... This requires a lot more math then I realized it would, lol.
Edit: In other words, it's taking me forever in the kitchen! I'm hoping with more experience I'll get faster at this!
If I scan the barcode and it doesn't give me an option to enter by weight, I will search in the database for another entry that has that option. Most the time I enter the quantity option of 1 gram and then in servings I enter the total number of grams. So if it weighs 60 grams, I put in 60, 1 gram servings. I also still measure just incase I forget to tare out my previous ingredient. Then I at least have that to back up on. it gets easier... I also google a lot of math problems like what is 1/8th as a decimal.. because I can never remember hahah 5 -
vondraclaire wrote: »If I scan the barcode and it doesn't give me an option to enter by weight, I will search in the database for another entry that has that option. Most the time I enter the quantity option of 1 gram and then in servings I enter the total number of grams. So if it weighs 60 grams, I put in 60, 1 gram servings. I also still measure just incase I forget to tare out my previous ingredient. Then I at least have that to back up on. it gets easier... I also google a lot of math problems like what is 1/8th as a decimal.. because I can never remember hahah
I google a lot, too. LOL4 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »
I google a lot, too. LOL
Me three.....lol2 -
vondraclaire wrote: »
If I scan the barcode and it doesn't give me an option to enter by weight, I will search in the database for another entry that has that option. Most the time I enter the quantity option of 1 gram and then in servings I enter the total number of grams. So if it weighs 60 grams, I put in 60, 1 gram servings. I also still measure just incase I forget to tare out my previous ingredient. Then I at least have that to back up on. it gets easier... I also google a lot of math problems like what is 1/8th as a decimal.. because I can never remember hahah
I've been doing just that actually. Or just saying .9 servings or 1.2 servings depending on how it weighs out. Or googling conversion rates for X measurement =Y in grams. Still a bit on the time consuming side, but not too much worse then measuring everything by cups and what not.2 -
Crafty_camper123 wrote: »
I've been doing just that actually. Or just saying .9 servings or 1.2 servings depending on how it weighs out. Or googling conversion rates for X measurement =Y in grams. Still a bit on the time consuming side, but not too much worse then measuring everything by cups and what not.
It is a lot of math for sure, but our math teachers always told us we would use it when we were older, I just never expected it would be to lose weight haha 9 -
Crafty_camper123 wrote: »I Just jumped on the scale bandwagon last week. I've lost successfully without one, but picked one up just to dial my numbers in a bit better. For example, I have no idea what a 3oz serving of meat actually looks like, so I would just guess high just in case. I'm finding with some things, I've been underfeeding myself due to unsure overestimations. Some things I'm finding I've underestimated and unintentionally overate. I'm still learning to use it effectively. It takes me a while to measure everything, especially when I forget to "tare" before my next ingredient, lol. Also I've noticed scanning the barcode and then weighing isn't always the best thing because I've weighed something, then scanned the barcode and it pulls up the serving as "1 item = x calories"...Then I have to look and see how many grams the serving size says on the package... This requires a lot more math then I realized it would, lol.
Edit: In other words, it's taking me forever in the kitchen! I'm hoping with more experience I'll get faster at this!
my strategy is that i have my calculator app on my phone right next to mfp - so while i scan the item i scope out the grams per serving, for example a serving of baby spinach (yes i weigh EVERYTHING at home) is 85 grams, then i weigh the spinach and swap to my calculator, so, if i weigh out 112 grams of spinach i close mfp, open calculator, divide 112 by 85 = 1.317, reopen mfp and log 1.32 servings of spinach. if the item has an accurate entry in 100 gram serving sizes i can skip the math, but more often than not, it doesn't.5 -
jessiferrrb wrote: »
my strategy is that i have my calculator app on my phone right next to mfp - so while i scan the item i scope out the grams per serving, for example a serving of baby spinach (yes i weigh EVERYTHING at home) is 85 grams, then i weigh the spinach and swap to my calculator, so, if i weigh out 112 grams of spinach i close mfp, open calculator, divide 112 by 85 = 1.317, reopen mfp and log 1.32 servings of spinach. if the item has an accurate entry in 100 gram serving sizes i can skip the math, but more often than not, it doesn't.
I definitely try to find an entry that has 100 grams option! So much easier.5 -
jessiferrrb wrote: »
my strategy is that i have my calculator app on my phone right next to mfp - so while i scan the item i scope out the grams per serving, for example a serving of baby spinach (yes i weigh EVERYTHING at home) is 85 grams, then i weigh the spinach and swap to my calculator, so, if i weigh out 112 grams of spinach i close mfp, open calculator, divide 112 by 85 = 1.317, reopen mfp and log 1.32 servings of spinach. if the item has an accurate entry in 100 gram serving sizes i can skip the math, but more often than not, it doesn't.
I personally think it is easier, if their is the 1 gram serving listed, to just put 112, 1 gram servings. It will still come out to the same amount of calories, but the program does the math, not you.
EDIT: After playing around in the database I don't think this always works... so I definitely have to reassess lol2 -
vondraclaire wrote: »
I personally think it is easier, if their is the 1 gram serving listed, to just put 112, 1 gram servings. It will still come out to the same amount of calories, but the program does the math, not you.
EDIT: After playing around in the database I don't think this always works... so I definitely have to reassess lol
And if it’s 100 grams, and you have 112, you just put 1.12 servings.3 -
The best thing about using the scale is the knowledge you can use when you can't use the scale. For example at restaurants or work functions. I can more accurate track what's on my plate based on what I've measured at home. It's a great tool! Also, I've become that person who asks the wait staff how many ounces is the fish or chicken fillets so I can use that for my logging.10
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vondraclaire wrote: »I bought their recommended scale, which I love btw, based on watching an older youtube video about scales by America's Test Kitchen, but here is their more recent review video: Digital Kitchen Scales
I highly recommend watching them as they are super informative and very helpful in making a good decision, PLUS they give a budget friendly recommendation at the end!
I've had that exact 11-Pound OXO Good Grips Food Scale for almost 8 years now. If it ever dies I'll get another one. Not switching brands unless they stop making it.4 -
Wynterbourne wrote: »
I've had that exact 11-Pound OXO Good Grips Food Scale for almost 8 years now. If it ever dies I'll get another one. Not switching brands unless they stop making it.
I replaced my 20-yr-old 11-lb Oxo with the 22-lb one. Game changer.3 -
vondraclaire wrote: »
I personally think it is easier, if their is the 1 gram serving listed, to just put 112, 1 gram servings. It will still come out to the same amount of calories, but the program does the math, not you.
EDIT: After playing around in the database I don't think this always works... so I definitely have to reassess lol
I don't like the 1 gram serving size entries because it's impossible to check the accuracy of the entry -- calories and macros all round to zero, so even though MFP is storing the data behind the scene and doing the math when you log, for example, 78 servings at 1 gram each, there's no way to know if that underlying data is accurate. And I have seen entries where data for one serving size (say 1 tablespoon) is accurate, but another serving size that was presumably derived from it (e.g., 1 teaspoon) is wildy inaccurate. So I'm not going to take it on faith that if the entry has a serving size greater mass that is accurate, the 1 gram entry must be accurate.
ETA: I also have had the 11-pound OXO Good Grips scale for a long time (four and a half years using it mutiple times a day to log on MFP, plus I'd guess at least another five years before that using it maybe once a week on average for baking), and I'm very pleased with its endurance, accuracy, ease of clearning, and long battery life.Wynterbourne wrote: »
I've had that exact 11-Pound OXO Good Grips Food Scale for almost 8 years now. If it ever dies I'll get another one. Not switching brands unless they stop making it.
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