You don't use a food scale?
Replies
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I don’t use a food scale and have lost a lot of weight just fine. I’m down to the last 10 “vanity” pounds and may just buy one since it has helped so many of you.1
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I was fortunate to see this post--or something similar--the week I started here. I had purchased measuring spoons and cups, but went ahead and ordered a scale after watching one of the videos about the difference between weighing and measure. My thinking is that when the deficit is large and there is a lot of weight to lose, weighing probably isn't AS essential (unless you are one of those folks who fills every measuring utensil beyond full, every time), but it does make a difference *and* helps you with the information/data you are gathering. More importantly, as each of us gets to the end of the losing stage, those small deficits will be hard to maintain consistently without weighing. I have lots of time until I get there but find weighing food is just easier--I don't have to clean as many utensils. So being lazy works for me, in this case. YMMV.
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I was fortunate to see this post--or something similar--the week I started here. I had purchased measuring spoons and cups, but went ahead and ordered a scale after watching one of the videos about the difference between weighing and measure. My thinking is that when the deficit is large and there is a lot of weight to lose, weighing probably isn't AS essential (unless you are one of those folks who fills every measuring utensil beyond full, every time), but it does make a difference *and* helps you with the information/data you are gathering. More importantly, as each of us gets to the end of the losing stage, those small deficits will be hard to maintain consistently without weighing. I have lots of time until I get there but find weighing food is just easier--I don't have to clean as many utensils. So being lazy works for me, in this case. YMMV.
Agree with all of this, especially the lazy part. :laugh:3 -
I use a cheap $9 food scale. Weigh and measure almost everything. Makes a big difference in my ability to keep within my calorie budget, especially since my budget is only 1300 calories. When I don't have a scale available (restaurant meal, dinner at a friend's house), I guestimate portion sizes. Eating out is the hardest--I don't know how much extra fat or sugar went into my meal to make it taste really good. Just do you best.3
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kristingjertsen wrote: »I use a cheap $9 food scale. Weigh and measure almost everything. Makes a big difference in my ability to keep within my calorie budget, especially since my budget is only 1300 calories. When I don't have a scale available (restaurant meal, dinner at a friend's house), I guestimate portion sizes. Eating out is the hardest--I don't know how much extra fat or sugar went into my meal to make it taste really good. Just do you best.
That's why I am glad to have learned a few things working in restaurants. Steak size is extremely accurate; budget vs customer demands (and potential lawsuits). Always add 1 TBSP butter to your steak - that's how they make it taste so good and keep it glistening. So ording a steak (of any meat product) is the easiest thing to log. Anything served sauced is the hardest: even BBQ sauce can vary by more than 250 calories from restaurant to restaurant depending on thier recipe. Alfredo sauce can range from 200-1000 calories (heavy cream, butter, & duck fat - yes, duck fat vs. milk based with thickeners). If all else fails, search for a similar items at chain restaurants that have calories listed and use that.7 -
My new food scale will arrive today from Amazon. I'm 20 from GW, and have had my own internal debate over using a scale. I can lose weight w/o, and I know this sounds crazy, but I've been worrying that by using one I will seem a bit too obsessed with the whole food thing. I want to set a good example for my teens, and personally, I feel like I spend a good portion of my time thinking about my food planning. Still, I get the argument about accurate measurements
Anyone else feel this way?0 -
spygirl2014 wrote: »My new food scale will arrive today from Amazon. I'm 20 from GW, and have had my own internal debate over using a scale. I can lose weight w/o, and I know this sounds crazy, but I've been worrying that by using one I will seem a bit too obsessed with the whole food thing. I want to set a good example for my teens, and personally, I feel like I spend a good portion of my time thinking about my food planning. Still, I get the argument about accurate measurements
Anyone else feel this way?
Weighing food can be a trigger for someone with ED tendencies. But for most of us, it's just an easy way of assuring that we are not taking in more calories than we think and- and this aspect can often be overlooked- making sure we get all we've got coming to us, as opposed to going with high estimates that might otherwise cheat us out of calories. I have kids at home and they see their dad & I weighing our food all the time. They know it's just a tool like any other, to help us accomplish a particular task.4 -
I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?1
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MixedbarbieMOM1991 wrote: »I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?
Just go to Amazon or Walmart and pick the cheapest one
As long as it has grams & a tare function, you'll be good. I think mine is an Ozeri that I got for $10. It's lasted several years of daily use. 2 -
MixedbarbieMOM1991 wrote: »I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?
I have this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Escali-157DP-Digital-Kitchen-Purple/dp/B0051B317W/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1531166064&sr=8-3-spons&keywords=escali+digital+scale&psc=11 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »MixedbarbieMOM1991 wrote: »I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?
I have this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Escali-157DP-Digital-Kitchen-Purple/dp/B0051B317W/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1531166064&sr=8-3-spons&keywords=escali+digital+scale&psc=1
Your scale is purple!?
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quiksylver296 wrote: »MixedbarbieMOM1991 wrote: »I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?
I have this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Escali-157DP-Digital-Kitchen-Purple/dp/B0051B317W/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1531166064&sr=8-3-spons&keywords=escali+digital+scale&psc=1
Your scale is purple!?
YES, IT IS!!! :bigsmile:2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »MixedbarbieMOM1991 wrote: »I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?
I have this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Escali-157DP-Digital-Kitchen-Purple/dp/B0051B317W/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1531166064&sr=8-3-spons&keywords=escali+digital+scale&psc=1
Your scale is purple!?
Oooohhh... those are nice! A little pricey though
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quiksylver296 wrote: »MixedbarbieMOM1991 wrote: »I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?
I have this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Escali-157DP-Digital-Kitchen-Purple/dp/B0051B317W/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1531166064&sr=8-3-spons&keywords=escali+digital+scale&psc=1
Your scale is purple!?
Oooohhh... those are nice! A little pricey though
I didn't pay that much. They've gone up in price. I think I got mine off Groupon, actually.2 -
lucerorojo wrote: »I have one but I hadn't been using it for everything. Today I weighed a banana (unpeeled) for the first time. This was an average size banana (definitely have eaten bigger and smaller ones) and it was 40 calories more (once I weighed it and took the USDA value) than the banana that is "medium" in the database. So for 6 months I've been using that "medium" and underestimating most of the time for a banana.
I also weighed a thick slice of bacon for the first time. (First time weighing my bacon at all). For thick slices I had been using the calorie equivalent of "2 slices" in the database. In the first place, I had no idea how big those slices were. I was just lazy. Sometimes I'd look on the package but the bacon I have this week has no information--it was fresh from a butcher. Anyway, ONE thick slice was 70 calories more than the "two slices" in the database. So had I not weighed the bacon and the banana today, I would have eaten 110 calories extra that I didn't realize. I'm weighing everything today!!
I just want to point out that the USDA value for bananas is "peeled", so it's probably not 40 calories more. Banana peels are pretty heavy, and if you use the weight of an unpeeled banana in your diary you are likely to overestimate. Same for bacon - the serving size in grams is typically for a "cooked" slice of bacon. When you cook a piece of meat, especially something good and fatty like bacon, its weight will reduce drastically after cooking.
So, don't just weigh your food, make sure you are equating it to the correct diary entry when you weigh it! Is it 100 g of raw chicken breast or grilled chicken breast? Is it 82 g of unpeeled mandarin oranges or of peeled segments?
It's being nitpicky, but if you'd like to be really accurate, please keep this in mind, kids.6 -
Bump
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I use a food scale ! Sometimes. I have a couple of them.0
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My husband weighed my pork chop so he could report it to me when I got home from work to log
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Eeek....most of this month I can't. I'm on vacation, so I'm doing my best guesses based on previous meals, restaurant guides, and package listings.2
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Happy Monday!1
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Post-vacay bump.1
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I will admit that I have never weighed a tortilla or a piece of bread.
It's funny you should mention this, because when I make PB toast for breakfast, typically I place the toast on the scale, tare, and then add the PB directly to the toast until i reach my preferred grams. I did this for 2 pieces this morning and prior to the tare, I noticed a difference of 3 grams between the two slices of toast. Not to say that changed my entry in any way, I'm not about to start weighing and obsessing over each individual bread slice unless and until my deficit is so small that I have to do so in order to keep losing, but it was an interesting moment.
Also, I do this for salads since it's been mentioned here. I don't think it takes any longer to weigh all of the ingredients in a salad. I put the bowl on the scale, tare, add an item and note it, then tare, add an item and note it, etc until I have accurate information to log. It doesn't seem especially difficult or tedious to me.My thinking is that when the deficit is large and there is a lot of weight to lose, weighing probably isn't AS essential (unless you are one of those folks who fills every measuring utensil beyond full, every time), but it does make a difference *and* helps you with the information/data you are gathering. More importantly, as each of us gets to the end of the losing stage, those small deficits will be hard to maintain consistently without weighing. I have lots of time until I get there but find weighing food is just easier
Well said, and I think it just builds good habits that will serve us well when we do reach that final stretch.1 -
I weigh bread, using rye or multi-grain bread, each slice can be a different size and weight. It isn't drastic but I do it anyway.1
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I do the same. I weigh just to check and see if it's in line with the serving size grams. If it's more then a couple grams off, I will adjust my entry though. I once had a ciabatta roll come in at 30 grams over the suggested serving size! Sliced bread is usually dead on or pretty close.DoubleUbea wrote: »I weigh bread, using rye or multi-grain bread, each slice can be a different size and weight. It isn't drastic but I do it anyway.
I do have a question though. What do you all do when the barcode scanned entry gives you Milliliters instead of grams? I've found if I use milliliters the calories are WAY off. (Why a liquid measurement option is available on so many solid foods, I have no idea. ) For now, I just divide my measurement to grams per serving and go that route. But it would be nice to not have to do math all the time. But why is milliliters available so often? Am I missing something?
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Ok so to play devil's advocate here.
I do consistently weigh my food, but until I started to narrow in on macros, I was always over-eating by 200 to 300 calories in my allowance due to incorrect macro addition by marketing (ie. 30 C 10 P 2 F says its 180 calories, off by 18 calories.)
I still lost weight. Even when I didn't weigh my food I STILL lost weight.
This was due to CONSISTENCY in my diet. Eating one tablespoon (3tablespoons) of peanut butter a day even though tracked as only one, still got the same results. Why? Because my body adapted.
The problem comes when your always trying to fit new and different foods into your diet.
So weigh your flat out wraps all you want. If it's 10 calories over every day for me, my body can handle that..11 -
^^ This is why it took me so long to finally break down and buy a scale. I wasn't weighing a thing, and was losing weight. I think you're right it really boils down to consistency. Even measuring cups and spoons should work to a point (leveled, not heaping) as long as you are consistent. That being said, the scale has made certain foods so much easier to enter into the database. It's a life saver for measuring out whole foods like meat and veggies. I for one can't eyeball what 3oz of meat looks like, nor do I really know what a serving of sliced watermelon looks like.
It's also surprisingly more convenient to just plop out 113(1 serving) grams of cottage cheese onto my plate. Instead of looking at it and going "Is that 1/2 a cup? A bit more? Maybe I should measure so I know what it looks like...?" Or the often mentioned peanut butter. Stick the thing on the scale, tare and scoop out your serving. Way easier then guessing or using a tablespoon to make sure you got 1 serving.
Admittedly, I don't weigh everything. I either forget to tare and plop it on my plate, or it's packaged food and I'm at work. Or I'm cooking for a crowd and can't be bothered with it, lol. If I stall out, I know where my pitfalls are, and right now it's not lack of weighing. It's "Crap I forgot to plan dinner. Let's grab something." And over-eating in general. lol. BUT I still think it's really important for people to do. Especially if they aren't very good at eyeballing portion and serving sizes. Or for things you really can't eyeball very well. Our eyes are untrustworthy little buggers anyways...4 -
Plenty of people lose weight without using a food scale, or even logging. Either they are unusually good at eyeballing portions, or they just chose a way of eating that naturally had them in a calorie deficit.
The calorie deficit is what makes weight loss happen. Some people can get into a deficit without using a food scale. It's not magic, just skill or luck.
But if someone is not losing as expected, weighing out your portions is the best way to determine how many calories you are really eating. Because most people who don't are eating more than they think, including possibly losing weight at a higher calorie level than they think. There are myriad women out there who think they needed to eat 1100 cals or some other ridiculously low # to lose weight. They were no doubt actually eating more because they were eyeballing portions. It really doesn't matter, except when these women start telling other women you should eat 1100 cals to lose weight and it's easy to do so.
@Crafty_camper123 Scanning barcodes simply searches existing entries in the database to find a possible match. If you are bringing up an entry that doesn't give you the best measurement options, try manually searching instead. There are some areas in the world where stuff like ice cream is sold with milliliters as the measurement for some crazy reason. There is also just some random crap in the database, maybe entered by folks who weren't paying attention and clicked the wrong thing. Who knows?11 -
@kimny72 Yes, If the scanner brings up something weird, I do a manual search for one that makes more sense. It never occurred to me that the barcode scanned ones are user entered as well. Makes sense. It also explains why some just don't add up. I had it try to tell me my bowl full of cereal was only 40 calories once. (I wish) I had salad mix the other day, that I could not find one at all in grams. It wasn't until I looked at the bag that I saw that 1 serving was actually 100 grams. So that one was easy. It's rare that the serving size on the package is 100 grams though. It's usually something weird & arbitrary like 73 grams. That's when I usually divide my serving size into the recommended serving and get my serving that way. (80/73= 1.10 Servings.)
I agree that a lot of people are really bad at guessing their calories though. I have had quite a few real life examples where someone tells me "Oh yeah I only eat 900 calories a day! I'm down 5 lbs. since last month" or " Well I'm only eating 1200 a day. I should be losing weight!". Meanwhile I'm watching them eat a thing that is either half or equal to their supposed daily calorie intake in one meal.
The scale is a real eye opener. I found myself I was under-estimating certain things, and over-estimating others. I do like the fact I now know exactly what I'm consuming if I weigh it.5 -
Getting a food scale is definitely on the to-do list! Thanks!4
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moogie_fit wrote: »Eating one tablespoon (3tablespoons) of peanut butter a day even though tracked as only one, still got the same results. Why? Because my body adapted.
The problem comes when your always trying to fit new and different foods into your diet.
What?
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