You don't use a food scale?
Replies
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Hi I'm new at this app. I would love to start go weigh my food. But I dont know where to start. I have. Scale but wouldn't know how much oz of food I merc to eat. Ex; chicken, rice, eggs etc, to count macros. If anyone can just give me an idea. Love reading everyone comment.
Thanks guys0 -
I weigh and/or measure, depending on what it is Im making. Some recipes call for you to measure but not necessarily weigh. I've tried guessing and eyeballing isn't easy. Try this test at home:
Fill a cup with water.
Take out a cereal bowl, ball up some paper towel, and stick it in the bowl.
Pour water into the bowl to the amount YOU think equals 1 tablespoon.
Remove the towel and squeeze it into a measuring tablespoon.
Does your spoon runneth over?
I like your thinking, but why not just pour what looks like a tablespoon into a glass or measuring cup (One that doesn't have tbs. on it) then pour it into a tablespoon? That would eliminate a step completely, and accomplish the same thing. (To check eyeballing.)1 -
Crafty_camper123 wrote: »
I like your thinking, but why not just pour what looks like a tablespoon into a glass or measuring cup (One that doesn't have tbs. on it) then pour it into a tablespoon? That would eliminate a step completely, and accomplish the same thing. (To check eyeballing.)
And wouldn't the paper towel hold some of the water, throwing it off?11 -
Hi, I'm new too and this is what I'm doing - at the moment I'm either weighing out a serving according to the packet (so if the packet says 45g of rice is a serving, that's what I'm weighing out) or I'm using what I think is a serving and weighing it - so one chicken breast to me is about the right amount so I just weigh that.Patposey13 wrote: »Hi I'm new at this app. I would love to start go weigh my food. But I dont know where to start. I have. Scale but wouldn't know how much oz of food I merc to eat. Ex; chicken, rice, eggs etc, to count macros. If anyone can just give me an idea. Love reading everyone comment.
Thanks guys
But I'm not worrying too much whether it's the right macros just yet. I'm building a baseline so if my one chicken breast turns out to be too much/too little protein in future I can change that amount. I want to get used to tracking first, and I'm just focusing on calorie counting to get into it.
I've tried lots of ways to diet before and for me, the thing that always fails is trying to do too much too soon. I'm trying to be patient and take this slow so I make lasting habits this time.
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harrylafemme wrote: »Hi, I'm new too and this is what I'm doing - at the moment I'm either weighing out a serving according to the packet (so if the packet says 45g of rice is a serving, that's what I'm weighing out) or I'm using what I think is a serving and weighing it - so one chicken breast to me is about the right amount so I just weigh that.
But I'm not worrying too much whether it's the right macros just yet. I'm building a baseline so if my one chicken breast turns out to be too much/too little protein in future I can change that amount. I want to get used to tracking first, and I'm just focusing on calorie counting to get into it.
I've tried lots of ways to diet before and for me, the thing that always fails is trying to do too much too soon. I'm trying to be patient and take this slow so I make lasting habits this time.
Perfect!4 -
Patposey13 wrote: »Hi I'm new at this app. I would love to start go weigh my food. But I dont know where to start. I have. Scale but wouldn't know how much oz of food I merc to eat. Ex; chicken, rice, eggs etc, to count macros. If anyone can just give me an idea. Love reading everyone comment.
Thanks guys
Is there a reason you're trying to track macros? If a person is here for weight loss with no health or medical considerations, calories are much more important than macros. For a new one starting out, I would just weigh out what I plan to eat and over time look for ways to tweak the portions if I wanted to aim for a particular macro %.
Whoops... or in other words, what @harrylafemme said
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bump1
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Eat the whole pack, problem solved.😏1
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Junebug2022 wrote: »Eat the whole pack, problem solved.😏
Ah... but the government says that pack can be off by as much as 20%. 1 -
yeah PER serving1 -
Bump1
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Hey everyone, just wanted to share my experience with the food scale - my best friend and worst enemy.
I’ve lost 40 lbs so far and for the first 25-30, I used measuring cups and “eyeballing”, and it worked fine - until it didn’t. The scale refused to budge for almost a month and I had no idea that I had been sabotaging myself. I posted in the forums here for help and this thread’s OP - quiksylver, chimed in about food scales. I was sure that I was logging accurately and my thought process was “well I’ve lost weight so far, so my logging must be accurate”. Wrong!! I had lost a significant amount of weight so far, my calorie needs had changed and that meant that a “few extra” calories not logged accurately added up even more since I needed a larger deficit now in order to maintain my rate of loss (set to 1.5 lbs/week). A smaller person needs fewer calories.
So I purchased a food scale. The very first day, I realized that there were several hundred extra calories sneaking their way into my day. Several hundred!! On some days, as many as 400-500 calories that would have been unaccounted for.
The main culprits for me were things like ice cream, mayo, coffee creamer, salad dressings, etc. I had been measuring my ice cream in a measuring cup and learned that I was getting almost 33% more in each “serving”. It was a sad day that I realized I did not know what a portion of ice cream looks like, lol 😢 😂
There were also some foods that I was shorting myself on like cereal, Mac and cheese (wooohooo!!), and deli meat. But in the end, I was eating way more than I thought.
Since picking up the food scale and becoming more accurate about what I’m consuming, I’ve had massive success. The scale has been going down consistently every week.
Another bonus to the food scale is it keeps me from randomly grazing and snacking because I don’t want to have to bother pulling out the food scale for just 2 or 3 grapes, for example. When I eat, it’s deliberate and everything is weighed.
Getting a food scale was some of the best advice I’ve received - thank you quiksylver!
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sarahlucindac wrote: »Hey everyone, just wanted to share my experience with the food scale - my best friend and worst enemy.
I’ve lost 40 lbs so far and for the first 25-30, I used measuring cups and “eyeballing”, and it worked fine - until it didn’t. The scale refused to budge for almost a month and I had no idea that I had been sabotaging myself. I posted in the forums here for help and this thread’s OP - quiksylver, chimed in about food scales. I was sure that I was logging accurately and my thought process was “well I’ve lost weight so far, so my logging must be accurate”. Wrong!! I had lost a significant amount of weight so far, my calorie needs had changed and that meant that a “few extra” calories not logged accurately added up even more since I needed a larger deficit now in order to maintain my rate of loss (set to 1.5 lbs/week). A smaller person needs fewer calories.
So I purchased a food scale. The very first day, I realized that there were several hundred extra calories sneaking their way into my day. Several hundred!! On some days, as many as 400-500 calories that would have been unaccounted for.
The main culprits for me were things like ice cream, mayo, coffee creamer, salad dressings, etc. I had been measuring my ice cream in a measuring cup and learned that I was getting almost 33% more in each “serving”. It was a sad day that I realized I did not know what a portion of ice cream looks like, lol 😢 😂
There were also some foods that I was shorting myself on like cereal, Mac and cheese (wooohooo!!), and deli meat. But in the end, I was eating way more than I thought.
Since picking up the food scale and becoming more accurate about what I’m consuming, I’ve had massive success. The scale has been going down consistently every week.
Another bonus to the food scale is it keeps me from randomly grazing and snacking because I don’t want to have to bother pulling out the food scale for just 2 or 3 grapes, for example. When I eat, it’s deliberate and everything is weighed.
Getting a food scale was some of the best advice I’ve received - thank you quiksylver!
This made my entire time spent in these forums worth it! Thanks, @sarahlucindac.
Man, this is buried on page 13. Maybe you could start a brand new forum post so people see it?15 -
sarahlucindac wrote: »Hey everyone, just wanted to share my experience with the food scale - my best friend and worst enemy.
I’ve lost 40 lbs so far and for the first 25-30, I used measuring cups and “eyeballing”, and it worked fine - until it didn’t. The scale refused to budge for almost a month and I had no idea that I had been sabotaging myself. I posted in the forums here for help and this thread’s OP - quiksylver, chimed in about food scales. I was sure that I was logging accurately and my thought process was “well I’ve lost weight so far, so my logging must be accurate”. Wrong!! I had lost a significant amount of weight so far, my calorie needs had changed and that meant that a “few extra” calories not logged accurately added up even more since I needed a larger deficit now in order to maintain my rate of loss (set to 1.5 lbs/week). A smaller person needs fewer calories.
So I purchased a food scale. The very first day, I realized that there were several hundred extra calories sneaking their way into my day. Several hundred!! On some days, as many as 400-500 calories that would have been unaccounted for.
The main culprits for me were things like ice cream, mayo, coffee creamer, salad dressings, etc. I had been measuring my ice cream in a measuring cup and learned that I was getting almost 33% more in each “serving”. It was a sad day that I realized I did not know what a portion of ice cream looks like, lol 😢 😂
There were also some foods that I was shorting myself on like cereal, Mac and cheese (wooohooo!!), and deli meat. But in the end, I was eating way more than I thought.
Since picking up the food scale and becoming more accurate about what I’m consuming, I’ve had massive success. The scale has been going down consistently every week.
Another bonus to the food scale is it keeps me from randomly grazing and snacking because I don’t want to have to bother pulling out the food scale for just 2 or 3 grapes, for example. When I eat, it’s deliberate and everything is weighed.
Getting a food scale was some of the best advice I’ve received - thank you quiksylver!
This is so awesome and encouraging to read! So often, people take encouragement to use a food scale as an attack on their honesty when all we are trying to do is help them have success.
One thing to keep in mind is that at some point a person will need to choose a smaller rate of loss because his/her weight will no longer support the kind of deficit required for a 1.5 - 2 lb/week loss (750-1000 calories a day). So all the more reason to use a food scale as the numbers get tighter. 6 -
quiksylver296 wrote: » This made my entire time spent in these forums worth it! Thanks, @sarahlucindac.
Man, this is buried on page 13. Maybe you could start a brand new forum post so people see it?
Yay I’m so glad it made you feel all your time spent in the forums has been worth it!! Your advice made a huge difference for me and I’m sure there are many others who have been similarly influenced by you but just have not said anything/realized it. Thanks for being a positive force!!3 -
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quiksylver296 wrote: »
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@sarahlucindac , this post is so inspiring. I love that rather than giving up, you tried out something new, to get a better grasp of the facts. And, oh, did this make me laugh: "It was a sad day that I realized I did not know what a portion of ice cream looks like, lol 😢 😂" So, so true for me too!
I happen to have been doing some reading about the fact that people tend to underestimate intake (and also expenditure), and that overweight people may be worse at it. I can, from my use of a scale, easily imagine being off by several hundred calories a day if eyeballing it, and that is indeed enough to completely sabotage all efforts to reach and eventually maintain my goal weight.2 -
AustinRuadhain wrote: »@sarahlucindac , this post is so inspiring. I love that rather than giving up, you tried out something new, to get a better grasp of the facts. And, oh, did this make me laugh: "It was a sad day that I realized I did not know what a portion of ice cream looks like, lol 😢 😂" So, so true for me too!
I happen to have been doing some reading about the fact that people tend to underestimate intake (and also expenditure), and that overweight people may be worse at it. I can, from my use of a scale, easily imagine being off by several hundred calories a day if eyeballing it, and that is indeed enough to completely sabotage all efforts to reach and eventually maintain my goal weight.
I try to take advice to heart when something I’m doing isn’t working. Isn’t it nice to also have a little peace of mind that you have a true idea of how much you’re consuming? I find that I doubt my efforts much less because I know I’m not unintentionally cheating myself out of reaching my goals. When the scale doesn’t move much, I don’t worry about it. I know I’m in a calorie deficit and that the scale will catch up eventually ☺️7 -
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sarahlucindac wrote: »Hey everyone, just wanted to share my experience with the food scale - my best friend and worst enemy.
I’ve lost 40 lbs so far and for the first 25-30, I used measuring cups and “eyeballing”, and it worked fine - until it didn’t. The scale refused to budge for almost a month and I had no idea that I had been sabotaging myself. I posted in the forums here for help and this thread’s OP - quiksylver, chimed in about food scales. I was sure that I was logging accurately and my thought process was “well I’ve lost weight so far, so my logging must be accurate”. Wrong!! I had lost a significant amount of weight so far, my calorie needs had changed and that meant that a “few extra” calories not logged accurately added up even more since I needed a larger deficit now in order to maintain my rate of loss (set to 1.5 lbs/week). A smaller person needs fewer calories.
So I purchased a food scale. The very first day, I realized that there were several hundred extra calories sneaking their way into my day. Several hundred!! On some days, as many as 400-500 calories that would have been unaccounted for.
The main culprits for me were things like ice cream, mayo, coffee creamer, salad dressings, etc. I had been measuring my ice cream in a measuring cup and learned that I was getting almost 33% more in each “serving”. It was a sad day that I realized I did not know what a portion of ice cream looks like, lol 😢 😂
There were also some foods that I was shorting myself on like cereal, Mac and cheese (wooohooo!!), and deli meat. But in the end, I was eating way more than I thought.
Since picking up the food scale and becoming more accurate about what I’m consuming, I’ve had massive success. The scale has been going down consistently every week.
Another bonus to the food scale is it keeps me from randomly grazing and snacking because I don’t want to have to bother pulling out the food scale for just 2 or 3 grapes, for example. When I eat, it’s deliberate and everything is weighed.
Getting a food scale was some of the best advice I’ve received - thank you quiksylver!
This post needs to be a sticky...And posted in every forum! @sarahlucindac - thank you! (and @quiksylver296 too)5 -
renovagirl wrote: »
This post needs to be a sticky...And posted in every forum! @sarahlucindac - thank you! (and @quiksylver296 too)
Daw, thanks! Where do you think it would be most helpful for me to repost this? General health? Just another one in Getting started maybe?1 -
sarahlucindac wrote: »
Daw, thanks! Where do you think it would be most helpful for me to repost this? General health? Just another one in Getting started maybe?
Not sure it matters.
Did you do it already, @sarahlucindac? Can you share the title, or link? I wanna comment on it!1 -
Oh man! I needed to see this post today. I weighed items like my apples, or servings out of a larger container, but I was not weighing items like my 100 calorie pack of almonds and the tortillas from the package. I just counted those things as one. I had tuna and crackers for lunch and there was a substantial difference in just that. Also, I had been going for coffee at a shop and just asking them to add a little cream. I am pretty sure my estimate was way too low. Back to coffee at home.
Just FYI - my almonds calorie count was 15% higher than stated on the package. I realize that is only 15 calories, but it adds up all day and week long.9 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »
Not sure it matters.
Did you do it already, @sarahlucindac? Can you share the title, or link? I wanna comment on it!
I haven’t yet but I’ll post here when I do! Just short on time lately. I’ll get it up tomorrow 2 -
Great info!!!!!2
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Friday bump.0
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Ok I reposted it! It’s in General health, fitness, and diet. Titled “How I stopped kidding myself” 😂6
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sarahlucindac wrote: »Ok I reposted it! It’s in General health, fitness, and diet. Titled “How I stopped kidding myself” 😂
Found it!!! Super great! 👍🏻2 -
Bump1
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