Food Scale Questions

kksmom1789

I just got a food scale and I am really excited I have been around the same weight since about August and I am ready to get the scale moving down again. I don't know exactly what I should or shouldn't weigh? do you guys weigh everything out even stuff that is pre packaged? I just want to make sure I am using the scale properly. Thank you!

diannethegeek

I weigh as much as I can. If I grab a baby carrot out of the fridge or put a slice of tomato onto a sandwich, I probably won't weigh it. When I buy a new-to-me prepackaged food, I'll often weigh the first few to see whether or not the weight matches the serving size. Then I can decide whether it's something I want to keep weighing or not.

Everything that has a nutrition label should have a weight next to the serving size, so you can weigh everything (except liquids, those should still be measured in cups/spoons). I spent my first week with a food scale just treating it like a science experiment. I'd put everything I could on the scale just to see.

quiksylver296

If you're just starting out, yes. Weigh everything.

As you get a little better at it, you can maybe drop some things off. I found the tortillas I use are almost always within 2-3 grams of the package weight, so I don't worry about them any more. But I didn't know that at first, so I weighed them.

janejellyroll

When I'm trying to hit a deficit, I weigh all the solid food I eat at home. That includes pre-packaged stuff.

Now that I'm maintaining, I weigh all my fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, etc and I do check-ins for the pre-packaged stuff. Anything that I would otherwise be measuring in a cup or counting (things like cereal, ice cream, chips), I will also weigh out.

Tacklewasher

I test weight the pre-packaged things as well. But I haven't found any to be so out of line as to care. Weigh cereal though as going by the label, the volume and grams per serving have no correlation whatsoever.

I weighed my veggies for a long time, but have stopped as I have a good idea what a serving is and just want to be close. Same for fruit, unless it looks to be a different size than what I've been eating.

Meat, even chicken, gets weighed as do potatoes. Rice gets weighed. Stuff like that that is harder to estimate (for me).

malibu927

Start out by weighing everything. Prepackaged foods can be off by up to 20%.

You may find as you lose that some items (lower calorie vegetables especially) you can do fine by estimating their size.

And something that hasn't been mentioned yet...while it's preferred to weigh things before cooking, make sure you choose the correct entry (raw or cooked) to represent your item.

Momepro

Yes, weigh everything, including napkins, plates and cups BEFORE you put food in them. Also helps to have some small very lightweight dishes that are used mainly for weighing. I have a couple sets of these Mozaik tapas and entertaining disposable bowls that are duper lightweight, cheap, dishwasher safe and perfect size for measuring single servings.

AnnPT77

I weigh pretty much everything. It's just easier that way for me than thinking "do I weigh this or not": I'm kind of a flake, so I'd screw up more often if it were a 'sometimes' thing.

Here are some tips that might help make it efficient for you:

• Assembling a salad in a bowl, a stew in a pan, sandwich on a plate? Put the bowl/pan/plate on the scale, zero, add an ingredient, note the weight, zero, add the next ingredient, note the weight . . . .
• Using something from a carton or jar, or cutting a slice from a hunk of cheese? Put the container or chunk on the scale, zero, take out portion, note the negative value (it's the amount you took out).
• Eating a whole apple, banana, un-hulled strawberries, corn on the cob? Weigh the ready-to-eat food, eat the yummy parts, weigh the core/hulls/peel, subtract & note.
• I like to keep a few clean plastic yogurt-tub lids around to weigh small items, like a handful of nuts or chopped hardboiled eggs or something. Drop the lid on the scale, zero, add item, note weight, eat or use - just a quick rinse of the lid under the faucet & you're done.
• I also use an old junk-mail envelope to scribble the items while I’m cooking to spare spills on my electronic device, and record the results after.

No measuring spoons to scrape out, or wash, except when you need to measure liquids . . . and you can weigh some of them, too.

Best wishes!

JeromeBarry1

A large egg is supposed to weigh 50 grams. That's the only thing I consistently don't weigh.

1houndgal

Momepro wrote: »

Yes, weigh everything, including napkins, plates and cups BEFORE you put food in them. Also helps to have some small very lightweight dishes that are used mainly for weighing. I have a couple sets of these Mozaik tapas and entertaining disposable bowls that are duper lightweight, cheap, dishwasher safe and perfect size for measuring single servings.

The "Tare Button" is your friend. Lol