Should we trust pre packaged food? Should I be weighing everything?

smashtastic27

My goal calories have been around 1300-1400 and I’m not losing weight. I asked what I could do to fix this and what most people suggested was that I’m misscounting my calories. This is very possible. I weigh veggies when I cook them but when it comes to fish, oatmeal packets, protein bars and individual yogurt cups I just assume that it has the calories per serving that the box says it has. For example my simply protein bar says it has 150 calories a bar. That’s what the box says. Is the box wrong? Should I be weighing absolutely everything I eat?

Spliner1969

I weighed pre-packaged foods when I was losing weight. It will surprise you how much they can be off from the label. Once I hit maintenance I stopped because it doesn't matter as much now. But when I was close to my goal weight and still trying to lose weight every calorie counted for accuracy. Same will go with shorter people (I'm lucky because i'm pretty tall), you have less calories to work with therefore it's more important to be very accurate in your logging.

Also keep in mind up to 5 lbs can be simple water weight at any time. If you have not lost weight in a period of a month or two I'd adjust calories, but over a week or two it can mean nothing. Simply adopting new exercise can cause water weight gain, and a lot of the time when people start with MFP they do two things.. reduce calories, and start new exercise regimens. The two things together can make it look like things are not working. Be accurate as possible with logging, and be patient.

kshama2001

I weigh until I've learned that I can trust the brand. For example, a pack of Cabot cheddar cheese slices doesn't have enough variance for me to worry about. However, a pint of Ben & Jerry's FroYo shafted me by 26 grams >.<

I don't have to weigh my chocolate protein powder, but my plain is really fluffy and I do have to weigh it.

steveko89

I try to weigh as much as I can, though I don't believe I've ever weighed a bar or yogurt cup. One possibility would be to weigh a pre-packaged item for a week to see if there's a discrepancy in the stated serving size and the actual amount. I found this with my protein powder; "1 scoop" was stated to be 25g but a packed/level scoop (the best to get a consistent amount) is 30-31g every time. After weighing for a week or so and it not deviating I default the amount I log to 30g. How much of a deficit should 1300-1400 be having you in and how long have you been not losing weight? Unless they make up a vast majority of your daily intake, it would surprise me if the variability of the packaged foods would be enough to completely blow your deficit and makes me think there are other more likely culprits at work. Do you exercise? If so, is this new-to-you exercise and are you eating back any exercise calories?

diannethegeek

Once upon a time I had a package of Italiansausage links that were something like 260 calories for 1 link (82 grams). Not one single link in the entire batch was under 100 grams. I'd been logging them as 1 link for ages, but they were actually closer to 1.5 servings than 1 serving per link. Little stuff like that sure adds up.

I tend to weigh new products the first few times to see how close they are to their labels. Some things I'll keep weighing and others are close enough not to bother.

cwolfman13

I never weighed pre-packaged food. I figured a few grams here and there didn't really matter...but I also have a pretty high calorie target even for weight loss.

diannethegeek

Be sure you check out this post for some other examples, videos, and resources: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

fr33sia12

I weigh everything. 1 slice of bread can weigh 35g then the next one can weigh 42g. With bars the package will say each weighs 35g but they can weigh a lot more or less. Weigh each burger separately, each piece of food you eat don't assume each will weigh the same. It all adds up.

Panini911

not individually wrapped things like cheese string or granola bars. I could but I am tracking well enough and keeping at a low enough calorie (1300), don't eat back any exercise calories, so it doesn't seem to matter. I am happy with the weight loss of 1-1.5pds per week.

meat/fish and such i do. i started with the protein powders. basically anything not "individually portionned"

i noticed one day the small tub of ice cream came in well under what the package said and I didn't edit the entry. So I figure i am over in some cases, under in others and measure well enough for the rest (though I eat mostly stuff I make, I do very little pre-packaged stuff)

Lounmoun

If you are having trouble losing it would be worth weighing these items to see if something is more than you thought it was particularly something calorie dense. If you eat something pretty frequently and are wrong it might be making a difference.

smashtastic27

Steveko89

I have just recently started exerciseing. I’ve been running on the treadmill mill about 4 days a week for between 30-60 minuets. I try not to eat back the calories. I use my fitness pal to keep an eye on it. I’ve been trying to lose weight for almost 2 months now and haven’t lost any. I’d say like 70% of what I eat are things like pre package yogurt oatmeal protein bars, cans of tuna or frozen salmon burgers.
I’m 5’6, 27yrs, 170 Pounds

steveko89 wrote: »

I try to weigh as much as I can, though I don't believe I've ever weighed a bar or yogurt cup. One possibility would be to weigh a pre-packaged item for a week to see if there's a discrepancy in the stated serving size and the actual amount. I found this with my protein powder; "1 scoop" was stated to be 25g but a packed/level scoop (the best to get a consistent amount) is 30-31g every time. After weighing for a week or so and it not deviating I default the amount I log to 30g. How much of a deficit should 1300-1400 be having you in and how long have you been not losing weight? Unless they make up a vast majority of your daily intake, it would surprise me if the variability of the packaged foods would be enough to completely blow your deficit and makes me think there are other more likely culprits at work. Do you exercise? If so, is this new-to-you exercise and are you eating back any exercise calories?

AnnPT77

smashtastic27 wrote: »

Steveko89

I have just recently started exerciseing. I’ve been running on the treadmill mill about 4 days a week for between 30-60 minuets. I try not to eat back the calories. I use my fitness pal to keep an eye on it. I’ve been trying to lose weight for almost 2 months now and haven’t lost any. I’d say like 70% of what I eat are things like pre package yogurt oatmeal protein bars, cans of tuna or frozen salmon burgers.
I’m 5’6, 27yrs, 170 Pounds

steveko89 wrote: »

I try to weigh as much as I can, though I don't believe I've ever weighed a bar or yogurt cup. One possibility would be to weigh a pre-packaged item for a week to see if there's a discrepancy in the stated serving size and the actual amount. I found this with my protein powder; "1 scoop" was stated to be 25g but a packed/level scoop (the best to get a consistent amount) is 30-31g every time. After weighing for a week or so and it not deviating I default the amount I log to 30g. How much of a deficit should 1300-1400 be having you in and how long have you been not losing weight? Unless they make up a vast majority of your daily intake, it would surprise me if the variability of the packaged foods would be enough to completely blow your deficit and makes me think there are other more likely culprits at work. Do you exercise? If so, is this new-to-you exercise and are you eating back any exercise calories?

You may be seeing water weight increase from the new exercise, with that masking some fat loss on the scale. With the exercise, and not eating it back, you're possibly even undereating at a true 1300-1400, so you should be losing.

If you're not losing, and think you should be, then weighing all your food is a good diagnostic check to see whether that's where the problem lies. Also, be sure you're not overlooking any minor tastes, bites, beverages, dressings, condiments, oils used for cooking, etc. Do you have cheat days or cheat meals? Have you had any "off plan" days? If either of those two have happened, did you log them?

I'm about your height (5'5"), more than twice your age (62), sedentary outside of intentional exerise, hypothyroid, weight in the low 130s (in maintenance) and I'd lose like a house afire on 1300-1400 even now. I admit that I'm a good li'l ol' calorie-burner, but if you're truly eating 1300-1400 and exercising, you should be losing. Weighing foods would be a good step to take to figure out why you're not.

fitoverfortymom

I took a peek at your diary. A couple of thoughts to consider:

How long have you been dieting? Have you considered taking a diet break of 1-2 weeks and eating at maintenance? Still measure/weigh everything, but do it at maintenance. If you're stalled out, sometimes this helps us "catch our breath" and re-invigorate ourselves for the last bit of loss. I'm guessing you want to lose another 20-30 more lbs?

Has it been a while since you plugged your stats into MFP and set an appropriate calorie goal? What might have worked when you were heavier might not work now. Maybe adjust your rate of loss to 1lb per week (if it's not already), and see what kind of calorie goal that gives you.

Definitely take a few days and weigh everything, bars, etc. (I'd probably not weigh the yogurt, but that's just me), just to see if there's an anomaly somewhere. There's a lot of places where you're logging "2 slices of bread." Bread can be a big variable, so definitely weigh that.

Using an app like Libra or Happy Scale to log your weight daily can also help you identify any weight trends. Are you actually TOTALLY stalled out or just losing very slowly?

If you're actually netting what you're logging as netting, you would be losing with your stats.

smashtastic27

fitoverfortymom wrote: »

I took a peek at your diary. A couple of thoughts to consider:

How long have you been dieting? Have you considered taking a diet break of 1-2 weeks and eating at maintenance? Still measure/weigh everything, but do it at maintenance. If you're stalled out, sometimes this helps us "catch our breath" and re-invigorate ourselves for the last bit of loss. I'm guessing you want to lose another 20-30 more lbs?

Has it been a while since you plugged your stats into MFP and set an appropriate calorie goal? What might have worked when you were heavier might not work now. Maybe adjust your rate of loss to 1lb per week (if it's not already), and see what kind of calorie goal that gives you.

Definitely take a few days and weigh everything, bars, etc. (I'd probably not weigh the yogurt, but that's just me), just to see if there's an anomaly somewhere. There's a lot of places where you're logging "2 slices of bread." Bread can be a big variable, so definitely weigh that.

Using an app like Libra or Happy Scale to log your weight daily can also help you identify any weight trends. Are you actually TOTALLY stalled out or just losing very slowly?

If you're actually netting what you're logging as netting, you would be losing with your stats.

I’d like to lose 30 pounds or so. My stats are pretty up to date. I must be messing up somehow almost daily. I have been dieting for a while now and haven’t lost a single pound. Which is crazy because before the diet I was binge eating almost every day and getting probably around 2000-3000 calories a day. I dropped it down to 1300-1400 and am not seeing results. The only thing I can think is that I’m just not eating what I think I am. Which is confusing because I scan bar codes, count serving sizes and weigh some things and I’ve only binged 3 times in like a month instead of almost every day.

fitoverfortymom

smashtastic27 wrote: »

fitoverfortymom wrote: »

I took a peek at your diary. A couple of thoughts to consider:

How long have you been dieting? Have you considered taking a diet break of 1-2 weeks and eating at maintenance? Still measure/weigh everything, but do it at maintenance. If you're stalled out, sometimes this helps us "catch our breath" and re-invigorate ourselves for the last bit of loss. I'm guessing you want to lose another 20-30 more lbs?

Has it been a while since you plugged your stats into MFP and set an appropriate calorie goal? What might have worked when you were heavier might not work now. Maybe adjust your rate of loss to 1lb per week (if it's not already), and see what kind of calorie goal that gives you.

Definitely take a few days and weigh everything, bars, etc. (I'd probably not weigh the yogurt, but that's just me), just to see if there's an anomaly somewhere. There's a lot of places where you're logging "2 slices of bread." Bread can be a big variable, so definitely weigh that.

Using an app like Libra or Happy Scale to log your weight daily can also help you identify any weight trends. Are you actually TOTALLY stalled out or just losing very slowly?

If you're actually netting what you're logging as netting, you would be losing with your stats.

I’d like to lose 30 pounds or so. My stats are pretty up to date. I must be messing up somehow almost daily. I have been dieting for a while now and haven’t lost a single pound. Which is crazy because before the diet I was binge eating almost every day and getting probably around 2000-3000 calories a day. I dropped it down to 1300-1400 and am not seeing results. The only thing I can think is that I’m just not eating what I think I am. Which is confusing because I scan bar codes, count serving sizes and weigh some things and I’ve only binged 3 times in like a month instead of almost every day.

Sometimes bar code scanning can be off, and depending on if you're weighing your binges or not, it could be cancelling out your deficit. Good news is, you're not gaining, but obviously maintenance isn't your desired outcome for now. I'm your same height and have been floating between 152-160 for basically a year, so you're closing in on not having a lot to lose. I say go for a diet break (intentional maintenance) and weigh EVERYTHING you eat for two weeks, then start in on your deficit again. It will help you discover those weird errors (and give you a little more food to work with while you get started with your new exercise routine). I started running at about your current weight, too, and it can definitely play tricks on the scale with water retention.

Just hang in there and don't give up! You'll figure it out soon enough and start losing again.

smashtastic27

That sounds like good advice. Maybe I’ll bump it to 1400-1500, and keep exercising. to give myself a little wiggle room to work on no binging and tightening up my calorie counting

fitoverfortymom wrote: »

smashtastic27 wrote: »

fitoverfortymom wrote: »

I took a peek at your diary. A couple of thoughts to consider:

How long have you been dieting? Have you considered taking a diet break of 1-2 weeks and eating at maintenance? Still measure/weigh everything, but do it at maintenance. If you're stalled out, sometimes this helps us "catch our breath" and re-invigorate ourselves for the last bit of loss. I'm guessing you want to lose another 20-30 more lbs?

Has it been a while since you plugged your stats into MFP and set an appropriate calorie goal? What might have worked when you were heavier might not work now. Maybe adjust your rate of loss to 1lb per week (if it's not already), and see what kind of calorie goal that gives you.

Definitely take a few days and weigh everything, bars, etc. (I'd probably not weigh the yogurt, but that's just me), just to see if there's an anomaly somewhere. There's a lot of places where you're logging "2 slices of bread." Bread can be a big variable, so definitely weigh that.

Using an app like Libra or Happy Scale to log your weight daily can also help you identify any weight trends. Are you actually TOTALLY stalled out or just losing very slowly?

If you're actually netting what you're logging as netting, you would be losing with your stats.

I’d like to lose 30 pounds or so. My stats are pretty up to date. I must be messing up somehow almost daily. I have been dieting for a while now and haven’t lost a single pound. Which is crazy because before the diet I was binge eating almost every day and getting probably around 2000-3000 calories a day. I dropped it down to 1300-1400 and am not seeing results. The only thing I can think is that I’m just not eating what I think I am. Which is confusing because I scan bar codes, count serving sizes and weigh some things and I’ve only binged 3 times in like a month instead of almost every day.

Sometimes bar code scanning can be off, and depending on if you're weighing your binges or not, it could be cancelling out your deficit. Good news is, you're not gaining, but obviously maintenance isn't your desired outcome for now. I'm your same height and have been floating between 152-160 for basically a year, so you're closing in on not having a lot to lose. I say go for a diet break (intentional maintenance) and weigh EVERYTHING you eat for two weeks, then start in on your deficit again. It will help you discover those weird errors (and give you a little more food to work with while you get started with your new exercise routine). I started running at about your current weight, too, and it can definitely play tricks on the scale with water retention.

Just hang in there and don't give up! You'll figure it out soon enough and start losing again.