How I stopped kidding myself
sarahlucindac
Posts: 235 Member
Hey everyone, just wanted to share my experience with the food scale - my best friend and worst enemy.
I’ve lost 43 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 on MFP for help and one of my friends, @quiksylver296 chimed in about food scales. I took her input seriously but at the time 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 (thanks, quiksylver296).
Just wanted to share my experience so that maybe it can help others who have wondered why their efforts aren’t yielding the results they expect.
I’ve lost 43 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 on MFP for help and one of my friends, @quiksylver296 chimed in about food scales. I took her input seriously but at the time 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 (thanks, quiksylver296).
Just wanted to share my experience so that maybe it can help others who have wondered why their efforts aren’t yielding the results they expect.
219
Replies
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This is so true! I had a very skewed sense of what 2 tbsp of peanut butter was (its actually really sad). Congrats on your success!31
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Food scales can be a pain--but no more so than measuring cups and spoons, and so much more accurate. It's also a check on what I eat away from home. I have no idea what a serving should look like (most of the time) and it's not worth eating out much b/c it will make my efforts less effective.10
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I'm glad you solved your issue! :flowerforyou:9
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LiveInLeggings wrote: »This is so true! I had a very skewed sense of what 2 tbsp of peanut butter was (its actually really sad). Congrats on your success!
2 tbsp.... correct??
83 -
I remember years ago when I first started logging, and I had this bag of Raisinettes I had just opened. And I knew we lie to ourselves about portion sizes, but since I knew it, I wasn’t going to fall into the same trap, right? When I ate about a serving, I logged one and a half. When I ate what I estimated to be two servings, I logged three. I was sooooooo careful that really I was pretty sure I was shortchanging myself out of plenty of other calories that I should’ve been able to eat if I hadn’t been over-logging all those Raisinettes.
It didn’t last long, though; soon I had eaten and logged all seven servings and was ready to throw away the empty bag.
Which, as it turned out, had contained eleven servings.
Weigh your food. No matter how smart we are, our brains outsmart us every time.63 -
psychod787 wrote: »LiveInLeggings wrote: »This is so true! I had a very skewed sense of what 2 tbsp of peanut butter was (its actually really sad). Congrats on your success!
2 tbsp.... correct??
yup, I think so....11 -
Love it!!! You are so welcome, @sarahlucindac!13
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Monday morning. Needs a bump!8
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THANK YOU for this reminder! My scale hasn't gotten much use all summer - not surprisingly, my body mass scale hasn't moved much all summer, either.13
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Bump3
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I'm glad you posted this OP, I saw your reply to other threads and was hoping you'd do one - it needs saying and it will help so many
5 -
What's with the abuse flags?3
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singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.20 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?3 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.23 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
And it's not me.....
But I'll give you a hug anyway (how much longer for the link weight?) 5 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
so you have a stalker! hmmm .... maybe take it as flattery that they're jealous
2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
And it's not me.....
But I'll give you a hug anyway (how much longer for the link weight?)
I said disgruntled stalker. You're my gruntled stalker.
Link weight?15 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
so you have a stalker! hmmm .... maybe take it as flattery that they're jealous
Knowing who it is as well, no it's not flattery. And MFP should have stopped it by now.13 -
so what happens if you get flagged too much? can you be put in MFP jail
(Sorry OP, not meaning to de-rail the thread)5 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »so what happens if you get flagged too much? can you be put in MFP jail
(Sorry OP, not meaning to de-rail the thread)
I don't know if they do that anymore.
And anything that keeps this thread on the first page is a good thing. New readers only need to read the OP.8 -
No worries!! ☺️3
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Bump4
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Great post op!!
I love my food scale.3 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
And it's not me.....
But I'll give you a hug anyway (how much longer for the link weight?)
I just figured out you meant the pink weight, @tacklewasher. MONDAY!!!4 -
Ok, so we have scales in the caff at work since the salad bar is by weight. But does anyone carry a personal scale? I have a gram scale that I use for measuring spices and coffee at home that I could stick in my pocket.4
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
And it's not me.....
But I'll give you a hug anyway (how much longer for the link weight?)
I just figured out you meant the pink weight, @tacklewasher. MONDAY!!!
D'oh!
Yeah, pink weight.
So we need to make another bet (that I will obviously win).1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
And it's not me.....
But I'll give you a hug anyway (how much longer for the link weight?)
I just figured out you meant the pink weight, @tacklewasher. MONDAY!!!
D'oh!
Yeah, pink weight.
So we need to make another bet (that I will obviously win).
Oh so you'll hug her but not me, huh? I see how it is
I propose her new profile pic be the one she posted this morning 2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
And it's not me.....
But I'll give you a hug anyway (how much longer for the link weight?)
I just figured out you meant the pink weight, @tacklewasher. MONDAY!!!
D'oh!
Yeah, pink weight.
So we need to make another bet (that I will obviously win).
Oh so you'll hug her but not me, huh? I see how it is
I propose her new profile pic be the one she posted this morning
See, she can't hurt me if I'm hugging her. With you it's just creepy.
And not sure what she posted this morning. All I remember is the hotcakes.3 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »What's with the abuse flags?
I have a disgruntled stalker.
somebody must have done that by mistake?
Nope, he's doing it on purpose. I know who it is.
And it's not me.....
But I'll give you a hug anyway (how much longer for the link weight?)
I just figured out you meant the pink weight, @tacklewasher. MONDAY!!!
D'oh!
Yeah, pink weight.
So we need to make another bet (that I will obviously win).
Oh so you'll hug her but not me, huh? I see how it is
I propose her new profile pic be the one she posted this morning
See, she can't hurt me if I'm hugging her. With you it's just creepy.
And not sure what she posted this morning. All I remember is the hotcakes.
You're friends with her, right?
Creepy?
2
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