Why do people weigh their food?
Replies
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Beating a dead horse on p4 but my protein power says on the label 45g or a heaping spoonful. lol how would you ever know.
you need to weigh stuff to know the correct portions0 -
I find things to be easier to eat/figure out if weighed. Like chips. The likely hood that I'm going to find 17 unbroken chips isn't going to happen. XD So I just eat my 1oz worth!0
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Because how would you know how many calories you're eating if you don't weigh the portion? The only things I don't weight are per-portioned things.0
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Four ounces?! Dang girl, that's some self control! It's a solid 5 for meI do measure my wine and I really hate how small 4 oz. looks. Who do I see about this?
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Whereas it's pretty easy to weigh my food, my cat will actually climb onto his scale and lie down while I'm walking on my treadmill. My food doesn't put itself onto the scale for me! :laugh:Insanity. Obsession. Weakness.
Because its easier than weighing a cat.
But I must be obsessed or insane or weak because I weigh my cats a few times a month, right? 0 -
Quite simple, people weigh their food because it is the MOST accurate indicator of portion size. A digital scale is best.
Just like if you grab a measuring spoon and measure your olive oil, you are doing it to make sure you are using the amount you are recording, but a scale is more accurate than measuring spoons or cups, especially for things like peanut butter, that are easy to let "heap" over the edge a little, or things like dried oatmeal, that can be compacted down more or less depending on how it was handled. When you weigh how many ounces or grams it is, that doesn't change, no matter how you squish and squeeze it, the weight stays the same... so you can record the right portion, and therefore the right calorie count.0 -
How do you work out the calories then? Do the pixies tell you?This is an honest question. Why would you weigh your food? I get counting calories (duh). But the weight of something shouldn't matter. Am I wrong?
Enlighten me please!0 -
MFP database says "1 large Apple (~100 grams) 120 cal". I bought a few "large apples" the other day and just for my curiosity, I weighed one of these "large apples", it weighed 225 grams...No wonder I was not losing weight; I counted it as 120 cal instead of 240...
Just to add to this, weighing now doesn't mean weighing forever. Weight was very important here as you can see. Double the apple, double the cals. Imagine an even more calorie dense food like pie/cake/etc?
I have started weighing meat cuts recently since we started making roasts and the "deck of cards" thing didn't suffice in my mind because I literally can't picture a deck of cards when looking at meat. Also "palm of the hand"...who's hand? Mine or my husbands?
So I measured my meat. I am at the point where I've measured enough pieces of meat that I am currently able to slice one clean piece in either the 100 grams or 200 grams or 300 grams I intend to eat for dinner that night. Usually this ends with my saying "BAM!" at the top of my lungs and smacking the counter when the scale readout shows up. Yeah, it's weird the things that excite me lately.0 -
This can't be a real question....0
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I totally agree with this but I think there is another way to look at it. If you eyeball your portions and your losses stop for weeks or months, you can either (1) start micro-measuring or (2) just lower your goal. It's extremely likely that you're underestimating. Both actions will have the result of you eating less and your losses will start again.I'll be the dissenter here. I approximate and don't weigh. I'm sure I'm off by a little bit. But I'm trying to learn how to do this on a long term basis and I don't see myself weighing food long term. I've only been using MFP for 6 weeks and so far so good.
Someone asked how do you do meat/produce without weighing? Most meat and produce is weighed when you purchase it at the store. For example, When I buy wild salmon, I ask for 1lb. I split this into 1/3 and 2/3 pieces. DH eats the bigger piece and I log the 1/3 lb. as 5.5 oz. Sure I'm eyeballing the 1/3&2/3 so I may be off by a little bit but I figure that will average out over time.
This is totally fine, and a lot of people do this. But, if you ever stall out on your weight loss, or if you aren't getting the results you want, then you need to start weighing and measuring more accurately. But, if you're happy with the results, then it's no biggie.
Typically, as people get closer to their goal, it becomes more critical and it's very difficult to get that last 10 lbs or so by guessing.
But, I think it would be nice to just be able to do it this way without worrying about it. I just don't think I can because I lie to myself. I can't deny what the scale says, though.
But people don't like to just lower their goal because they're usually pretty sure they're eating what they record and that going lower would be dangerous or stupid. One study showed that people trained how to measure still underestimated by 25%.0 -
Mostly because they can't take the time to learn visual measurements for portion control or they have made calorie counting into a hobby with accompanying behaviors and accoutrements.
Quite to the contrary for me, by weighing my portions when I am at home, I become more aware of what a particular portion actually looks like, its part of that learning process. I usually eat chicken breast in 175 gram portions, by weighing it repeatedly most of the time, I find I am a lot more accurate those times when I can't weigh it.
For me, this is precisely why I always weigh and measure at home, so when I eat out or eat at someone else's house I have pretty much memorized the correct portion sizes of common foods. I don't think I'd consider myself a compulsive weigher, and I can enjoy a meal out even without knowing the exact calorie count. However, I know that if I consistently eat without weighing, measuring, and knowing the calories, I will overeat, that is just how I am. If that wasn't the case I wouldn't need MFP to start with.Compulsive weighers can sometimes lose the ability to eat out or go to a family member's house because they are so obsessed with accurate calorie counting that they can't enjoy the meal without precision. I think it's good to weigh things you're unsure of or a good training tool for a while til you get the hang of things, but there becomes a point where how you track your food can limit your ability to make good choices outside of a highly controlled situation.I can lose weight and maintain without counting calories at all by developing intuitive eating skills and making healthy food choices. I have. Calorie counting and weighing are good training tools to learn how to eat intuitively and with balance, but making them more than that is either lack of confidence or knowledge or fear of loss of control.
That is wonderful for you. Some of us with more severely disordered relationships to food may have to continue with some form of external control for the rest of our lives. I know I will. I am not saying I'll count calories every day for the rest of my life, but I know that I'll have to watch my weight, and go back to counting if the scale climbs more than 5-10 pounds.
I've accepted that I am a compulsive overeater, I've accepted that I'll always have a tendency towards this. Things like calorie counting, portion control, etc are tools to help keep me from slipping out of control. I don't think that makes me a bad person, I think it makes me wise to realize that rather than deny it and end up weighing 700 pounds.
It also is not really about fear. I am not afraid of losing control, I am taking measures to stay in control. Similar to wearing a seatbelt in a car, you could say it is a decision motivated by fear, but most people who wear them really don't live with an overwhelming fear of death by auto accident, they just see it as taking a sensible precaution. Same with measuring, weighing, counting my food.
An alcoholic may go the rest of their life preferring not to be in a bar, that may be looked at as fear, but in reality the alcoholic may not really fear the environment as much as just not want to be exposed to it. I don't think it would be wise for anyone to try to make the alcoholic feel that they were being unreasonable in taking whatever measures needed to avoid falling back into old habits.
I think a lot of it depends also on how long you've had bad habits. If you've been eating unhealthy for 30-40 years, I see nothing wrong with using external controls for 30-40 years at least. If you've just gained an extra 10 pounds and need to take it off, and have only eaten unhealthily for a few months, then a few months of calorie counting may be all you need to get back on track.0 -
Because eyeballing things is how I got fat.
Duh.
:laugh: Love this answer.
Just keeping it real0 -
Like any skill, you can learn to do it better. But the best way is probably by weighing for a while.Because eyeballing things is how I got fat.
Duh.
How many of you have tested your digital kitchen scale for accuracy? A nickel weighs 5g.0 -
My guess would be accuracy.
I have a scale, but I rarely use it. I have gotten pretty good at eyeballing and estimating measurements, so I keep doing what works for me.0 -
Whereas it's pretty easy to weigh my food, my cat will actually climb onto his scale and lie down while I'm walking on my treadmill. My food doesn't put itself onto the scale for me! :laugh:Insanity. Obsession. Weakness.
Because its easier than weighing a cat.
But I must be obsessed or insane or weak because I weigh my cats a few times a month, right?
Hmm. While if I put food on my scale, one of my cats will surely follow (and scarf it down if I don't take it away). I'd call them equally easy to weigh ;P0 -
You can count calories without weighing. It's all an estimate, even weighing.I'm in to see how many people are going to keep answering an answered question. 2 pages and counting...
I'd just like to know why the OP thought she could count calories without weighing.Could be worse-- I remember a thread where the OP said she wasn't going to weigh because different foods had different calories at the same weight. huh
That's actually true, to some extent. People think the databases are exact and gospel. They're average values based on whatever 'average' strawberries were burnt up to measure. Same as your HRM gives you average calories based on average humans, not your actual burn unique to you. No 4oz. of chicken is identical. But it doesn't matter because estimates are close enough. You can't burn your food up to measure the actual caloric content, then eat it.
I'm waiting for the "lose weight by eating unripened fruit and veggies diet". I can see the post now. "Tired of stopping at 20g of delicious, ripe, red strawberries? Eat 100g of mouth-puckering, sour, green ones for the same number of calories!"0 -
Like any skill, you can learn to do it better. But the best way is probably by weighing for a while.Because eyeballing things is how I got fat.
Duh.
How many of you have tested your digital kitchen scale for accuracy? A nickel weighs 5g.
I don't desire the ability to get better at eyeballing. Weighing things is so just easy and convenient with all the comfort of knowing its accurate.
That's just me though. I'm not striving for that whole intuitive eating or life without a scale thing.0 -
Mostly because they can't take the time to learn visual measurements for portion control or they have made calorie counting into a hobby with accompanying behaviors and accoutrements. Compulsive weighers can sometimes lose the ability to eat out or go to a family member's house because they are so obsessed with accurate calorie counting that they can't enjoy the meal without precision. I think it's good to weigh things you're unsure of or a good training tool for a while til you get the hang of things, but there becomes a point where how you track your food can limit your ability to make good choices outside of a highly controlled situation.
I can lose weight and maintain without counting calories at all by developing intuitive eating skills and making healthy food choices. I have. Calorie counting and weighing are good training tools to learn how to eat intuitively and with balance, but making them more than that is either lack of confidence or knowledge or fear of loss of control.
Agreed. I also believe a lot of overweight people just don't "listen" to their bodies and continue to eat after they've had enough.
A lot of our bodies don't "tell" us when they've had enough. We have to tell our bodies when they've had enough. And our bodies continue to argue back. Therefore, at least for myself, I would like to get the maximum bites of food I can fit in and still meet my macros. Are you saying there's something wrong with wanting to be able to eat as much as possible?
I didn't say anything like that, but if I couldn't stop eating once I had eaten enough I'd go for a test. HPA axis, genetic polymorphisms, tissue-specific cortisol metabolism, leptin, ghrelin, who knows?
I'd start with an endocrinologist.
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Mostly because they can't take the time to learn visual measurements for portion control or they have made calorie counting into a hobby with accompanying behaviors and accoutrements. Compulsive weighers can sometimes lose the ability to eat out or go to a family member's house because they are so obsessed with accurate calorie counting that they can't enjoy the meal without precision. I think it's good to weigh things you're unsure of or a good training tool for a while til you get the hang of things, but there becomes a point where how you track your food can limit your ability to make good choices outside of a highly controlled situation.
I can lose weight and maintain without counting calories at all by developing intuitive eating skills and making healthy food choices. I have. Calorie counting and weighing are good training tools to learn how to eat intuitively and with balance, but making them more than that is either lack of confidence or knowledge or fear of loss of control.
Agreed. I also believe a lot of overweight people just don't "listen" to their bodies and continue to eat after they've had enough.
A lot of our bodies don't "tell" us when they've had enough. We have to tell our bodies when they've had enough. And our bodies continue to argue back. Therefore, at least for myself, I would like to get the maximum bites of food I can fit in and still meet my macros. Are you saying there's something wrong with wanting to be able to eat as much as possible?
I didn't say anything like that, but if I couldn't stop eating once I had eaten enough I'd go for a test. HPA axis, genetic polymorphisms, tissue-specific cortisol metabolism, leptin, ghrelin, who knows?
I'd start with an endocrinologist.
I eat past the point of satisfaction all the time--it's how I got fat. I eat until I'm stuffed. Just because you do that doesn't mean you have a serious medical disorder! It's called "Damn, this food is delicious and I'm gonna eat it all" syndrome. Fortunately, a scale helps me calm that problem down a bit, and it gives me a better sense of how much I'm actually consuming.0 -
And the OP was never heard from again.0
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Mostly because they can't take the time to learn visual measurements for portion control or they have made calorie counting into a hobby with accompanying behaviors and accoutrements. Compulsive weighers can sometimes lose the ability to eat out or go to a family member's house because they are so obsessed with accurate calorie counting that they can't enjoy the meal without precision. I think it's good to weigh things you're unsure of or a good training tool for a while til you get the hang of things, but there becomes a point where how you track your food can limit your ability to make good choices outside of a highly controlled situation.
I can lose weight and maintain without counting calories at all by developing intuitive eating skills and making healthy food choices. I have. Calorie counting and weighing are good training tools to learn how to eat intuitively and with balance, but making them more than that is either lack of confidence or knowledge or fear of loss of control.
Agreed. I also believe a lot of overweight people just don't "listen" to their bodies and continue to eat after they've had enough.
A lot of our bodies don't "tell" us when they've had enough. We have to tell our bodies when they've had enough. And our bodies continue to argue back. Therefore, at least for myself, I would like to get the maximum bites of food I can fit in and still meet my macros. Are you saying there's something wrong with wanting to be able to eat as much as possible?
I didn't say anything like that, but if I couldn't stop eating once I had eaten enough I'd go for a test. HPA axis, genetic polymorphisms, tissue-specific cortisol metabolism, leptin, ghrelin, who knows?
I'd start with an endocrinologist.
I eat past the point of satisfaction all the time--it's how I got fat. I eat until I'm stuffed. Just because you do that doesn't mean you have a serious medical disorder! It's called "Damn, this food is delicious and I'm gonna eat it all" syndrome. Fortunately, a scale helps me calm that problem down a bit, and it gives me a better sense of how much I'm actually consuming.
Ahhh... so it's delicious food that makes you fat. Thanks for explaining the cause of obesity. :flowerforyou:0 -
I'm in to see how many people are going to keep answering an answered question. 2 pages and counting...
I'd just like to know why the OP thought she could count calories without weighing.
Ditto
I count and use measuring cups and spoons. (I know it's not quite as accurate. But calorie counting is very possible without a scale. I got my first one this year. I see the value in it, but I don't find this one easy to use due to readability and the battery running out so quickly, so I only use it for potatoes and fruit.) Of course, if someone is stalled and doesn't know why, it's probably worthwhile to look honestly at how they are measuring.0 -
Mostly because they can't take the time to learn visual measurements for portion control or they have made calorie counting into a hobby with accompanying behaviors and accoutrements. Compulsive weighers can sometimes lose the ability to eat out or go to a family member's house because they are so obsessed with accurate calorie counting that they can't enjoy the meal without precision. I think it's good to weigh things you're unsure of or a good training tool for a while til you get the hang of things, but there becomes a point where how you track your food can limit your ability to make good choices outside of a highly controlled situation.
I can lose weight and maintain without counting calories at all by developing intuitive eating skills and making healthy food choices. I have. Calorie counting and weighing are good training tools to learn how to eat intuitively and with balance, but making them more than that is either lack of confidence or knowledge or fear of loss of control.
Agreed. I also believe a lot of overweight people just don't "listen" to their bodies and continue to eat after they've had enough.
A lot of our bodies don't "tell" us when they've had enough. We have to tell our bodies when they've had enough. And our bodies continue to argue back. Therefore, at least for myself, I would like to get the maximum bites of food I can fit in and still meet my macros. Are you saying there's something wrong with wanting to be able to eat as much as possible?
I didn't say anything like that, but if I couldn't stop eating once I had eaten enough I'd go for a test. HPA axis, genetic polymorphisms, tissue-specific cortisol metabolism, leptin, ghrelin, who knows?
I'd start with an endocrinologist.
I eat past the point of satisfaction all the time--it's how I got fat. I eat until I'm stuffed. Just because you do that doesn't mean you have a serious medical disorder! It's called "Damn, this food is delicious and I'm gonna eat it all" syndrome. Fortunately, a scale helps me calm that problem down a bit, and it gives me a better sense of how much I'm actually consuming.
Ahhh... so it's delicious food that makes you fat. Thanks for explaining the cause of obesity. :flowerforyou:
Lol well you seemed shocked that someone might eat past the point of satisfaction. "Go to the doctor and get tested!"0 -
This is an honest question. Why would you weigh your food? I get counting calories (duh). But the weight of something shouldn't matter. Am I wrong?
Enlighten me please!
Are you being serious LOL!
How the hell can you count calories (as you say you understand about that bit) if you do not know how many calories in the food? If you do not know the weight of the food in question how the hell can you know the amount of calories in it to count them??
Me thinks you are actually on a wind-up.0 -
I'm in to see how many people are going to keep answering an answered question. 2 pages and counting...
I'd just like to know why the OP thought she could count calories without weighing.
Ditto
I count and use measuring cups and spoons. (I know it's not quite as accurate. But calorie counting is very possible without a scale. I got my first one this year. I see the value in it, but I don't find this one easy to use due to readability and the battery running out so quickly, so I only use it for potatoes and fruit.) Of course, if someone is stalled and doesn't know why, it's probably worthwhile to look honestly at how they are measuring.
Are you using a 1950's scale or something? I've had to change my scales batteries once in one year, and I use it all.the.time (I'm a stay at home mom so basically all day every day). And there's no readability issue at all... pop a plate on the scale, zero it, put my food on, got the weight in grams. Doesn't get easier than that, and I don't have to worry about not measuring my food properly and over/under eating.0 -
Are you using a 1950's scale or something? I've had to change my scales batteries once in one year, and I use it all.the.time (I'm a stay at home mom so basically all day every day). And there's no readability issue at all... pop a plate on the scale, zero it, put my food on, got the weight in grams. Doesn't get easier than that, and I don't have to worry about not measuring my food properly and over/under eating.
Nope, ordered a digital one and had to replace the batteries twice in two months with only casual use. When a plate is on it, you can't see the display. Not my best buy but not a big deal either, since measuring with cups and spoons works fine for me. I'll be better informed for my next purchase and this one can go with me to work to weigh fruits and snacks.0 -
Until I started weighing my food, I didn't know that my bowl of cereal in the morning was actually 3 servings! No wonder the weight packed on.0
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Like any skill, you can learn to do it better. But the best way is probably by weighing for a while.Because eyeballing things is how I got fat.
Duh.
How many of you have tested your digital kitchen scale for accuracy? A nickel weighs 5g.
I don't desire the ability to get better at eyeballing. Weighing things is so just easy and convenient with all the comfort of knowing its accurate.
That's just me though. I'm not striving for that whole intuitive eating or life without a scale thing.
Agreed...I don't care if I weigh the last grape at home doesn't mean I am obsessive....it means it is easy and convienient.
Do I take the it to a resturant? No...
Do I take to family functions....maybe...but probably not...depends on who is there...the one's losing weight or the ones who don't care.0 -
weigh it - eat it - log it.
That should be a bumper sticker.
^ Love it!!0 -
Are you using a 1950's scale or something? I've had to change my scales batteries once in one year, and I use it all.the.time (I'm a stay at home mom so basically all day every day). And there's no readability issue at all... pop a plate on the scale, zero it, put my food on, got the weight in grams. Doesn't get easier than that, and I don't have to worry about not measuring my food properly and over/under eating.
Nope, ordered a digital one and had to replace the batteries twice in two months with only casual use. When a plate is on it, you can't see the display. Not my best buy but not a big deal either, since measuring with cups and spoons works fine for me. I'll be better informed for my next purchase and this one can go with me to work to weigh fruits and snacks.
Move the plate back a bit to see the display lol. Same thing with mine and it's easily taken care of with minor common sense.0
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