Food Scales; Needed or Not?

vannaly92

Trying to decide whether or not to find a food scale to help me out? Needing opinions from the people out there. Are food scales absolutely needed or just a tool that can be skipped?

vannaly92

I hear that some people live by them, but I seem to being doing ok so far with the calculations.

lisxoox

I couldn't do without my food scale anymore ever since I've got one. I try not to be too obsessed about it but especially the first few days using it I found out that I was underestimating a lot of foods before. The scale really helped me to get better in estimating portion sizes and stuff.
So I'd say go ahead and try it. There are also cheap ones that do their job perfectly.

randomtai

I needed to use one, once I got closer to my goal weight and the estimates were not doing the trick.

vannaly92

For those that have food scales and live by them, are there any brands out there to get/avoid?

randomtai

For those that have food scales and live by them, are there any brands out there to get/avoid?

Make sure it weighs in grams and is digital. Shouldn't be no more than $20 for a good one.

amandamotley

Agreed...when we have more to lose, not 100% necessary. I wouldn't want to try without mine at this point. No harm in getting a true grip on your consumption no matter where you are though.

sunship

I find this scale fantastic --

Cuisinart KML-KO3B PrecisionChef™ Digital Kitchen Scale

-- nice price, nice quality, nice capacity.

KariOrtiz2014

Its a must!! You will be so surprised at how much you underestimate as well as overestimate. If you want to be accurate with numbers, I definitely recommend one!!

dswolverine

I love my food scale, but there are plenty of people on this site who do not use them and are successful. I just like knowing exactly how much i'm consuming. I have the XOXO (or whatever that company is) brand and it's been awesome. Cost about $50, give or take

SallieBeige

People lose weight in different ways.
Apparently just buying blue plates can put you off eating ... go figure ... so I guess we each go for what works for us.

Personally, I like scales.
Even if I don't use them all the time, they have taught me to be more realistic about my choices.

Good luck with whatever you decide

knra_grl

I just bought one that happened to be on sale for like $12 - it's a digital and weighs in grams and ounces - nothing special and won't be heart broken if and when I have to replace it - I don't think it really matters much

ehdittmer

Just got this one. Ozeri Pro Digital Kitchen Food Scale, 1g to 12 lbs Capacity.

It sets to zero after you put a bowl on. You can measure in grams or ounces or anything. I'm just so sad that what I thought was a serving was usually about half a serving....sigh.....but the truth is the beginning of freedom!:laugh:

gmoneycole

Not for me. Some folks swear by them though.

ThinLizzie0802

Love it need it get it
I portion out snacks and accurately track my meals

girldownsouth

I have two sets, one for home and one for the office!

Myhaloslipped

Absolutely get a food scale.

ereck44

My husband bought me a food scale, escali, at Walmart! Works great! I don't weigh vegetables, just everything else. Didn't know what a portion really looked like until then. Eye opening!

cwolfman13

It depends on how good you are at estimating portions and how precise you want/need to be. Before I started using a food scale I was underestimating my intake by around 600 calories or so and I was on here all, "HALP...not losing...what am I doing wrong...I think I'm doing everything right." I used measuring spoons and cups, but I'd heap them up with whatever food it was which is a killer with calorie dense foods...and I'd also log a chicken breast as 4 oz because the package said "1 chicken breast 4 oz"...but really, a whole chicken breast is closer to 8 oz, etc, etc, etc.

I also think it's pretty critical when you don't have a huge calorie deficit...I'm just going into a very small cut right now and I only have around a 300 calorie deficit so my margin of error is pretty slim...few extra almonds would pretty much wipe my deficit out. I also found it to be a good tool just to help me visually gauge portion size, which I did for the most part while I was maintaining.

postrockandcats

I find it's helpful to me with serving sizes as I'm very much of a crap judge of how much of a thing is appropriate. As evidenced by my weight loss once I *did* start measuring and weighing. LOL

diannethegeek

I lost the bulk of my weight without one, so I know it is possible. I was really food scale resistant for the longest time because I thought it would be a big hassle to weigh my food. I finally got one as I got closer to goal and wanted to see how far off my measuring cups were vs. the scale. I'm really surprised at how little time I spend weighing my food. I personally find it a lot easier to just hit the tare button between each ingredient rather than finding/washing/leveling measuring cups and spoons for each ingredient. It stays out on my counter now.

David_AUS

Absolutely necessary? Probably not - Desirable - probably so. It helps to "calibrate your mind" you will start to know how much 500g of vegetable servings are (handy when you eat out and try to estimate). I generally find myself weighing high density foods (I find it had to estimate the weight of meat especially) and not so much on lower density foods where I tend to more estimate - like celery and lettuce. Fruit I would weigh a few so you get an idea what a 200g apple looks like for instance after then you rely on the scales less, but you can work around this also if you know how many apples you bought lets say 5 and they weigh 1kg then you know each one is 200g.

bennettinfinity

I was initially very successful without using food scales, but after closing in on my goal weight, I've been on a months-long plateau.

I've recently bought a food scale and was surprised at how much I'd been overestimating serving sizes.

It hasn't been very long, but the scale is starting to move in the right direction again (slower than I'd like, but better than nothing).

If nothing else, it's an educational tool - and knowledge is power!

parkscs

"Need" might be too strong a word but I'm a big fan of food scales personally. Once you start using one, odds are you'll find that it's really hard to guestimate certain foods accurately. You might think you know what a tablespoon of mascarpone cheese looks like when you're scooping it out of the container, but I found my guestimate one night was about 2.5-3x low and I ended up having to put quite a bit back. It's also pretty tough to pin down the exact weight of a steak, especially if you buy more than one at a time from the butcher or you only eat a portion of what you bought.

Your food log is only as useful as it is accurate and a food scale will help you achieve that accuracy. That, to me, is worth the price.

CodeMonkey78

Trying to decide whether or not to find a food scale to help me out? Needing opinions from the people out there. Are food scales absolutely needed or just a tool that can be skipped?

Need? No. Highly recommend? Definitely. I would recommend a digital scale that measures in grams.

dward59

It depends on how much weight you have to lose. At a heavier weight, your ball parking may still have you in a calorie deficit, but as you lose it may slow down and or stop althogether. I find if I really want to lose at the rate I have set in MFP, I have to use the scales to be certain of my portion size.

While I can still get away with ball park estimates, when I do, my portions go up and I find I'm losing a pound or less rather than the two pounds per week I want to drop.

vannaly92

Wow, thank you everyone!! Definitely heading out to buy one !!

firefoxxie

American Weigh Scales Black Blade Digital Pocket Scale
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012N1NAA/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I absolutely love this scale! It's so cute and tiny but weighs just about everything! Bonus...only $8!!!
It's also very very accurate!

icaniwill56

I absolutely need to use mine. It is hard to know how much you are eating sometimes. My food scale keeps me on track.

AwesomeGuy37

Get a digital scale if you get one. I'd recommend one that uses common batteries like AA, but I'm just particular about having to pay nearly $4 for a button battery replacement. I'd go buy one and keep the receipt. Return it if not satisfied. Be sure the place allows returns.

Diary_Queen

I need mine or I go way over on estimations and such... like waaaay waaaaaaay over. I find mine highly useful