Food Scales; Needed or Not?

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  • David_AUS
    David_AUS Posts: 298 Member
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    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
    bennettinfinity Posts: 865 Member
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    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! :smile:
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    "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
    CodeMonkey78 Posts: 320 Member
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    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
    dward59 Posts: 731 Member
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    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
    vannaly92 Posts: 23 Member
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    Wow, thank you everyone!! Definitely heading out to buy one !!
  • firefoxxie
    firefoxxie Posts: 381 Member
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    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
    icaniwill56 Posts: 6
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    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
    AwesomeGuy37 Posts: 436 Member
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    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
    Diary_Queen Posts: 1,314 Member
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    I need mine or I go way over on estimations and such... like waaaay waaaaaaay over. I find mine highly useful
  • rachrach7595
    rachrach7595 Posts: 151 Member
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    They are great for perfection.
    If your happy guesstimating then ok :D
    I have one. I try and not use it because common sense tells me that 1/2 cup of uncooked rice when you put 2 cups uncooked into the rice cooker is 1/4 of the end result.
    Be honest with yourself though and not heavy handed.
    So far I am losing consistently but like others have said I have quite a lot of weight to lose so many this advice will change when I am pushing for the last 10 vanity kgs :D
  • akomantoso
    akomantoso Posts: 37
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    I'm a little bit scared because after reading this post I have a feeling I am definitely not accurately estimating certain things. I will definitely be getting a food scale now.
  • losesmilelive
    losesmilelive Posts: 10 Member
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    I have a digital scale that I use often. It's been handy for logging foods on here because when I estimate it, I'm either way over or way under what I thought lol.
  • crsawinton
    crsawinton Posts: 96 Member
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    I have mine ordered, I have a non-digital but I don't think it's accurate enough, I found one on amazon the other day, it's $6 right now!! It's due to be here tomorrow, I'll let you know how I like it, but here's a link:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H8WIFZU/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • Zelinna
    Zelinna Posts: 207 Member
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    I would definitely recommend using one. While I don't feel it is 100% necessary it will be a big eye opener for some portion sizes. I use mine mainly for foods that I can easily eat too much of. Cheese, chips, peanut butter, cereal.

    As for the type, definitely get digital with AA or AAA batteries. I had a scale that ran on 2032 batteries and I was replacing them every month. I changed to a scale that ran off AAA batteries in the summer and haven't had to change the batteries since.
  • Maggie_Pie1
    Maggie_Pie1 Posts: 322 Member
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    It depends on what I'm eating. I'm not going to use a food scale to figure out how many calories are in the handfuls of spinach or the exact ounces of cucumber I'm eating, but I'll use it to measure out things that are high calorie items, where my estimates can result in a big calorie surplus, like nuts, cheese, etc.

    I have a kitchen aide scale, I like it.
  • will2lose72
    will2lose72 Posts: 128 Member
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    Sorry if this is a repeat...but I went to Target and got a scale after reading this and watching the video....

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1104994-the-reason-why-you-should-get-a-kitchen-scale?hl=why+you+should+weigh+food#posts-17096302
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    I just got one. It was eye opening at the difference. What I thought was a serving size vs what actually was a serving size...
  • missyahall2
    missyahall2 Posts: 99 Member
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    How can you have an accurate food diary without knowing what you are eating? Food scales are necessary. The difference in what you thought was a tbls and what is a tbls is shocking.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I'm a little bit scared because after reading this post I have a feeling I am definitely not accurately estimating certain things. I will definitely be getting a food scale now.

    Mine was an eye-opener. My bowls of cereal turned out to be nearly 2 servings - and of course, I would then add nearly 2 servings of milk.

    It's also instructive (if depressing) to realize that food labels are often inaccurate. I buy some bread that's labeled 90 calories per slice (43g), but a slice can be as much as 50g, or 105 calories - 16% more than on the label. That's not a problem for bread unless you eat a loaf, but if everything is mislabeled, the errors can add up.

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