Weighing food

darleneasher328

Been reading through a lot of post, why is everyone obsessed with getting a food scale? I am wanting to eat healthier and change a life style, that I can do for the rest of my life. I don't see me at 60+ years old and weighing my food.

caveninit

Because many of us are used to much bigger portions than the recommended serving size.Weighing food is a tool to help you see how much you should be eating. Those trying to lose weight need to eat at a deficit.To stay at your calorie goals you need to be able to track how much food you are really eating. Simple as that. Once you start weighing every day it becomes easier to "eyeball" a portion size because you have learned what a portion size looks like. I'm not at that point yet so I still have to weigh and measure everything.

Ataraxia81

I think the main idea is just so you can visualize what you should be eating. Like anything else, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it. Eventually you can set aside the scale with your common meals because you will have a better understanding of proper portion sizes.

cwolfman13

Been reading through a lot of post, why is everyone obsessed with getting a food scale? I am wanting to eat healthier and change a life style, that I can do for the rest of my life. I don't see me at 60+ years old and weighing my food.

Because I used to think a proper portion of pasta was an entire plate full and had no idea what two dry ounces of pasta looked like...now I do. It was an extremely valuable tool for learning what a proper portion of something is....I don't use it much now because I learned to visually determine what a portion is roughly...but before the scale I had absolutely zero clue.

Another example would be my almonds...I thought I was eating about an ounce of almonds because someone once told me it was a decent handful...turns out a decent handful of almonds for me is closer to 2 oz...so I was logging 160 calories for my almonds but actually eating 320 calories worth...and so on and so forth which is why, despite the fact that I was eating much better, I wasn't losing any weight. Bought the scale and started weighing everything and started losing weight.

Like I said, I don't use it so much now save for some very calorie dense things...but it was a great learning tool. A lot of people here vastly underestimate their intake as they have zero clue what they're actually serving themselves portion wise...thus all of the "I'm only eating 2 calorie per day and gaining" threads.

SugarLou57

It helps with accuracy in reporting for those of us who want it, and also portion control for those of us who need it.
After weighing Almonds for a while I can now tell if I've got an ounce or not without getting out the scale and I have found this to be very helpful for both accuracy in reporting and portion control.

Bernadette60614

What brand of scale do you recommend, folks?

Tillyecl1

It takes a little while to realise that a 'portion' is not an actual portion as per the nutritional info on the back of the packet. For me cereal particularly is ridiculous because the recommended portion size as actually only about 3 mouthfuls. Once I got the hang of it I stopped weighing and now only weigh my portions now and again to make sure they're not getting distorted. I used to easily eat over 1000cal in one bowl of cereal and think that was a normal portion.

Edit: typo

knra_grl

In order to lose weight you must be at a calorie deficit. Yes weighing everything seems extreme but when I first started I was shocked at the amount of calories that were in some foods. People who are just starting need to realize what a proper portion looks like and decide where they will get their calories from (I love bacon and will eat it but I have switched mostly to turkey bacon because it has less sodium and fewer calories - this I already knew but I tended to ignore the fact before I started logging my foods).

People who label some foods as bad need to realize that they can have some things but the amounts are what need to be considered. I love pasta and white rice - do I eat as much as I did before? No - I would rather have the protein and veg and a nice sized meal than twice the amount of rice and pasta that I need.

You don't need an expensive scale - I paid $12 for mine - as long as it weighs in ounces and grams - I started with using measuring cups but that is not accurate when you are counting calories - after a couple days I went out and bought a scale.

Gramps251

What brand of scale do you recommend, folks?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12/179-3827196-6140240?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=digital food scale&sprefix=digital+food,aps,200&rh=i:aps,k:digital food scale

bmhorton12

Yes any recommendations on scales? I've been at this for a few weeks now. I've hit my goal each week so far, but I'm worried some foods I'm not logging correctly. I definitely need to get a scale.

Gramps251

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12/179-3827196-6140240?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=digital food scale&sprefix=digital+food,aps,200&rh=i:aps,k:digital food scale

SezxyStef

because I want to know how much I am eating...and the only way to do that is with a scale.

Will I use it when I am 60...maybe...but most likely.

darleneasher328

Thank you all! I'm going out to get a scale today, I just had an image in my head of 10 to 20 years from now still weighing my food. Lol

LianaG1115

Because we live in a society that is skewed with portion sizes and what our body needs to survive! We live to FILL our stomachs to capacity when all we need is a specific amount. A food scale conditions you back to reality and portion control.

cwolfman13

What brand of scale do you recommend, folks?

wouldn't worry so much about the brand. It should be digital...you should be able to tare it...it should have options for either grams or ounces and a decent capacity. it doesn't have to be anything fancy.

vjohn04

Because I like to know how much I am eating.

Because when I was a kid, I wasn't taught the concept of portion control and serving sizes... I was taught to eat as much as I could in one sitting.


Because I spent 30 years practicing bad habits, and a food scale is a tool I use to help me unlearn bad habits I've formed, and I can't expect that to happen overnight.

Get a digital scale.

tedrickp

Well I would argue you get what you pay for actually. And I know this from buying a cheap digital scale from Amazon, and later finding out it was weighing incorrectly (significant enough to be a problem especially for things like butter) and it was a nightmare to deal with....was also one piece so a pain in *kitten* to clean. It also had a pathetic capacity so I couldnt use a bowl that was too heavy. Also the buttons were non-tactile, and it was hard to push them right, or sometimes you would hit tare and the kg would change to lb or turn off. It also ate through expensive batteries and ended up dying an early death :frown:

Went with an OXO 11lb capacity with pull out display - and wish I had originally bought that one. It is $49 (the original one I bought was $20) for something I have used everyday for a year. It weighs more accurately (tested this). Holds a ton (I can weigh an entire crock pot for example). The top comes off and is stainless steel, so easy to clean. The pull out display is surprisingly handy actually! I don't have to look for a smaller bowl or plate because the large one is covering the display. Lastly, it has tactile buttons - this might not seem like a big deal but when you use your scale as much as I do - it is HUGE.

bluntlysally

weighing is a ton easier than measuring. and you clean less measuring things. <<i really don't know why this isn't in marketing campaigns!!

i'm not sure how you can track what you eat unless you measure, and a scale is just another way of doing that.

it does help in retraining your brain. i eat a lot of good fat (very calorie dense), so not weighing/measuring is a baaaaaad idea. for things that don't fit in a measuring cup (like meat, broccoli, etc), you really are guessing. i thought i would wait until later to buy one, but in reality i wish i would have bought one much much earlier!!

if you are looking to buy one - be sure to get one that is digital, tares (resets to zero so you can use the same/bowl dish), and has different measurements you can switch between (g, oz, etc).

did i mention you have to clean less stuff?

GardenGirlie

The good news is if you start using a scale now when you are 60 there will be several things you will not need to weigh anymore. There will always be a need for the scale, don't get me wrong, but not for everything you eat. For example I can now cut a 1 or 2 oz portion of cheese and when I weigh it it is right every time. Using a scale teaches us these things and it is a wonderful wonderful tool to have.

zeal26

I didn't start losing weight until I started weighing my food. I really had no idea about portions, it was insane to realise that I had been eating WAY more than thought. It does not feel obsessive to me at all - I have my scales out on the counter at all times, so I put my bowl/plate on it and add my food like normal. The only difference is that I now know how much I'm eating!

At the moment, I am trying hard to lose weight. There will come a point in my life where I don't need to watch what I eat so closely and I hope by then I'll be able to make good guesses at the amounts.