How do you weigh ALL your food??

juliaky84

Hi guys!

I would like to start using my little food scale more often since folks say it is a lot more accurate than estimating and using label packaging to enter calories.

It's easy for me to use the scale at home when I'm cooking breakfast or making my lunch sandwich, but...

How do you use your food scale when, say, you dine out, or eat at a friend's house, or have food at a work meeting, etc? Do you just break it out at the restaurant? lol...

Thanks! :-)

drosebud

I scan food when it's packaged, e.g. pre-packed sandwiches from a supermarket, or a ready meal. If I'm out at a restaurant then some will have the cals on the menu and I'll log those. MFP has some chain restaurant meals in its database which you can use. If you eat at a friends then you'll just have to estimate, and possibly err on the side of caution.

kommodevaran

I just estimate the few times a week I eat food that I don't have the exact data for.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I don't weigh when I'm at a friend's house or restaurant. Using my scale at home has helped me immensely toward being able to estimate portions, so I weigh everything at home and when I'm out I do best guess. But I also don't eat out enough for that alone to impact progress.

89nunu

It doesn't happen that often that I eat out. I guess. One meal every now and again guessed is not gonna hurt.

SezxyStef

unless you are an issue you don't weigh ALL your food...

but if you weigh most of your you get a better idea of how much you are eating if you are out.

If you eat at a chain their data is online, friends house best guess.

MagicalGiraffe

I use the Carbs and Cals app to give me a better guesstimate on my calories for meals I haven't been able to weigh or from restaurants that don't have nutritional information online. It gives visual representations on a plate, with several portion sizes.

Liftng4Lis

Once you weigh for awhile, you get a really go grasp on portion sizes. It becomes pretty easy to guess how much 4 oz of meat is.

juliaky84

[side note - love the avatar...hehe]

I just estimate the few times a week I eat food that I don't have the exact data for.

malibu927

I don't use it outside the house. Chain restaurants post nutrition guides online, and if I'm elsewhere (which is rare) I look up what I had and do my best to find a comparable item in the database.

MelodyandBarbells

I can't weigh every single bit of it - like a salad from lunch. Lots of awesome veggies but I have no way of weighing each lettuce leaf or raisin individually, and I do not have the desire nor motivation to make those myself at home. You'd just need to know that most things you don't weigh are likely a source of inaccuracy in your logging and do your best to be cautious. And as mentioned, the times you do weigh give you a better idea of what your estimated #'s should look like

higgins8283801

I can only weigh what I prepare. For everything else I have to use the nutritional I formation that a lot of restaurants have and know, it's dependent on the cook and could be over or under.