What is so wrong with guesstimating?

formerfatboy1

Your body will eventually plateau and this is where you would have to invest in a food scale and change your routine up a bit cause for some strange reason your body will adapt to the same exercise program:mad: and you will be stuck. Just FYI for the future.

lorib642

Your body will eventually plateau and this is where you would have to invest in a food scale and change your routine up a bit cause for some strange reason your body will adapt to the same exercise program:mad: and you will be stuck. Just FYI for the future.

Thank you. I am a long way from being adapted to any routine, just starting out. When I get there I will ask for help and will have accurate measurements

jkal1979

It can seem like it's overwhelming or a chore, but once you get into the habit of weighing your food it takes very little effort. If you are still losing while estimating keep doing what you are doing, but if you plateau it might be something to look into.

My suggestion for now is to just work on getting into the habit of logging everything and take things one step at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Edited to add in this picture that might help you with estimating portion sizes.

darrensurrey

No, they weren't positive. I think it was because i had no plan, was too restrictive, and didn't know how to correct for problems. And, I don't think I am as good as some people at judging amounts, I just have a buffer. When my weight goes down I will have to be more careful. I meant my recent experience using this app this month has been positive. From the responses I am getting it seems like I need to get a scale. I already know I can't judge a tablespoon of peanutbutter and that adds up.

So, I want a digital that tares and weighs grams. Is there anything else i need to know? My husband will want to buy the cheapest one.,

Thanks for all the input. I read the sticky on weighing and I will re-read but if there is anything anyone can add that would be great

Once you get into the habit, it becomes quite simple. As you say, it will give you an idea of how much you can eat for any particular goal.

DvlDwnInGA

As others on here have said, if it is working for you go ahead and keep doing it. I would recommend buying a cheap food scale though. Weigh things that have a lot of calories in them. Get yourself some little dishes that hold condiments. Peanut butter, mayo, dressings, etc. Weigh your meats that you eat as well. Start small and weigh a couple things a week so that you get used to using a food scale. Overtime, it becomes easier and by the time you have lost a lot of weight and are close to your calorie goal, and are really needing to use the scale, you 2 will be like old friends.

loulamb7

I think I will burn out if I try too much at once.

.

You have the right attitude, make small changes you can maintain. Start measuring/weighing when you are ready. I measure and weigh most of the time. At first my family thought I was nuts but it works.

Sabine_Stroehm

If you're losing at a rate that satisfies you, then don't over complicate it. It's BETTER if you can lose with guesstimating.

headofphat

If I am estimating some amounts and still losing am I still doing it "wrong"? I never tried counting calories in the past, it seemed too complicated. I started using this app to get an idea of how many calories I was eating daily. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it is.

I do measure some things, but shared meals, I guess. I think when I have less to lose I may need to be more accurate.

I am getting a little overwhelmed and actually that isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life, but I will if it helps me learn portion sizes.

Counting calories is complicated?

I would say that we all generally will cheat in our favor if we are guesstimating. Not everyone but most would record the calories conservatively.

lorib642

It can seem like it's overwhelming or a chore, but once you get into the habit of weighing your food it takes very little effort. If you are still losing while estimating keep doing what you are doing, but if you plateau it might be something to look into.

My suggestion for now is to just work on getting into the habit of logging everything and take things one step at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Edited to add in this picture that might help you with estimating portion sizes.

Thank you. I like the pic,

lorib642

If I am estimating some amounts and still losing am I still doing it "wrong"? I never tried counting calories in the past, it seemed too complicated. I started using this app to get an idea of how many calories I was eating daily. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it is.

I do measure some things, but shared meals, I guess. I think when I have less to lose I may need to be more accurate.

I am getting a little overwhelmed and actually that isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life, but I will if it helps me learn portion sizes.

Counting calories is complicated?

I would say that we all generally will cheat in our favor if we are guesstimating. Not everyone but most would record the calories conservatively.

Maybe it is just an idea I have in my head that isn't true. They used to have books with the different calories and you would have to write them all down, and places like weight watchers have shortcuts to make it easier to guess calories, so yes I thought it would be harder than it seems to be.

lorib642

I think I will burn out if I try too much at once.

.

You have the right attitude, make small changes you can maintain. Start measuring/weighing when you are ready. I measure and weigh most of the time. At first my family thought I was nuts but it works.

Thank you. My husband says we do have a scale around here so I am going to find it. I don't think it is digital. If it works I will give it a shot

FitOldMomma

For me, I thought I was pretty darn good at estimating. But once I started to really accurately log my foods I was gobsmacked by how far off I was on some meals. Thing is, it goes both ways!

I finally started to weigh out some foods (I don't do all, for instance I wont weigh a large egg, or a slice of bread or a cup of milk) and found to my delight that 28grams of a certain brand of tortilla chips was NOT nearly the same as the suggested number of 10 chips. It was 18!

Same thing with some extra fancy salted peanuts. One serving was 35 grams, or 3 tablespoons. Nope- 35 grams measured out to be 1/3 of a cup or 5.3 tablespoons. Yeah!

Once you get in the habit of logging food you'll remember a lot of them and if you're not concerned about the macros- you can use the 'quick calories'.

lorib642

For me, I thought I was pretty darn good at estimating. But once I started to really accurately log my foods I was gobsmacked by how far off I was on some meals. Thing is, it goes both ways!

I finally started to weigh out some foods (I don't do all, for instance I wont weigh a large egg, or a slice of bread or a cup of milk) and found to my delight that 28grams of a certain brand of tortilla chips was NOT nearly the same as the suggested number of 10 chips. It was 18!

Same thing with some extra fancy salted peanuts. One serving was 35 grams, or 3 tablespoons. Nope- 35 grams measured out to be 1/3 of a cup or 5.3 tablespoons. Yeah!

Once you get in the habit of logging food you'll remember a lot of them and if you're not concerned about the macros- you can use the 'quick calories'.

Thank you. I am sure it gets easier and you start to repeat.

paomiamifl

I agree with other posters. If you're happy with how it's going, no need to change it.
BUT, I'll share with you what's helped me to never have to count calories and lose consistently: I eat from the salad plate EXCLUSIVELY. 8" plates will naturally portion out your food as is literally impossible to put a bigger amount of what you need to eat. Try it, then weigh the food, just so you can see if I correlates with the sizes you need to be eating.

bwogilvie

If you're losing at a rate that satisfies you, then don't over complicate it. It's BETTER if you can lose with guesstimating.

^^ Excellent advice (as is always the case from Sabine).

That said, as you probably already know, there are some things where guesstimating carries more risks than others. If I guess that I have eaten 3 cups of shredded Romaine lettuce, and it's really 4, then I'm off by only 5 calories. If I guess that I dipped my bread in 3 teaspoons of olive oil, but it was really 4, then I'm off by 40 calories.

I use sizes (small, medium, large) for things like green peppers, carrots, etc., where errors have little effect on the overall calorie total. I don't always weigh cheese, meat, peanut butter, mayo, etc., but I try to do so a few times a month, so that I stay honest in my guesstimates. Tonight, for instance, I'm making penne with caramelized onions, green peppers, green beans, and ham, tossed with parmesan and basil. I'll weigh the penne, ham, and parmesan, guesstimate the onions, peppers, and beans, and leave the basil out because really, 5 basil leaves have practically no calories. And I will measure the wine that I have along with it.

lorib642

I agree with other posters. If you're happy with how it's going, no need to change it.
BUT, I'll share with you what's helped me to never have to count calories and lose consistently: I eat from the salad plate EXCLUSIVELY. 8" plates will naturally portion out your food as is literally impossible to put a bigger amount of what you need to eat. Try it, then weigh the food, just so you can see if I correlates with the sizes you need to be eating.

I like that. My brother does that because he likes to have a full plate even if it is less food.

Kalikel

Guesstimating is great, if you're willing to make adjustments. If you're guessing and not losing weight at 1200, drop it to 1000 or 800 or wherever you start losing. Odds are that you won't really be eating 800 calories a day, you'll be eating 1300 calories a day, because you guess wrong.

But as long as you get to a point where you're guessing and losing, it doesn't matter a bit.

People who weigh have their reasons. People who guess have theirs.

I really think guessing might be the smarter way to go, as you'll learn more about how to eat without a scale.

I lost like 40 pounds before I even thought about calories, much less considered considered counting them. It can be done.

Sabine_Stroehm

It can seem like it's overwhelming or a chore, but once you get into the habit of weighing your food it takes very little effort. If you are still losing while estimating keep doing what you are doing, but if you plateau it might be something to look into.

My suggestion for now is to just work on getting into the habit of logging everything and take things one step at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Edited to add in this picture that might help you with estimating portion sizes.

Thank you. I like the pic,

I like it also.

girlwithcurls2

Estimating portions does work well... for a while. However, when my weight loss starts to a stall I like to rely on weighing out my portions. I find my guesstimates tend to grow over time along with my weight. I can get a half a jar of peanut butter onto one tablespoon...

^
|
|
|
|
QFT This. Exactly. We must get our spoons at the same place...