Do you use a food scale?

vickthedick

It's hard to walk the line.All the tips that are promoted are they same things they treat anorexics for, ie weighing food, obsessive calorie counting, mentally rehearsing what you will eat, etc.

Is it OCD and if so at what point is is problematic enough to deem it unhealthy

urbanmasala

Most definitely! Takes all of the guess work out. I'd hate to be without it. Just got another digital scale a couple of weeks ago.

kaetra

I use mine for everything that's not a liquid, and to double check serving sizes claimed by a package (like torilla chips - I want to make sure I get my WHOLE OUNCE of chips please hehe). The scale is especially handy for:

Meat
Cheese, especially shredded or grated cheese (I go by weight not cup volume)
Precooked pasta
Nuts, seeds
Tortilla chips
Fruit and vegetables

dlyeates

I weigh everything that requires ounces per serving (meat, cheese, some bread). I also measure my other food to determine servings. I usually try to leave a deficit of about 100 calories a day to take into account mis-measurement and tastes!!!

moodymarble

I've had 1 for yrs but only started using it faithfully since August when I started on MFP. I really don't think I could have come as far as I have without it or without the knowledge and friends I've made on MFP!! Don't the 2 go hand in hand?

LovelyLibra79

Yes I love it! especially for foods that give you the calories based on ounces. You know exactly what you are getting.

BarbieDawl

I am hoping to buy one today. Same reason. Meats and cheese when I do eat it but mostly nuts and seeds I think my husband will get alot of use out of it too as he is embarking on this journey now too

mudya

Yes i do, best buy ever! I couldn't believe how wrong I was estimating everything before hand, what i thought was 50g of rice was more like 100g... I now know how much of something i should be eating, which is the whole point of a healthy lifestyle. It also means that my diary is super accurate and reliable. Sure you can still lose weight by guessing but scales are a major help!

Rilke

It's hard to walk the line.All the tips that are promoted are they same things they treat anorexics for, ie weighing food, obsessive calorie counting, mentally rehearsing what you will eat, etc.

Is it OCD and if so at what point is is problematic enough to deem it unhealthy

Thank you for posting this. My food for thought for the day.

2012Kristin

I use mine a lot. Mostly right after I go grocery shopping. Since I normally cook just for myself I use the scale to divide up things like ground beef into 3 oz portions and then freeze the portions separately so I can just dethaw one when I need it. Helps me out a lot!

mlb929

Absolutely, I weigh, measure, portion, make sure my exact sizes are correct. I do it because I really think that we are all so attuned to wrong portion sizes that if I don't, my eyes are bigger than my calorie count. I view it as - your cake you bake doesn't turn out correctly if you don't measure your ingredients. It's something that I've worked hard to try and make sure that I'm not discounting my hard work in other areas.

cbu23

I weigh anything that isn't pre-portioned. When I buy packs of chicken breast or ground beef I weigh it out into portions and freeze. Comes in super handy since I'm normally cooking for one!

Kymmy81

Absolutely, I weigh, measure, portion, make sure my exact sizes are correct. I do it because I really think that we are all so attuned to wrong portion sizes that if I don't, my eyes are bigger than my calorie count. I view it as - your cake you bake doesn't turn out correctly if you don't measure your ingredients. It's something that I've worked hard to try and make sure that I'm not discounting my hard work in other areas.

^^^^This!!

kristinathenina

I normally only use mine once a week, BUT I am portioning all the stuff I use for the week on that day. I work 55+ hours a week, so when I get home from a 14 hour day, the LAST thing I want to do is add 3 minutes between getting my dinner in my belly, lol. So what I do is will portion chicken, veggies (frozen), sauces, pasta, and rice (instant- i'm in a hurry) into the serving size I will need later in the week, that way when I get home I can have dinner on my plate in less than 20 minutes. I love my scale but a lot of the time I am too tired to bother weighing stuff, which is why I have to plan ahead on my one day off.

Bentley2718

I use mine:
1) for things where cutting size will determine how much fits in a cup, for example, if you dice melon a lot more goes in a cup than if you cut it into large chunks;
2) for things like hummus, peanut butter, and cereal, it saves me from having to use measuring cups/spoons AND a spoon/knife to get it out of the container;
3) for high calorie foods, like chocolate, rice, avocado, nuts (and even carrots);
4) when baking and doing confectionery.

I don't bother weighing relatively low calorie foods, personally I'm not that worried about whether I eat one serving of steamed broccoli or two. Also, for containers I use again and again (e.g. the 2.5 cup container I put watermelon in almost every day), I will weigh for a while, but once I know about what the average is, I tend to get more lax about it (especially with something like watermelon).

VenturaGurl

I weigh my "red light" foods, like ice cream, crackers, cheese. I also weigh my cereal and if I have a glass of wine... I love my scale!

cramernh

Not me. Seems kinda OCD to me. I just eat small portions.

I dont know why you or someone else who had posted something similar would think that weighing foods are considered 'kinda OCD'... I know of plenty of previous patients I had in the 14 years I worked in the medical field who should have been using a food scale from the beginning to weigh everything they put into their mouths.

There is nothing wrong with weighing any or all of the foods we intend to consume... its not OCD, its not 'control-freaky' as someone else mentioned... Perhaps you could do some rethinking and consider being supportive to the people who have posted they do weigh things out, instead of accusatory remarks of OCD and control-freak?

jnhu72

The only thing I weigh is meat. Everything else, I measure.

1953Judith

Not me. Seems kinda OCD to me. I just eat small portions.

I dont know why you or someone else who had posted something similar would think that weighing foods are considered 'kinda OCD'... I know of plenty of previous patients I had in the 14 years I worked in the medical field who should have been using a food scale from the beginning to weigh everything they put into their mouths.

There is nothing wrong with weighing any or all of the foods we intend to consume... its not OCD, its not 'control-freaky' as someone else mentioned... Perhaps you could do some rethinking and consider being supportive to the people who have posted they do weigh things out, instead of accusatory remarks of OCD and control-freak?

I admit I laughed when people started banting the OCD re using a food scale. I imagine if a person utilized every measuring tool referenced in all of these various threads, they might not have much time or energy for other parts of their lives. We can measure calories, protein, fat, carbs, salt, suger, potassium, exercise calories, bmi(s), bm(s), blood pressure, pounds, kilos; all day, every day, twice on Sundays. However, we are very fortunate when we find a simple easy to use tool out of the vast sea of choices that helps us on this journey.

The food scale has come in very handy several times a week in my family unit for portion control; particularly for my husband who can better manage his insulin (another thing to measure) knowing precise portions which better manages the diabetes, which better manages his life and consequently mine. I have become less concerned about measuring calories than controlling salt and potassium intake. I find that if I control salt and potassium, the calories, food balance, and weight loss come naturally (note managing salt is harder than managing calories for me so I'm not taking the easy way.

Our food scale sat in the back cupboard for three years before going into active duty. Different tools are required for different parts of this journey. To those who received a food scale for the holidays. Try it, enjoy it, use in good health. Don't worry about OCD. If you don't like it, store it and try again later or donate it to someone who it will help.

Maggie_Pie1

I have a food scale, and I use it to measure out how much cheese I want in whatever food (feta for salads, shredded cheese for omelettes, etc). I have a tendency to underestimate calories from cheese, and I'm a cheesaholic. I also use it to measure out ounces of meat for whatever I'm preparing so I know what to enter.

Lucia_Armstrong1973

I think, especially in the beginning of the weight loss journey, that it is a good thing to be obsessive about weighing food. I used my scale in the beginning for everything! Then after you become more comfortable with the foods you eat most often, you can kind of cut out some of the scale usage. But being obsessive about it in the beginning helps you when you are in situations you can't control, such as restaurants or at parties etc.

I was just telling my sons last night that a good food scale would have been a perfect Christmas present for me, after they completely melted my last (high end) one!

dls06

Getting a food scale was the best thing I did for my weight loss. It was eye opening to see what a true serving really was.

IvoryParchment

Disordered eating isn't about whether you measure portions. Would you go to a restaurant if the cook made the food differently or gave you different sized portions every time? Is it OCD to eat one container of yogurt and not open a second to have a few more spoonfuls because you're not full yet? We measure portions of food all the time and don't consider it obsessive. The food scale is just another way of doing it. (It is very useful for cooking, by the way -- no more messy sifting of flour to measure accurately, if you just measure it by grams!)

An eating disordered person is losing weight for some reason other than being healthy and feeling better. They feel like crap, they are weak and dizzy, their skin is getting bruised, they're losing hair on their heads and growing it everywhere else, they're not menstruating or having sexual feelings, yet the still think they ought to lose more weight, despite being fully aware it will make those symptoms worse. They consider symptoms validation of what strong people they are for maintaining their diets.

I'm halfway to goal and already feel great. There's less gravity bearing down on me, I have more energy, I'm eating more vegetables and less crap, and I'm exercising more than ever because I get the immediate reward of extra calories to spend on more food. It's not about the fact that I'm measuring food like I measured reagents in chem class. It's about whether my goals are healthy or not.

emilytgs24

I weigh EVERYTHING that I can!! I've also started using it to cook with-especially breads-I weigh out my flour. The scale is more accurate than using measuring cups and spoons....

emilytgs24

I don't. I guess, and have had no problems losing all the weight I wanted to and more that way. I can't be bothered weighing everything, that's too control-freaky for the way I live.

Congrats to you for losing without having to weigh....some people are not that good at judging and there is nothing wrong with using a scale, I use mine for my fruits, meats and cheese's....if you need a scale by all means please use one and eventually you may be able to eyeball the servings.......good luck and enjoy the scale

I find that the eyeballs are usually wrong! I think if you use the scale when you are at home and any other time you are able you will naturally make better portion choices when you don't have the scale. You will be able to look at your steak at Outback and say I should only eat half of that so that I'm eating a normal portion... Bottom line-I have been in maintenance for over a year and I STILL USE MY SCALE EVERY DAY. Love it.

mamagooskie

YES YES YES!! I use for everyday for everything. I always weigh my apples since size varies so much, for baby carrots......I use to use it to measure out all my portion of meat to know if it was a 3 oz portion or 5oz etc.

Mine does lbs, oz, grams, ml, etc so it's handy for everything!!