Food Scales, Need or not???

lorishultis
lorishultis Posts: 95 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been "Guess-timating" my portion sizes because I dont have a scale. I usually round up when in doubt but do you guys think a scale is a diet must have????
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Replies

  • lessoff
    lessoff Posts: 19
    i use a food scale as much as possible. i like to over estimate like crazy.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    Yes, absolutely yes. You need scales and you should use them all the time. Chances are that you have no idea how much a portion of anything is so lack of measuring defeats the purpose of logging.
  • MuddyEquestrian
    MuddyEquestrian Posts: 366 Member
    i don't weigh my food and have had no issue, although everyone is different!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Yes!! I throw everything on the scales, you Would b amazed at how easy it is to over estimate portion sizes!
  • auntygill
    auntygill Posts: 108 Member
    Yes Weigh Weigh Weigh . Its too easy to under or over estimate what you are eating , almost all my food gets weighed .
  • phoenixgirl81
    phoenixgirl81 Posts: 309 Member
    LOVE my food scales! I weigh everything! My biggest problem was UNDER-estimating everything so I was eating way more than i was logging. The only time I don't weigh is when I am eating out (obviously).

    And weighing doesn't really take that much time. I have a notepad next to my food scales in the kitchen and I weigh everything before I start preparing and wrote down each ingredient and how much it weighs. I serve the same thing for my partner and I so I just halve the weight of everything and enter it in my diary. If there is anything i am eating that my partner is not then obviously I rented the whole amount for myself.

    It really doesn't take much time or effort and it takes away the uncertainty of guesswork.
  • sevsmom
    sevsmom Posts: 1,172 Member
    We don't use it for calorie counting, but it is one of the most useful kitchen tools we have! We LOVE our kitchen scale!!
  • loserbaby84
    loserbaby84 Posts: 241 Member
    I bought a food scale right away - helps tons! Defintely a benefit :)
  • trish0018
    trish0018 Posts: 3
    1 serving is equal to about the size of your fist. :)
  • BigBrewski
    BigBrewski Posts: 922 Member
    Yes!! I throw everything on the scales, you Would b amazed at how easy it is to over estimate portion sizes!

    ^^^^^^^^^^^This
  • Spartan_Maker
    Spartan_Maker Posts: 683 Member
    Food Scale = No Excuses.
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
    I think it really helps tremendously. I weigh all dry foods, meats, cheeses and measure all liquids.
  • LiftHuff
    LiftHuff Posts: 131
    If you intend to eat good whole foods, I can't see how you could possibly count calories without it. Otherwise you have to guess on fresh cuts of meat and all your produce.
  • Yana150
    Yana150 Posts: 226
    I didn't realize how much I was over eating until I bought and used my scale. I thought that it would be a nuisance to weigh my food every time I eat, but I find that it really is one of the most helpful little tools.
  • abuch912
    abuch912 Posts: 6 Member
    I had no idea what a portion size looked like so I definitely like using the scale. It helps me a lot to measure everything.
  • l1o9r9i9
    l1o9r9i9 Posts: 8 Member
    Love my food scale ! Keeps me on track .
  • ritasice21
    ritasice21 Posts: 200 Member
    Buy it, you will be amazed how much more accurate things are in grams. That "cup of XX" serving size will weight a lot more than a serving. I could not believe it.
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
    Absolutely get a scale. You will likely be surprised by how much your eating vs what a potion size is.
  • blg5
    blg5 Posts: 89 Member
    Yes a food scale is a must. You can greatly underestimate calorie dense food without one. Peanut butter is a good example.
  • quill16
    quill16 Posts: 373 Member
    My food scale is front and center for everything. I have even taken it on vacation. I weigh everything. You would be surprised to se a tablespoon worth versus weighing the grams. You can easily overestimate by double. Of course I used to work in a laboratory and weighing things on a scale in grams is second nature to me.
  • MummaSue
    MummaSue Posts: 242 Member
    Absolutely yes! I was managing with a very old kitchen scale and I was sure it wasn't accurate so I bought a new one at Asda (Walmart) £9 they're digital and you can re-set to 0 between ingredients. I feel so much more confident that I'm logging what I'm really eating, not what I think I'm eating. Obviously eating out I have to estimate, but seeing what the true weight of stuff is helps in gauging that I'm sure.
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    Get a scale! I use it multiple times a day along with my measuring spoons and cups.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    I don't have one (having one has never interested me) and I've lost weight just fine. Normally for foods it shows a serving size weight but also volume, I always just use the volume. People will say that's less accurate but hey, I haven't any issues. The weight has come off right on track!
  • MissSusieQ
    MissSusieQ Posts: 533 Member
    i weigh everything. it helps me get my portion sizes back to reality :)
  • jaharrison763
    jaharrison763 Posts: 99 Member
    I automatically weigh everything now. I used to measure with cups and measuring spoons, but stuff settles and/or you can easily overfill a cup with dry food. Now I know everything is accurate. I got mine for Xmas last year and it was my favorite gift!
  • bethb03
    bethb03 Posts: 96
    Oh my goodness, I use mine all the time, best investment I've made :)
  • CDG1013
    CDG1013 Posts: 106 Member
    Yes! If you want to have a good estimate of the calories you take in, you need to measure portions. Just guessing may be ok for some people, but some things are very deceptive. Take nuts for example...calorie dense food (~170/serving for almonds) where a serving is 1/4 cup or about 30 g...a handful of nuts is more like 1.5 or 2 servings. If you grab say 3 handfuls during a day thinking you are eating 1 serving and logging 510 calories, but are actually eating 765 or 1020 you are not accurately capturing the calories you are taking in and slowing or stopping your weight loss.
  • pg3ibew
    pg3ibew Posts: 1,026 Member
    I weigh and measure EVERYTHING.

    You weigh yourself to see how much you weigh. Why wouldn't you weigh your food?
  • RadioactivePirate
    RadioactivePirate Posts: 212
    I was amazed after getting my food scale at how much more than a cup you can fit into a measuring cup. It's pretty easy to be 10% inaccurate and if you're cutting calories by 10-20% to achieve weight loss, you can sabotage that goal pretty easily with inaccurate measurements. Yes, you can solve that by erring on the side of caution, but I prefer just plain not erring.

    Other perks: washing less measuring cups, and if you're a baker, weighing flour makes things come out way better than trying to measure it.
  • realme56
    realme56 Posts: 1,093 Member
    Absolutely need, you can get them pretty cheap at Walmart or Target....

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