Weighing your food

SlimJanette
SlimJanette Posts: 597 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Yesterday I went out and bought a pretty high end scale that does everything except wash the dishes.
I was very surprised to see how off I was with all of my food. If I ate a piece of chicken I put 4oz. Yesterday I weighed a piece and it was almost 8oz! If you are worried that you are not tracking properly, I would suggest investing in a scale.
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Replies

  • Pink_Cheek
    Pink_Cheek Posts: 92
    I do this with every meal I eat/make at home. My husband was shocked to see just how small 3-4 ounces really is.
  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
    I weigh and measure everything
  • racerliz25
    racerliz25 Posts: 1 Member
    which scale did you purchase? I have been thinking about getting one, too. I know my portion sizes are probably incorrect, as well!!!
  • aa1440
    aa1440 Posts: 956 Member
    You have to weigh your food. When you assume...well, you know the rest.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Yup I found 4 main things to be really off with my counting when I went from measuring cups to a scale: 4 oz of meat, one serving of ice cream, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp peanut butter. Since all of those are pretty calorie dense I consider it an excellent investment.
  • socioseguro
    socioseguro Posts: 1,679 Member
    Hi:

    thank you for sharing. My scale is more in the "sensible price" side :wink: . It is analog ! but it works

    Same surprise here, we were eating 4 oz of pasta per person. This went down to 2 oz per person thanks to the above mentioned scale

    I buy chicken breast or salmon and I cut 3 oz portions and put them in the freezer. Every time I need them for cooking, I just get the appropriate number of portions from the freezer, early in the morning and they are thawed by lunch time. Ready for cooking.
  • aprilwine11
    aprilwine11 Posts: 13 Member
    I use my scale daily, it has been a life saver-
  • sozisraw
    sozisraw Posts: 418 Member
    Yes I am OCD with my scales! New to me since being on mfp ! Its the only way I can lose weight because I'm greedy lol!
  • missybct
    missybct Posts: 321 Member
    I weigh nearly everything. I think the only exception to the rule is I'm not 100% strict on things like salad or veg - I am with fruit though.

    I think it's really important that occasionally (perhaps one day a week, or once a month, depends on whether you can remain at one day) you have a day where you DON'T weigh things. I'll explain why - weighing things IS time consuming. It can be irritating. It can lead you into the path of thinking "Well, one more gram won't hurt" which then starts a chain of events that mean you stop weighing all together. If you feel like you are constantly weighing things, you'll feel discouraged - I know I do occasionally.

    You can either prepare this food in advance, so say a meal cooked and frozen, or buy a pre-made meal (I avoid them, but it's a personal opinion).

    Sorry, rambled there. But yes, decent scales is the key. If I feel my scales are on the wonk, I'll weigh something I know the exact weight of via packaging.
  • SlimJanette
    SlimJanette Posts: 597 Member
    which scale did you purchase? I have been thinking about getting one, too. I know my portion sizes are probably incorrect, as well!!!

    I bought it at Walmart in Canada. It was $40 and I am not sure of the name but it allows you to enter whatever you are weighing and it will tell you the protein, sodium, fat, calories and a few other things.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    agree 100 percent
    i have a 5 dollar plastic one
  • HappyElizabeth
    HappyElizabeth Posts: 231 Member
    My kitchen scale was one of the best things I ever bought! I would NEVER have been able to lose weight without it!!
  • sleepingtodream
    sleepingtodream Posts: 304 Member
    My husband hid my scale the other day as a "joke". He sent me on a hunt around the house to find it:P It was funny at first but got old fast...now he realizes not to mess with me and my scale:) I told him next time we got out to eat I'm bringing it with because then I'll know how much steak I can eat...he wasn't amused! haha
  • JennC831
    JennC831 Posts: 628 Member
    I agree 100%!!!

    One of the mistakes I used to make before weighing my food was going off the calorie amount of the package for a single serving of that item. For example for a bag of baked cheetos (yup, I still eat chips while losing weight! LOL) it would say 130 calories per serving about 34 pieces then in parentheses it'd say 28g; I weighed out 34 pieces and it was not 28g it was 36g!!! Which put my calories for that serving over by 44.2...

    I also learned that 28g of these baked cheetos is 135.5 calories... LOL... Oh how I love my food scale :) Weighing out your food is time consuming and annoying at times but I look at as a way to help me get this fat off... Once I get to where I want to be I won't have to be as strict, but for now I'm a food weighing fool! LOL...
  • melmckay99
    melmckay99 Posts: 358
    I bought a scale and love using it because I am a "truth in the numbers" kind of person. However, I also think it is contributing to my OCD that I seem to have developped (self doagnosed) since i started dieting and exercising..... I even bring my scale to work with me so that I can weigh out my lunches when I buy them!
  • Clovergirl143
    Clovergirl143 Posts: 61 Member
    Ok, so newbie here...I've been reading about food scales on the forums and have been looking into buying one. However, I'm not sure how it works? I've always measured with cups/tablespoons/teaspoons etc, how does weighing with the scale work exactly? I want to try and make my measurements more accurate with how much I eat (I'm thinking this might be an issue why I'm not losing weight), but how do you 'weigh' your food and input it into MFP?
  • __Aid__
    __Aid__ Posts: 72 Member
    I love my scales, low end digital most used item in my kitchen

    its surprising how inaccurate guessing can be

    I'm lost without them, i also bought measuring cups too since starting myfitnesspal
  • ocmitchris
    ocmitchris Posts: 7 Member
    If you've got a Harbor Freight near by, their kitchen scale has served me very well. I got mine on sale for $20, and was able to use a 20% off coupon on top of that. It came with a power adapter, or can take 4 AA batteries. It will measure in grams, ounces and pounds. It's easy to use, allows you to tare items, and seems to be accurate.

    http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-scale-95364.html

    Getting the scale is a huge helper, and I tend to weigh everything that isn't already portioned. Like others have mentioned, it really helps you to see just how small a portion is, and how much more you've been eating than you thought. If you're serious about losing weight, you really need one.
  • belle_of_the_bar
    belle_of_the_bar Posts: 474 Member
    I felt like an idiot for waiting as long as I did to buy my food scale, because it has been the best thing I've purchased not just for weight loss but just overall awareness of portions. When I weigh out that cup of yogurt or serving of pineapple, it really makes me more consious of what I'm putting in my body.
  • Four_Leaf_Clover
    Four_Leaf_Clover Posts: 332 Member
    I have an Eat Smart digital scale (about $25 from Amazon) - I love it. Any scale will do - digital is easiest to read. A tare function is also key (sets it back to 0) so you can weigh multiple things in succession or weigh right on your plate. I like the Eat Smart because it weighs in ounces, grams, etc. Grams is more precise and it allows me to use metric entries in MFP.

    My whole family jokes because they all sit down at the dinner table and I am still out in the kitchen with the scale entering my food into MFP!
  • BeautifullyHuman123
    BeautifullyHuman123 Posts: 37 Member
    Had a MFP friend that lost over 100lbs that recommended I weigh my food.....started about 3 months ago...LOVE IT!!! Bought an Oneida sale, cost me all of $12 :)))
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Yesterday I went out and bought a pretty high end scale that does everything except wash the dishes.
    I was very surprised to see how off I was with all of my food. If I ate a piece of chicken I put 4oz. Yesterday I weighed a piece and it was almost 8oz! If you are worried that you are not tracking properly, I would suggest investing in a scale.

    Yup...most people that tell me, "it isn't working" do not weigh and measure and vastly underestimate their consumption...thus, it doesn't work. Chicken breast is a perfect example...most people think a serving of chicken breast (4oz) is just a whole chicken breast...when in reality, most whole chicken breasts are anywhere from 8-10 ounces.
  • Madaly320
    Madaly320 Posts: 112 Member
    I love my scale. I weigh salad dressing too. I will put my bowl full of salad on the scale and "zero" it out and then start pouring dressing. The kind I use says a serving is 31g...so I will pour until then. I find it easier than using measuring cups and spoons a lot of times.

    When I buy a bag of chips I will also buy a bunch of small baggies and weigh out the entire bag into 1oz servings, so I can just grab a correct portion and go on my way.

    The only things I dont weigh are most vegetables (except corn and potatoes). Even though it can be controversial, I also don't really track my vegetable intake, or even fruit. My reasoning is because I am not that strong yet..if I had a choice between spending 100 cals on a banana and 100 cals on cookies, I would choose the cookies. I don't go overboard and I really only eat 1-2 servings of fruit a day any way. It hasn't hurt me yet.
  • PezAzul
    PezAzul Posts: 42
    I love my food scale. It's an inexpensive digital Taylor from Walmart. I couldn't live without it. I try and measure everything in grams if possible for the best accuracy. I weight just about any food that I put into my mouth. My husband just gawks at me when I add or remove a lettuce leaf from my salads. Peanut butter on bread is now easy, just tare the scale after adding the plate and bread and add the peanut butter by the gram. Love this video, it's so true:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • cherryd69
    cherryd69 Posts: 340
    Im still trying to come to terms with these kind of posts...

    Iv owned a set of scales for over 15yrs...


    How do you cook recipes without a set of scales?


    Granted, i didnt use mine to weigh out my portions like i do now.... but its not some wonderful magical item that the weight loss pixies invented.....

    Its an everyday kitchen appliance... simply put, a kitchen isnt a kitchen without a set of scales!
  • LynxDragon
    LynxDragon Posts: 5
    I have to weight and measure everything because I have no sense of portion size. I find the average chicken breast is 4 to 6 oz, almost an entire day's worth of protein.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    I weigh and measure everything

    ^^
  • Hodgie12345
    Hodgie12345 Posts: 51 Member
    Best thing in the world are my scales; and the set of cups is also handy, even for liquids. Hodgie x
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    Im still trying to come to terms with these kind of posts...

    Iv owned a set of scales for over 15yrs...


    How do you cook recipes without a set of scales?


    Granted, i didnt use mine to weigh out my portions like i do now.... but its not some wonderful magical item that the weight loss pixies invented.....

    Its an everyday kitchen appliance... simply put, a kitchen isnt a kitchen without a set of scales!

    Here's the best way to understand these posts... not everyone was raised like you, thinks like you, acts like you or is you.

    I used measuring cups and spoons for all of my recipes before I had a scale.

    It's an everyday kitchen appliance to someone like you but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the 'average' kitchen doesn't use one on a daily basis.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Im still trying to come to terms with these kind of posts...

    Iv owned a set of scales for over 15yrs...


    How do you cook recipes without a set of scales?


    Granted, i didnt use mine to weigh out my portions like i do now.... but its not some wonderful magical item that the weight loss pixies invented.....

    Its an everyday kitchen appliance... simply put, a kitchen isnt a kitchen without a set of scales!

    I used volume measurements for recipes when baking and I rarely used any kind of measurement at all for cooking. My mom taught me the "cap-full of this, pinch of that" method of cooking.

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