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margaret2222
margaret2222 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Do i need a food scale or can i estimate some foods?. I have gained the weight by night bingeing in front of the T.V. and eating for comfort

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  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    IMO, get a food scale. You'd be surprised at how much things actually weigh, and that's where calories sneak in. Estimating is okay on the go, or if you know how much a portion is from previous weighing. Personally, I weigh everything and only estimate if I'm eating out (and even then I've memorized portion sizes compared to my hand).
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    You can buy a scale for under $20 and it's well worth it. Even some packaging will say a cup is so many calories but if you weigh the food you'll find the cup measurement is way off.
  • glin23
    glin23 Posts: 460 Member
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    If you want to be precise, then get a food scale, When I got my food scale, I realized that for osmethings, I was pretty accurate, for some things over and for some things under what the actual calories per serving size were.
  • Jesstruhan
    Jesstruhan Posts: 331 Member
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    TOTALLY get a food scale. I had what I affectionately refer to as "portion distortion". I realized that if I thought a food was a certain portion, I really needed to cut it in half to get what the portion should really be. Or sometimes a third.

    PS: NEVER eat straight out of a bag of anything, especially if you are night binging in front of the TV. Actually just don't eat in front of the TV ever unless it's a weighed-out portion and the packages are put away. Even if you count out the cheeto's one by one, you'll still go back for another. Why not?! The bag is just right there...(speaking from experience).
  • sunsetzen
    sunsetzen Posts: 268 Member
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    I weigh almost everything. The only thing I dont weigh is my salad.
  • lindustum
    lindustum Posts: 212 Member
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    get a scale and weigh.

    after a while, you will start noticing certain routines and you won't have to be super-100% accurate. For example I don't weigh my lettuce because, duh, I'd hardly "overeat" on THAT.
  • stacyhaddenham
    stacyhaddenham Posts: 211 Member
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    Depends, would you use the scale. It is easy to have a whole kitchen full of unused gadgets. I find that a set of measuring cups works just as well most of the time. If the serving is 1/4 cup then measure out 1/4 cup and go from there. I own a scale but only really use it for things like cheese or meats that I have cooked whole like chicken to make sure I eat just 4 oz instead of 6 or 8. lol Everything else I use my measuring cups.
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
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    You need a food scale. Best thirty bucks I ever spent!
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
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    TOTALLY get a food scale. I had what I affectionately refer to as "portion distortion". I realized that if I thought a food was a certain portion, I really needed to cut it in half to get what the portion should really be. Or sometimes a third.

    PS: NEVER eat straight out of a bag of anything, especially if you are night binging in front of the TV. Actually just don't eat in front of the TV ever unless it's a weighed-out portion and the packages are put away. Even if you count out the cheeto's one by one, you'll still go back for another. Why not?! The bag is just right there...(speaking from experience).

    totally agree! I have had major portion distortion for a lonnnnggggg time. I was shocked to find I was eating 3-4 servings of things-- no wonder I got so fat! Now I weigh everything.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    A food scale is most definitely your friend. Before I bought my food scale I was underestimating my intake by about 600 calories from just eyeballing stuff...being that I was at a 1 Lb per week loss goal, that actually put me at a small surplus of 100 calories. I'm at maintenance now and I don't log...but I still weigh pretty much everything.
  • daniellemm1
    daniellemm1 Posts: 465 Member
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    Get a scale. I was shocked when I realized how badly I was guesstimating. I thought I was overestimating and I was very wrong. The scale is the only way to get a true measurement of how much you are eating. My scale is the best $20 investment I have made since I started this new lifestyle.
  • lyndausvi
    lyndausvi Posts: 156 Member
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    I'm not jumping on any bandwagons but yeah, get a scale. You would be surprised how off your serving sizes are off. It goes both ways. I found out I could eat a lot more veggies than I thought. On the other side my meat servings were bigger than I thought.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Do i need a food scale or can i estimate some foods?. I have gained the weight by night bingeing in front of the T.V. and eating for comfort

    If you know the thing is very low calorie ..... lettuce, spinach, celery, cucumbers .... those I don't bother with. But everything else I measure. I can't really eyeball stuff ...... as I've found out!
  • jerryvo
    jerryvo Posts: 66 Member
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    A food scale is well worth it. I had no idea how far off my guesstimates were when it came to food portions. For some things like meat my guesses were much higher than the food weighed out to but for potatoes I was underestimating the weight by almost 50%. I am not in the strict weigh everything every time camp as I have learned what a portion looks like for foods that I eat regularly but when I add a new food to the mix I will weigh it for the first few meals.

    One trick I have learned is how you cut the food can make all of the difference. Not for weight obviously but for personal satisfaction. 3 oz of sliced lunch meat makes a pretty crappy looking sandwich for lunch but 3 oz of shaved lunch meat makes a towering masterpiece fit for a king.

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