eating more than you think....

like said previously, i only weigh food im cooking myself (meats, veggies, etc). i never thought about weighing packaged foods but when it comes down to it i don't care all that much, their labels are estimates anyways and i can afford to be a few grams off. i absolutely love my food scale though, before it i really had no idea how much i was actually eating and under/over estimated practically everything

same! I never thought about weighing packaged foods because i think it is a bit over the top and i also think im better off not knowing in a way because once i start that i dont ever think i will be able to stop plus really what difference will it make?! i mean com on people we are talking 2 or 3 grams and I just think whenever it could weigh more than its amen to there would be times when it has weighed less and that has made no diffrence...

Well it depends. Sometimes it's 10% more or something. In my experience tortillas are all over the place, but bread slices are about right. Then I eat those frozen grilled chicken breasts and the serving size is 1 fillet (170g) but most are between 140 and 150g... you definitely want to weigh that.

I never trust what the package says about number of servings in package either... it's always wrong. Like that soup that says 2 servings only has 1.7 or something. When you eat the whole thing and it's 200 calories a serving, it makes a pretty big difference... then you're hungry but don't want to go over your goal and end up being hungry for nothing.

And then you have those annoying things like frozen veggies, I never know if the serving is frozen or cooked.

like said previously, i only weigh food im cooking myself (meats, veggies, etc). i never thought about weighing packaged foods but when it comes down to it i don't care all that much, their labels are estimates anyways and i can afford to be a few grams off. i absolutely love my food scale though, before it i really had no idea how much i was actually eating and under/over estimated practically everything

same! I never thought about weighing packaged foods because i think it is a bit over the top and i also think im better off not knowing in a way because once i start that i dont ever think i will be able to stop plus really what difference will it make?! i mean com on people we are talking 2 or 3 grams and I just think whenever it could weigh more than its amen to there would be times when it has weighed less and that has made no diffrence...

Everything I have weighed vs measured has been over. So when I am only eating at a 350 calorie deficit it does matter. ..to me. I want to lose the last 15 pounds. I don't want to maintain. Tomorrow I'm going to weigh everything that I normally would either measure or go off package. I'm positive there will be a significant difference. So it does matter

Yes I agree.

And I know... some people lose weight without weighing their food, but they typically follow a diet that will be lower on calories. That's where MFP is actually dangerous - people assume they can eat what they want within their calories (which is mostly correct), but then they don't weigh it and overeat. You're less likely to go over your calories when you only eat lean meats, veggies and fruit really... I mean yeah, you could underestimate your veggies and eat 20 extra calories- but when you have a 'diet' that lets you eat peanut butter, nuts or pasta, you can easily overeat by 100 or 200 calories.

And that's why measuring doesn't cut it either, I measured a 1/4 cup serving of flour everywhere from 34 to 56g (!) and a serving is 32g. That's why I don't really understand the reluctance to weigh things - are people afraid to realize that they can't eat as much as they think? I mean I don't blame them, but you either want to lose weight or you don't... you're only cheating yourself.

like said previously, i only weigh food im cooking myself (meats, veggies, etc). i never thought about weighing packaged foods but when it comes down to it i don't care all that much, their labels are estimates anyways and i can afford to be a few grams off. i absolutely love my food scale though, before it i really had no idea how much i was actually eating and under/over estimated practically everything

same! I never thought about weighing packaged foods because i think it is a bit over the top and i also think im better off not knowing in a way because once i start that i dont ever think i will be able to stop plus really what difference will it make?! i mean com on people we are talking 2 or 3 grams and I just think whenever it could weigh more than its amen to there would be times when it has weighed less and that has made no diffrence...

Everything I have weighed vs measured has been over. So when I am only eating at a 350 calorie deficit it does matter. ..to me. I want to lose the last 15 pounds. I don't want to maintain. Tomorrow I'm going to weigh everything that I normally would either measure or go off package. I'm positive there will be a significant difference. So it does matter

Yes I agree.

And I know... some people lose weight without weighing their food, but they typically follow a diet that will be lower on calories. That's where MFP is actually dangerous - people assume they can eat what they want within their calories (which is mostly correct), but then they don't weigh it and overeat. You're less likely to go over your calories when you only eat lean meats, veggies and fruit really... I mean yeah, you could underestimate your veggies and eat 20 extra calories- but when you have a 'diet' that lets you eat peanut butter, nuts or pasta, you can easily overeat by 100 or 200 calories.

And that's why measuring doesn't cut it either, I measured a 1/4 cup serving of flour everywhere from 34 to 56g (!) and a serving is 32g. That's why I don't really understand the reluctance to weigh things - are people afraid to realize that they can't eat as much as they think? I mean I don't blame them, but you either want to lose weight or you don't... you're only cheating yourself.

Flour is a big one. There's usually about a 25% difference.

I think people think it's going to be really time consuming, but it isn't once you get in the routine, just like logging in general.

Another issue is that the cup sizes vary in different countries. In the US a cup is 240ml or slightly less whereas in the UK it is 250ml. In Australia the cup is the same as the UK, but their tablespoon has 20ml instead of 15ml like the UK. Those differences also add up :-)

I have a skinny daughter and skinny husband. I used to be jealous - they could eat anything and not put on weight. But guess what - when I really looked, they ate A LOT less than me and moved around more!
My son who has a similar build to me - not overweight yet but not a bean pole like his sister - eats more and moves around less!
I eat when I am bored, I also like eating so that has always been an issue.

I also stopped weighing for a while so I weighed my standard lunch this morning and had been underestimating by about half!
So I didnt get the loss I wanted last week - Cos I ate more than I was supposed to - Simples :-)

This has been on my mind for awhile now. I plan to look for a nice digital scale on black friday. I have lost a steady 1.5-2 lbs. a week since mid-April this year by measuring only. However, I feel that with my goal weight in sight I need to start weighing everything. I have this looming "plateau is imminent" feeling and if I do stall out it will definitely be due the way I measure food.

It's too bad that thread got locked-this would have been perfect for it. But your point on fruit is dead on-estimating the size of an apple or a potato is not as easy as it sounds.

INteresting:flowerforyou:

Weigh everything and for the guys and gals that take protein supplements weigh those too, the scoops in the containers can be off by 5-7 grams. Unfortunately, I found this lesson out the hard way.