The thread killer, or ignored question...
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<<<<> even weighs prepackaged food.
Because often it is wrong0 -
My daughter has watched me weigh and measure and log my food for two years. She eats her foods and I eat mine. She can tell you the calories in certain parts of her school lunch. Awareness of portion control is not my forte. Thus the scale. She can do it at 9. Hopefully she has learned something that can help her avoid my issues .0
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<<<<> even weighs prepackaged food.
Because often it is wrong
Yep! Well, most of them. I haven't weighed my quest bars. Maybe I should. Forget yogurts though... too much a pain.0 -
Never had this happen, but then I have also been consistent in my technique the whole time.just remember what works for you now.. might not work for you two weeks from now.. the body is funny sometimes.. right now i only weigh my nuts, but if what i am doing stopped working.. i would reevaluate and try something different.. its about what works for you..0 -
I try to measure what I eat 85% of the time. I admit there are some days where I just say "f--k it" and get back on tack the next day. It happens.0
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Has anyone else noticed that every time you ask 'do you weigh all your food?', you suddenly turn into a ghost that nobody seems to notice?
I have only been with MFp for nine month now and even I know that there are hundreds of threads on the subject ( on almost any subject, really ) and I no longer respond. I have gotten a bit tired of having to wade through all the BS, the untrue information that the same people post over and over again, or having to defend what is nothing but common sense. I also feel that I don't want to do the work for people who are too lazy to do a simple search themselves.
I have tried over the last months to be as helpful and respectful as I can possibly be, but honestly have gotten tired of the same old stuff and the same old crap ( as far as answers to questions are concerned ) posted by people who know very little, but seem to have a lot of time on their hands and believe that they know it all.0 -
Think weighing and eyeballing is a good way to be accountable for portion control.
Eyeballing is what gets most people in trouble.
I was going to say the same thing...0 -
The list of questions I post at the start of any "why am I not losing" thread routinely goes unanswered. I'm noot trying to question the poster's honesty or insist they must weight their food (also lost the bulk of my weight without a food scale), but some kind of baseline has to be established before anyone can give useful advice. Especially when the poster has a closed diary and doesn't mention anything but "I'm eating healthy and go to the gym, what's wrong?"0
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Has anyone else noticed that every time you ask 'do you weigh all your food?', you suddenly turn into a ghost that nobody seems to notice?
I have only been with MFp for nine month now and even I know that there are hundreds of threads on the subject ( on almost any subject, really ) and I no longer respond. I have gotten a bit tired of having to wade through all the BS, the untrue information that the same people post over and over again, or having to defend what is nothing but common sense. I also feel that I don't want to do the work for people who are too lazy to do a simple search themselves.
I have tried over the last months to be as helpful and respectful as I can possibly be, but honestly have gotten tired of the same old stuff and the same old crap ( as far as answers to questions are concerned ) posted by people who know very little, but seem to have a lot of time on their hands and believe that they know it all.
Well, not everyone is cut out to help people or have the tools to dole out legitimate advice.
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I don't weigh my food. My small children are always around, and I worry that watching me maniacally weighing every morsel I eat could have a negative effect on them. I very much want them to have a healthy relationship with food.
So far just eyeballing hasn't negatively affected my weight loss efforts.
so teaching them about counting calories and how many calories are in certain foods would be a bad thing? *facepalm*0 -
I live at college for most of the year. Unfortunately there is no good way to carry a scale around with me and then bring it to a dining hall. When I am home, I weigh my food though.0
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Another thing I've noticed. A package will say Number of Servings: 2, but the net weight vs. serving size shows it's actually 2.2 or something like that. Not a huge difference, but can add up.<<<<> even weighs prepackaged food.
Because often it is wrong0 -
Food scales are too inexpensive for people who are trying to lose weight not to use them. At that point it becomes more about laziness than anything else.0
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This again. Me and food get along great. I enjoy eating. But with small difference making a difference between maintenance and a 10% cut/bulk, accuracy is helpful.I don't weigh my food. My small children are always around, and I worry that watching me maniacally weighing every morsel I eat could have a negative effect on them. I very much want them to have a healthy relationship with food.
So far just eyeballing hasn't negatively affected my weight loss efforts.
I disagree that using a food scale is the same as an unhealthy relationship with food.
^^^ this.0 -
I don't weight out food but I do use small plates and bowls with portions/markers/measures on them to aid proportioning a balanced dinner, or keeping thinks like cereal on the smaller side. The only time I weigh food is when I'm baking. I'm too lazy to do it all the time hehe.0
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I don't weigh/measure all of my food. But maybe weighing everything will help me bust this plateau. I think over time, as we eyeball portion sizes, they tend to get bigger.0
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Has anyone else noticed that every time you ask 'do you weigh all your food?', you suddenly turn into a ghost that nobody seems to notice?
I'd make the observation that it's one of those questions that's generally asked with no consideration of the situation of the questioner, or their goals. Similar responses are "LIFT HEAVY!!!" and "do insanity (or similar DVD programme)..."
I've yet to see anyone ask "is it practical for you to weigh/ measure".
What I've also noted is that people become very judgemental about it, again regardless of the situation of someone who's not weighing/ measuring everything.
When this happened to me several months ago I posted a bit of a rant about a number of clear indicators that my fitness was improving, but weight wasn't going down. Then least helpful response was just that question. What the thread prompted was some thought about what I was wanting to achieve and I realised that actually weight per se was the least important aspect. Outcomes for me have been:
I've retired two suits that are now far too big for me in the waist.
Furthest I've run in a single session is 14Km
I can run 10Km in just over an hour
I did a PB for the 5K of 28 minutes this week
My resting heart rate has reduced by 20bpm
My blood pressure has reduced0 -
Not always, but I think you are right that this question is a bit taboo.Has anyone else noticed that every time you ask 'do you weigh all your food?', you suddenly turn into a ghost that nobody seems to notice? Bottom line, weighting your food is the backbone of accurate calorie counting. 0 -
I weigh my food after I eat it. If my food starts to weigh too much, I eat less. **
I also somewhat agree that it's important to ensure accuracy in calorie intake as much as is practical/possible but this whole game is pretty inaccurate and we're fooling ourselves if we think we can measure intake or output with a high degree of accuracy.
** By which I mean I weigh myself. Not, you know...0 -
Food scales are too inexpensive for people who are trying to lose weight not to use them. At that point it becomes more about laziness than anything else.
I would have to disagree with this. I am a mom of 7 children. I have lost the weight after each of them and never with the use of a food scale. It isn't a matter of laziness, but of reality. If I am going to get 7 children fed, I don't have time to measure out and weigh each item I am eating and then record it, etc. I do use a measuring cup for pasta which I love, but most things I give a close guess and err on the side of caution. If you use a food scale and it has helped you then great, but that doesn't mean everyone who doesn't do what you do is lazy. :flowerforyou:0 -
Has anyone else noticed that every time you ask 'do you weigh all your food?', you suddenly turn into a ghost that nobody seems to notice?
I'd make the observation that it's one of those questions that's generally asked with no consideration of the situation of the questioner, or their goals. Similar responses are "LIFT HEAVY!!!" and "do insanity (or similar DVD programme)..."
I've yet to see anyone ask "is it practical for you to weigh/ measure".
What I've also noted is that people become very judgemental about it, again regardless of the situation of someone who's not weighing/ measuring everything.
When this happened to me several months ago I posted a bit of a rant about a number of clear indicators that my fitness was improving, but weight wasn't going down. Then least helpful response was just that question. What the thread prompted was some thought about what I was wanting to achieve and I realised that actually weight per se was the least important aspect. Outcomes for me have been:
I've retired two suits that are now far too big for me in the waist.
Furthest I've run in a single session is 14Km
I can run 10Km in just over an hour
I did a PB for the 5K of 28 minutes this week
My resting heart rate has reduced by 20bpm
My blood pressure has reduced
The reason it gets asked is because weight loss is calories in vs. calories out. You always eliminate the most obvious causes first when making a diagnosis, especially when the question is "why am I not losing weight." I think people are willing to delve deeper into figuring out what the problem is, but the poster has to give them something to work with. Too many people come on here asking questions about how to make something work, and then just shoot down response after response instead of just giving information up front that would point people in a different direction.0 -
The reason it gets asked is because weight loss is calories in vs. calories out.
No disagreement with why it's asked, but as with the two other examples I cited it's a question of how the question is asked. It's frequently a very stark question with no suggestion of empathy, or understanding.0 -
Has anyone else noticed that every time you ask 'do you weigh all your food?', you suddenly turn into a ghost that nobody seems to notice?
I'd make the observation that it's one of those questions that's generally asked with no consideration of the situation of the questioner, or their goals. Similar responses are "LIFT HEAVY!!!" and "do insanity (or similar DVD programme)..."
I've yet to see anyone ask "is it practical for you to weigh/ measure".
What I've also noted is that people become very judgemental about it, again regardless of the situation of someone who's not weighing/ measuring everything.
When this happened to me several months ago I posted a bit of a rant about a number of clear indicators that my fitness was improving, but weight wasn't going down. Then least helpful response was just that question. What the thread prompted was some thought about what I was wanting to achieve and I realised that actually weight per se was the least important aspect. Outcomes for me have been:
I've retired two suits that are now far too big for me in the waist.
Furthest I've run in a single session is 14Km
I can run 10Km in just over an hour
I did a PB for the 5K of 28 minutes this week
My resting heart rate has reduced by 20bpm
My blood pressure has reduced
The reason it gets asked is because weight loss is calories in vs. calories out. You always eliminate the most obvious causes first when making a diagnosis, especially when the question is "why am I not losing weight." I think people are willing to delve deeper into figuring out what the problem is, but the poster has to give them something to work with. Too many people come on here asking questions about how to make something work, and then just shoot down response after response instead of just giving information up front that would point people in a different direction.
And also, if people actually answered the question (some do, say they eat at a cafeteria or something), then it would make it easier to pin down what the problem is. I'm not passing any judgement when I ask. I'm just asking a question, to get the biggest culprit out of the way (and sometimes people answer by 'I measure all my food', then yeah I have to assume they don't know that it's not the same as weighing so I try to educate a little).
Typically though, the first post has no indicator of what the situation of the person is, and most of the time it's because they're not losing weight anyway, so all we can do is ask questions... and it's the most basic one, because it's the only way to know for sure if the person is overeating or not.
And again, it's fine if some people don't need a scale. But if people are stuck in a plateau, they might need one.0 -
The reason it gets asked is because weight loss is calories in vs. calories out.
No disagreement with why it's asked, but as with the two other examples I cited it's a question of how the question is asked. It's frequently a very stark question with no suggestion of empathy, or understanding.
If you want empathy and understanding, post in the Motivation and Support section. Otherwise I would assume you are seeking information.0 -
I would have to disagree with this. I am a mom of 7 children. I have lost the weight after each of them and never with the use of a food scale. It isn't a matter of laziness, but of reality. If I am going to get 7 children fed, I don't have time to measure out and weigh each item I am eating and then record it, etc. I do use a measuring cup for pasta which I love, but most things I give a close guess and err on the side of caution. If you use a food scale and it has helped you then great, but that doesn't mean everyone who doesn't do what you do is lazy. :flowerforyou:
Nobody with 7 kids is ever gonna be lazy... Must be a lovely chaos, though:flowerforyou:0 -
If you want empathy and understanding, post in the Motivation and Support section. Otherwise I would assume you are seeking information.
I've perhaps not been clear, which is itself an example of the issue. The question/ response transaction can go a number of different ways. I'm not suggesting that the questioner is looking for empathy, but that one is going to enter into a more meaningful dialogue by approaching it as an adult/ adult transaction. It's frequently deployed more as an adult/ child transaction, which doesn't invite response.
Of course I recognise that many aren't wanting to engage in that dialogue but merely provide instruction. That's fine as well.
Of course all of that transactional engagement is more difficult when we're dealing only with the written word, there are none of the audio or visual cues that moderate adult/ child wording and move it to an adult/ adult transaction.0 -
If you want empathy and understanding, post in the Motivation and Support section. Otherwise I would assume you are seeking information.
I've perhaps not been clear, which is itself an example of the issue. The question/ response transaction can go a number of different ways. I'm not suggesting that the questioner is looking for empathy, but that one is going to enter into a more meaningful dialogue by approaching it as an adult/ adult transaction. It's frequently deployed more as an adult/ child transaction, which doesn't invite response.
Of course I recognise that many aren't wanting to engage in that dialogue but merely provide instruction. That's fine as well.
Of course all of that transactional engagement is more difficult when we're dealing only with the written word, there are none of the audio or visual cues that moderate adult/ child wording and move it to an adult/ adult transaction.
I generally just lay down tne information or ask a clarifying question. Sometimes it is perceived as snarky, but I lkke to think that most can appreciate the substance.0 -
Typically though, the first post has no indicator of what the situation of the person is, and most of the time it's because they're not losing weight anyway, so all we can do is ask questions... and it's the most basic one, because it's the only way to know for sure if the person is overeating or not.
So other ways to elicit some useful information might be -
What are you trying to achieve?
What does good look like?
What are you doing to make sure that you know how much you eat?
What tools do you use to help you control what you eat?
There are similar issues when people talk about "cardio" as their calories out dimension. It needs some elicitation to establish whether that means 20 minutes in front of a DVD or sub 50 minute 10Ks four times per week.0 -
If you want empathy and understanding, post in the Motivation and Support section. Otherwise I would assume you are seeking information.
I've perhaps not been clear, which is itself an example of the issue. The question/ response transaction can go a number of different ways. I'm not suggesting that the questioner is looking for empathy, but that one is going to enter into a more meaningful dialogue by approaching it as an adult/ adult transaction. It's frequently deployed more as an adult/ child transaction, which doesn't invite response.
Of course I recognise that many aren't wanting to engage in that dialogue but merely provide instruction. That's fine as well.
Of course all of that transactional engagement is more difficult when we're dealing only with the written word, there are none of the audio or visual cues that moderate adult/ child wording and move it to an adult/ adult transaction.
Have you ever been on the Eat, Train, Progress group? People will ask Sara and SideSteel for advice as to why they are not losing, and the first response is always "answer these questions," one of which is to open their diary. People here love to help, but no one wants to waste their time. It's not meant to be rude or unsympathetic, but I also don't want to spend a thread building someone up when the reason they aren't losing is that they are eating over their calories and refusing to acknowledge it.0 -
Scales are useful for when you have a narrower deficit and therefore less of a margin of error.
It can also be useful for troubleshooting a problem.
That being said, different strokes for different folks. I certainly didn't get fat because I don't know
my exact caloric intake or expenditure.0
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