Do you use a food scale?

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Replies

  • christinemadden0223
    christinemadden0223 Posts: 175 Member
    YES!!!! and measuring spoons and measuring cups! It's important to know how much a serving size looks like. This also trains you to be able to eyeball a portion at a restaurant. I forget what brand mine is, but any digital scale will be easy to work with and mine does both pounds/oz and grams. I never measure salad or veggies, but meat=always, pasta= 90% of the time and other high cal foods that can be deceiving like nuts i put in oatmeal or avocado.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    No, I don't currently. I would not rule out using one in the future, though.

    I have anxiety (like, diagnosed, serious anxiety) and when I eat at someone else's home or in a restaurant I feel quite nervous about not knowing PRECISELY how things are cooked, ingredients, etc. So for me this is a way that I can feel a little more relaxed about those occasions. I am a creature of habit and I know if I start weighing my food I'll weigh EVERY bit and feel much more nervous about dining away from home. I don't want that.

    I have lost 106 lb so far (including pre-MFP loss) and I'm about 21 lb from my original goal - I feel confident that I'll reach it w/o any issues and anything beyond that will just be the icing on the cake. But if I decide I really want to go lower and find myself with losses stalling I may consider getting a scale.

    FWIW I think I'm very good at "eyeballing it". I have been baking since early childhood and regularly test myself and I'm almost always dead-on with my educated guesses. Once in awhile I'm a little bit off but always under (which I know is not good, either...but I prefer it to being over).
  • evanblove
    evanblove Posts: 82 Member
    Here is a video showing how measuring versus measuring calorie dense foods could sabotage your daily goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
    I have a digital scale that measures in grams and ounces and has a zero button.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    Essential!! I got mine at Target for $30 I think. I bought it a year and a half ago and still use it daily. Before using it, I had no idea how much I was really eating.
  • ClementineGeorg
    ClementineGeorg Posts: 505 Member
    I have a scale and I think that it was essential for my weightloss.
    Serving sizes, measuring cups... they are not nearly as accurate as a scale. It's the best investment I could have made. It's very important when measuring high calorie foods.

    I have a no-name scale bought from an appliance store. I just verify it from time to time with a friends calibration weights to make sure it works properly.
    I have it for 2 years and works like a charm.
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    Yes, but not for everything. I mainly use it for meats, but I'm looking into getting a digital one.
  • jess135177
    jess135177 Posts: 186 Member
    I use one and I weigh/measure everything. It has taken the guess work out of portion sizes!
  • rachel4304
    rachel4304 Posts: 115 Member
    I didn't for the majority of my weight loss but invested in one when I stalled out. As you get closer to goal weight, you need the extra precision of a scale to make sure you are accurate. I agree about the grams/ounces/tare function. I got mine at Walmart for less than $20 -- no complaints.
  • sheermomentum
    sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
    Absolutely essential if you want/need to be accurate. And, if you're really obsessive, measure in grams :)
  • tinakowalik
    tinakowalik Posts: 73 Member
    Been weighing food for about a cpl weeks now, and for example, I used to measure oatmeal, after it's been cooked, 1cup, which was from 1/2c dry. I read a comment about oatmeal, to weigh it dry, and that's your calories because the water doesn't add anything. So instead of measuring I weighed, and to get 1/2 dry, it's 125ml or 114g I believe, well it was a heaping 1 cup! So is that accurate, am I doing it wrong? Or is some stuff strictly measured?
  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
    I use my scale several times a day! I have learned to eyeball servings quite accurately but I always weigh to be sure. Sometimes I make it a game to be as close as I can to the nearest gram then I weigh to see how close I am lol. I used to have a basic scale but I upgraded to one that measures grams, ounces, liquid ounces and milliliters. I also like that it stays on for two minutes instead of just one before shutting off and you can shut it off yourself to save the battery. I paid $40 because I am in Canada but in the US you can get it cheaper. Here is the link:

    http://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Professional-Digital-Kitchen-Stainless/dp/B004I75Q2S/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
  • jlar09
    jlar09 Posts: 99
    YES! The only things I don't weigh before I eat them are lettuce and spinach since they're not going to tip the scale either way (weigh...haha) as far as weight loss goes. I put a lot of higher-calorie additions in my salad to get my macros and I need to be careful I don't eat more than I think I'm eating.
  • gloriaeffe
    gloriaeffe Posts: 75 Member
    Absolutely a must have! You'll be surprised at how tiny 100g of lots of food is...
    I've been using an electronic scale for the past 2 years, but it's pretty small and turns off rather quickly, I think it's time for an upgrade!

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