Food Scales; Needed or Not?

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vannaly92
vannaly92 Posts: 23 Member
in Getting Started
Trying to decide whether or not to find a food scale to help me out? Needing opinions from the people out there. Are food scales absolutely needed or just a tool that can be skipped?
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  • vannaly92
    vannaly92 Posts: 23 Member
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    I hear that some people live by them, but I seem to being doing ok so far with the calculations.
  • lisxoox
    lisxoox Posts: 12
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    I couldn't do without my food scale anymore ever since I've got one. I try not to be too obsessed about it but especially the first few days using it I found out that I was underestimating a lot of foods before. The scale really helped me to get better in estimating portion sizes and stuff.
    So I'd say go ahead and try it. There are also cheap ones that do their job perfectly.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    I needed to use one, once I got closer to my goal weight and the estimates were not doing the trick.
  • vannaly92
    vannaly92 Posts: 23 Member
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    For those that have food scales and live by them, are there any brands out there to get/avoid?
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    For those that have food scales and live by them, are there any brands out there to get/avoid?

    Make sure it weighs in grams and is digital. Shouldn't be no more than $20 for a good one.
  • amandamotley
    amandamotley Posts: 63
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    Agreed...when we have more to lose, not 100% necessary. I wouldn't want to try without mine at this point. No harm in getting a true grip on your consumption no matter where you are though.
  • sunship
    sunship Posts: 59 Member
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    I find this scale fantastic --

    Cuisinart KML-KO3B PrecisionChef™ Digital Kitchen Scale

    -- nice price, nice quality, nice capacity.
  • KariOrtiz2014
    KariOrtiz2014 Posts: 343 Member
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    Its a must!! You will be so surprised at how much you underestimate as well as overestimate. If you want to be accurate with numbers, I definitely recommend one!!
  • dswolverine
    dswolverine Posts: 246 Member
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    I love my food scale, but there are plenty of people on this site who do not use them and are successful. I just like knowing exactly how much i'm consuming. I have the XOXO (or whatever that company is) brand and it's been awesome. Cost about $50, give or take
  • SallieBeige
    SallieBeige Posts: 341 Member
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    People lose weight in different ways.
    Apparently just buying blue plates can put you off eating ... go figure ... so I guess we each go for what works for us.

    Personally, I like scales.
    Even if I don't use them all the time, they have taught me to be more realistic about my choices.

    Good luck with whatever you decide :smile:
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    I just bought one that happened to be on sale for like $12 - it's a digital and weighs in grams and ounces - nothing special and won't be heart broken if and when I have to replace it - I don't think it really matters much
  • ehdittmer
    ehdittmer Posts: 1 Member
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    Just got this one. Ozeri Pro Digital Kitchen Food Scale, 1g to 12 lbs Capacity.

    It sets to zero after you put a bowl on. You can measure in grams or ounces or anything. I'm just so sad that what I thought was a serving was usually about half a serving....sigh.....but the truth is the beginning of freedom!:laugh:
  • gmoneycole
    gmoneycole Posts: 813 Member
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    Not for me. Some folks swear by them though.
  • ThinLizzie0802
    ThinLizzie0802 Posts: 863 Member
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    Love it need it get it
    I portion out snacks and accurately track my meals
  • girldownsouth
    girldownsouth Posts: 920 Member
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    I have two sets, one for home and one for the office!
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
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    Absolutely get a food scale.
  • ereck44
    ereck44 Posts: 1,170 Member
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    My husband bought me a food scale, escali, at Walmart! Works great! I don't weigh vegetables, just everything else. Didn't know what a portion really looked like until then. Eye opening!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    It depends on how good you are at estimating portions and how precise you want/need to be. Before I started using a food scale I was underestimating my intake by around 600 calories or so and I was on here all, "HALP...not losing...what am I doing wrong...I think I'm doing everything right." I used measuring spoons and cups, but I'd heap them up with whatever food it was which is a killer with calorie dense foods...and I'd also log a chicken breast as 4 oz because the package said "1 chicken breast 4 oz"...but really, a whole chicken breast is closer to 8 oz, etc, etc, etc.

    I also think it's pretty critical when you don't have a huge calorie deficit...I'm just going into a very small cut right now and I only have around a 300 calorie deficit so my margin of error is pretty slim...few extra almonds would pretty much wipe my deficit out. I also found it to be a good tool just to help me visually gauge portion size, which I did for the most part while I was maintaining.
  • postrockandcats
    postrockandcats Posts: 1,145 Member
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    I find it's helpful to me with serving sizes as I'm very much of a crap judge of how much of a thing is appropriate. As evidenced by my weight loss once I *did* start measuring and weighing. LOL
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I lost the bulk of my weight without one, so I know it is possible. I was really food scale resistant for the longest time because I thought it would be a big hassle to weigh my food. I finally got one as I got closer to goal and wanted to see how far off my measuring cups were vs. the scale. I'm really surprised at how little time I spend weighing my food. I personally find it a lot easier to just hit the tare button between each ingredient rather than finding/washing/leveling measuring cups and spoons for each ingredient. It stays out on my counter now.

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