Food Scales; Needed or Not?

I use mine, not as religiously as I should....but yeah, recommend them

I'm a little bit scared because after reading this post I have a feeling I am definitely not accurately estimating certain things. I will definitely be getting a food scale now.

Mine was an eye-opener. My bowls of cereal turned out to be nearly 2 servings - and of course, I would then add nearly 2 servings of milk.

It's also instructive (if depressing) to realize that food labels are often inaccurate. I buy some bread that's labeled 90 calories per slice (43g), but a slice can be as much as 50g, or 105 calories - 16% more than on the label. That's not a problem for bread unless you eat a loaf, but if everything is mislabeled, the errors can add up.

This is very true. I showed my girlfriend that she was using 2 tablespoons of mayo instead of 1 like she thought. 14 grams is so small. Also I get angry measuring canned foods because we are being ripped off with water weight. haha

I think it depends on the person. I weigh and measure everything and I have lost 68 pounds...but for others it is a hassle.

I love mine and wouldn't trade it for the world.

It also really saves on using the measuring cups. Most things have a grams weight on them for the serving size. Rather than measuring out 1/4 cup of shredded cheese, I just put my mixing bowl on the food scale, zero it out, and put in 28 grams. Dishes saved! Do you need any reason other than less dishes?

I use it that way, and I also use it in reverse... I'll put the container of yogurt, dip, ice cream or whatever on the scale and just eat until I hit my desired serving size.

Yes I live alone, and yes I'm usually in my underwear when I'm doing this... DON'T JUDGE ME.

I love my food scale! It's just a cheap one and I think I found it at a yard sale. But it gets the job done, keeps me on track, and looks kind of cute on my counter. :oP I found myself falling into the danger zone when I would estimate so the scale helps me stay accurate in my calculations.

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.

This is a great explanation. I was good at eyeballing my portions (being an engineer might have helped). I also use the deck of cards = 3oz meat and 6 dice= 1 oz cheese estimations to help as well. This person ^^ was not so good. Other people may not be so good at it because they will minimize everything, consciously or unconsciously, as much as they can and still convince themselves so that they can eat more.

The size of your deficit also matters as stated above.

I just bought a Taylor digital scale at Target ($35). WOW what an eye opening experience. I used to guess----what a mistake. What a difference in my portions. I am so glad I bought the scale I use it everyday.

Well .. I had an MFP friend that measured 1/2 cup of rice and called it 180 calories. Well .. sorry but I measured out rice based on the weight on the package (apparently was 1/2 cup based on the weight on the box) .. it was actually 360 calories.

So eyeballing it .. is a bad bad idea and why unless you measure you are likely eating more calories than you think you are.

Simple. This is why I use a food scale .. the measurement in grams is never out. And yes .. .a bit more precise than oz as well.

I coasted along at the same weight for a very long time. After buying a scale the fat has started to come off again! For me (and this is a personal thing) it is not just the accuracy that the scale gives, it is the discipline of it too.

I KNOW what I am eating and the effect that it should have on my body in terms of fat loss etc. I found when I was making estimates all the time it was far too easy to be a few hundred cals over or under, and over the course of a week or month that makes it extremely difficult to assess what your TDEE is and how much you really need to be eating to meet your goals.

I measure most of my weekly intake, but I don't let it rule my life. I'll still have a couple of meals a week when I go out and make best guesses at my intake, but overall my accuracy (and results) are far greater with the scale than without it.

Oh and FWIW, my family still occasionally roll their eyes when I weigh my food, but they're getting over it. They can't argue with my progress!

Worth the 12 dollars to me. Helps me really see a portion and no more measuring spoons to try cleaning peanut butter out of.