anyone dont measure and still lose?

Measure food? I don't measure food. I've lost 15lbs without measuring it.

When I started I didn't measure, but I had lots of weight to lose so my margin of error was bigger. Now that I want to continue losing and eating as much food as I can and still do that, I weigh my food.

Measuring and weighing food is much more obsessive than I want to be.

The first thirty or forty pounds, I didn't even weigh myself, much less my food.

It can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make it.

You don't need to do any of that to lose weight.

Measuring and weighing food is much more obsessive than I want to be.

The first thirty or forty pounds, I didn't even weigh myself, much less my food.

It can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make it.

You don't need to do any of that to lose weight.

How is measuring obsessive. I bake a lot so weighing and measuring is part of it, so you get a good end result. Takes a few extra seconds to weigh it.

Do you have to, no, but is it beneficial yes

If you aren't aiming for 100% accuracy, your weight loss may not be quite as consistent as someone who does weigh everything, but you can still lose no problem. Just keep in mind that most people underestimate calories eaten when not measuring ( my idea of a medium sized fruit, for example, may be completely different from yours) but you don't want to overcompensate for the natural tendency to underestimate and end up not eating enough.

I've never weighed my food. There came a point where I had to ask myself how far into this I wanted to go and I drew the line at measuring my food. I didn't want to become that obsessive about it. However, I have nothing against people weighing their food and I agree, the less weight you have to lose, the smaller the deficit, the bigger the margin of error. So if you stall in your weight loss then measuring might be the thing that gets you through that plateau.

But to answer your question, no, you don't HAVE to measure and you're not the only one who doesn't.

This content has been removed.

I didn't measure my food and I lost a little over 25 lbs in about a year. I think I could have done it faster or more consistently if I had started weighing my food though. I hit maintenance but put back on a couple pounds this summer which are stubbornly refusing to go anywhere. I've been trying to decide between getting a food scale or lowering my calories a bit and keeping them under my TDEE when I do get back to where I want, just to allow myself some margin of error if I don't weigh my food.

Um, so what is the point of being on MFP if documenting your food accurately doesn't happen? What do you even enter in the diary? The point is to do so to know if you are eating too much, too little or the wrong things. If you were just going to choose to just eat less there would be no need for an online food diary community for you. I do understand the whole obsession that develops during weight loss though, and understand some do not want to get in that state of mind. However, if you have a weight loss goal and want to achieve it, and you are on MFP documenting your food, be accurate! So, yes, measure. The majority of people who are successful at losing weight measure their food in one way or another.
Actually, I measure about 80% of my food. When I eat with people who don't, they routinely overeat and if I remark on a high amount of calories in something we are eating they are surprised that it is as much as it is. Good example of being ignorant to volume and calories without measuring. It reminds me to keep measuring most of what I eat.
Once you get a scale and a set or two of measure cups and spoons, it becomes routine and you lose that obsessive feeling after awhile. it is just a part of what you do. Just like if you were making a recipe you measure for. Consider it a recipe for your weight loss!

I lost 30 or 40 pounds before starting to measure with a scale but to be fair I started at 250 so my margin of error was big. I actually realized once I bought a scale I was over estimating portion a lot so I was able to eat more after starting to weight food.
I did stop again last June for a month, I felt I needed a break because I was getting a bit obsessed with food and calorie so I maintain for that month without even login in.
I think it all depend how honest you are with yourself.
If you eat rice and the portion is 1/2 cup, will you enter 1/3 or 1/2 or 1 cup? Try to eyeball it and see if it works. If you lose weight, steadily (so don't weight yourself daily and freak when you don't lose for a day) you are honest with yourself. If after a week or 2 you feel starved, physically not mentally (and it's a big difference) you probably over estimate what you actually eat. And if you gain weight or maintain for over 2 weeks you probably underestimate. The answer is not necessarily buying a scale, it might be being more careful or honest with how you login.

Good luck!!

I own a food scale but don't weigh much with it, unless I'm really in Beast Mode about weight loss and then I'll weigh only certain high-cal foods. And it does get obsessive.

Look at all the 'rough estimating' recommended diets. There are ones that have you picture a plate and your protein on a quarter of it, etc. WW is pretty rough estimates. Most diets don't require food scales. A lot will give you portion tips like 'aim for 4 oz. portions of protein or the size of your palm', '1 oz of cheese is the size of your thumb', etc. They do that because it's more sustainable long term.

Even when you weigh your food to the gram, it's all still an estimate. Our scales aren't all perfect (have you checked yours, at the gram level?) and the database calorie values are based on the average pork chop, strawberry, etc. And all our bodies utilize calories differently and a pound of weight loss isn't really 3500 on the dot.

And if you don't lose at the rate you expect, you don't need to find your measurement error. You just have to aim for lower calorie intake or more burned. So precision isn't necessary for success.

There are certain things (cereal, pasta, crackers) that I always measure because a serving size is quite a bit smaller than my brain thinks it should be. Most other things I estimate, although once a month or so I'll measure them just to make sure what I think is a serving size isn't creeping up or down. If the scale stops moving I'll also measure for a few days to make sure I'm not eating more than I think I am. I eat TDEE, and have been doing this long enough that I have my own margin of error built into my calorie target to account for my sloppy measuring habits.

If you're losing weight without measuring, then don't stress about it. If you're not losing weight, it's the easiest way to make sure you're really eating the amount you think you are.

Um, so what is the point of being on MFP if documenting your food accurately doesn't happen? What do you even enter in the diary? The point is to do so to know if you are eating too much, too little or the wrong things. If you were just going to choose to just eat less there would be no need for an online food diary community for you. I do understand the whole obsession that develops during weight loss though, and understand some do not want to get in that state of mind. However, if you have a weight loss goal and want to achieve it, and you are on MFP documenting your food, be accurate! So, yes, measure. The majority of people who are successful at losing weight measure their food in one way or another.
Actually, I measure about 80% of my food. When I eat with people who don't, they routinely overeat and if I remark on a high amount of calories in something we are eating they are surprised that it is as much as it is. Good example of being ignorant to volume and calories without measuring. It reminds me to keep measuring most of what I eat.
Once you get a scale and a set or two of measure cups and spoons, it becomes routine and you lose that obsessive feeling after awhile. it is just a part of what you do. Just like if you were making a recipe you measure for. Consider it a recipe for your weight loss!

I am here because I need help like everyone else. I just wanted to know if it was a MUST to weigh my food. I see that its not a MUST for some people and others it is. I agree that if you want to be accurate you have to weigh but it doesn't mean you wont lose weight at all if you don't. might take longer but its not impossible

I do realize how much help the community provides. That is the best benefit of being here. I and many others are a shining example of community support. But you asked about measuring and my thoughts are to do so. I just do not understand what is being entered in the diaries when food is not MOSTLY measured. It is equal to just making up random numbers if you are not measuring food accurately. And as someone else said in this thread, what happens is opinion vs fact. What looks like a certain size or amount to one person can be seem more or less to another creating inaccuracies that affects the outcome. Weighing or measuring puts is to fact. You do not HAVE to weigh or measure to lose, but success rate, rate of loss and sustainability CAN be affected by doing or not doing it is all that I am saying. So I advocate measuring food as one of the most effective tools in weight loss and maintenance. After awhile of measuring you definitely get a better eyeball for size, which may mean less measuring, but to begin with I recommend measuring at least 80% of the time. Not everyone will agree with me, but my thought is to look at what the most successful and sustaining people have done.

I do wish you well on your journey and to do what makes you comfortable and is convenient for you. If you find it isn't working, don't give it up, switch it up. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

I just do not understand what is being entered in the diaries when food is not MOSTLY measured. It is equal to just making up random numbers if you are not measuring food accurately. And as someone else said in this thread, what happens is opinion vs fact. What looks like a certain size or amount to one person can be seem more or less to another creating inaccuracies that affects the outcome. Weighing or measuring puts is to fact.

It's all estimates. There are no facts. Your BMR is an estimate, so is your activity level, your workout calories, your breakfast calories (weighed or not) and the calories in a pound of body weight. But that's ok because estimates work.

Some people can estimate well without weighing. I went from 187 to 137 on WW without weighing foods and then years later from 170 to 135 with calorie counting weighing very few foods and only those for the first few weeks.

I think it's good to weigh to get an idea of what a serving of cereal looks like in your bowl, but after you have that visual, use the visual. It helps to use small bowls/plates to minimize portion creep and to re-weigh things over time to check your eyeballed estimates, especially if losses stop.