anyone dont measure and still lose?

Options
13

Replies

  • CandyMouse
    CandyMouse Posts: 22 Member
    Options
    Sometimes I measure and sometimes not. I once did Weight Watchers and did not measure at all. I lost a lot of weight. :smile:
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    Options
    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

    Some people easily become OCD or they have had an eating disorder. I suffer from neither of those and yet at times I have dwelled on those numbers.

    Weighing and measuring for a recipe IMO is much different from weighing and measuring your food in order to lose weight. There is no recipe for weight loss...it is trial and error at the end of the day...sometimes you get it right...sometimes you don't.

    My son is OCD...he set out to lose 30lbs. He tracked his calories successfully until he got down to the last 6lbs...before he just lost it and had to stop. He will try again after a few weeks of not tracking but for him I honestly believe that he would be better off just estimating.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    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.
    If you don't weigh yourself, how do you know you've lost 58 pounds?
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    i do weigh my food and log even though I've been in maintenance for several months, but this is because I am horrible at estimating. While this is what works for me, a lot of people do not weight food or log and lose weight just fine. You need to find what works best for you. :smile:

    Oh, the test for me will be when I go to Ireland in about 27 days because I will not be weighing my food or myself for two weeks. Two weeks! I might have it all down enough to not go crazy with the food. :bigsmile:
  • bonbons324
    bonbons324 Posts: 30
    Options
    I don't measure consistently but I think measuring helps me to see how much exactly a serving is.
  • marcellomoo
    marcellomoo Posts: 107 Member
    Options
    You absolutely don't have to weigh and measure your food to lose weight.

    For a lot of people, weighing is a big eye opener. Some foods, like peanut butter, are so calorie dense that you could easily be eating hundreds of calories without thinking that your serving size is unreasonable. A lot of my scale use is learning where to make cut backs on calorie dense foods to fit more into my day. It also gives you the control to know why you have/ haven't lost weight.

    I know it seems like a big effort, but it's pretty simple to put your plate on a scale, tare, add an ingredient, tare, add etc.

    Keeping it accurate lets you know when you've got the calories left for a treat ;)
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Options
    Read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    Thanks for linking this.

    To the OP:

    You should just give it some time and see if you are making progress at a rate reasonable to you and reasonable for your current stats. Many people can do fine without weighing and measuring and if you CAN lose weight at a reasonable weight without using a food scale then you certainly don't need to use one.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Options
    You absolutely don't have to weigh and measure your food to lose weight.

    For a lot of people, weighing is a big eye opener. Some foods, like peanut butter, are so calorie dense that you could easily be eating hundreds of calories without thinking that your serving size is unreasonable. A lot of my scale use is learning where to make cut backs on calorie dense foods to fit more into my day. It also gives you the control to know why you have/ haven't lost weight.

    I know it seems like a big effort, but it's pretty simple to put your plate on a scale, tare, add an ingredient, tare, add etc.

    Keeping it accurate lets you know when you've got the calories left for a treat ;)

    Agreed.
  • AWyatt88
    AWyatt88 Posts: 18 Member
    Options
    I do not measure my food. I used to but it caused me stress and I never lost. Now, I just eat until I feel satisfied (not full). Anything raw or clean such as fresh veggies and fruits, I just eat without paying attention to how much food, but just until I feel satisfied. Anything else, same rule. I put a small amount on my plate and drink lots of water, before during and after the meal. When I am hungry again, I will eat until I am good. I am already down 43 pounds and this really seems to work for me. Good luck to you!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    Options
    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.
    If you don't weigh yourself, how do you know you've lost 58 pounds?
    I've actually lost 62 pounds. I must have entered something wrong because the MFP ticker is off. Close enough, of course. It doesn't really matter. But I kind of want credit for every pound, lol. It's very silly.

    I know what I weighed when I started because the doctor weighed me. I knew I was losing because my clothes got bigger and I went down in size. The next time I got weighed, I'd already lost a bunch.

    I do have a scale now. It's not Super Scale. No cape. Doesn't measure anything but weight, doesn't send numbers to other gadgets or whathaveyou. Just gives me the number, but that's all I need.

    Sadly, it is an evil scale. It goes up when it should not just mess with me. It does other evil things, too. I have to get it exorcised, but the priest keeps babbling about fluctuations and the lack of a soul and stuff. He doesn't get that it's truly evil. And no amount of explaining seems to work. Damn priests, think they know everything about evil.
  • stephanieluvspb
    stephanieluvspb Posts: 997 Member
    Options
    You absolutely don't have to weigh and measure your food to lose weight.

    For a lot of people, weighing is a big eye opener. Some foods, like peanut butter, are so calorie dense that you could easily be eating hundreds of calories without thinking that your serving size is unreasonable. A lot of my scale use is learning where to make cut backs on calorie dense foods to fit more into my day. It also gives you the control to know why you have/ haven't lost weight.

    I know it seems like a big effort, but it's pretty simple to put your plate on a scale, tare, add an ingredient, tare, add etc.

    Keeping it accurate lets you know when you've got the calories left for a treat ;)

    Agreed.
    agreed +1, when I finally bought a scale and discovered how much over I was estimated peanut butter, I almost cried! lol
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Options
    You absolutely don't have to weigh and measure your food to lose weight.

    For a lot of people, weighing is a big eye opener. Some foods, like peanut butter, are so calorie dense that you could easily be eating hundreds of calories without thinking that your serving size is unreasonable. A lot of my scale use is learning where to make cut backs on calorie dense foods to fit more into my day. It also gives you the control to know why you have/ haven't lost weight.

    I know it seems like a big effort, but it's pretty simple to put your plate on a scale, tare, add an ingredient, tare, add etc.

    Keeping it accurate lets you know when you've got the calories left for a treat ;)

    Agreed.
    agreed +1, when I finally bought a scale and discovered how much over I was estimated peanut butter, I almost cried! lol

    It was the ice cream for me. :sad: :sad: :sad:

    Oh, and breakfast cereal.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Options
    I lost my weight without measuring and weighing, and pretty much without counting. If you tend to screw up portions you might need it. Some folks do, some folks don't.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    Options
    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 use the food diary and do not use a food scale. For me, logging is more about accountability than it is about exact numbers. I seem to be lucky enough to have a realistic concept of portion size - my problem has been choosing calorie dense foods or second (or third) helpings and feeling like an idiot afterwards for making bad choices. Knowing I have to record the choice I am about to make helps to keep me on the right track, and so far it is working for me. MFP is a pretty versatile tool, there are lots of different ways to use it!

    But if your big weakness is knowing what a portion size is, or being honest about how much you ate, measuring is in my opinion a necessary step.
  • JosieRawr
    JosieRawr Posts: 788 Member
    Options
    I went three months of obsessively weighing everything that I ate. I wouldn't eat anyone else's cooking, I prepared all of my meals, snacks, etc. After three months I quit... It wasn't sustainable for me. I couldn't eat what my partner cooked, I couldn't go out to eat, I was missing out.

    I do still weigh things, lots of things. I also conservatively guessing/estimate and I will use generic(the high calorie count of the generic) options for things that my partner cooks me. If it's particularly rich I'll add a tbs of oil to my diary.. or I'll say 1.2 cup instead of 1 etc. I've been losing weight pretty consistently still and I don't feel that I'm slave to the scale. I've been doing this for 2 months and I plan to do it for another 22months minimum. I feel a lot better doing this method than weighing everything... If I were single and not a parent I could see weighing everything aside from the occasional out to eat, but I like not having to think too hard about food.

    Just my experience. Good luck :)
  • JosieRawr
    JosieRawr Posts: 788 Member
    Options
    You absolutely don't have to weigh and measure your food to lose weight.

    For a lot of people, weighing is a big eye opener. Some foods, like peanut butter, are so calorie dense that you could easily be eating hundreds of calories without thinking that your serving size is unreasonable. A lot of my scale use is learning where to make cut backs on calorie dense foods to fit more into my day. It also gives you the control to know why you have/ haven't lost weight.

    I know it seems like a big effort, but it's pretty simple to put your plate on a scale, tare, add an ingredient, tare, add etc.

    Keeping it accurate lets you know when you've got the calories left for a treat ;)

    Agreed.
    agreed +1, when I finally bought a scale and discovered how much over I was estimated peanut butter, I almost cried! lol

    It was the ice cream for me. :sad: :sad: :sad:

    Oh, and breakfast cereal.

    I always weigh my pb and icecream lol, for pb I put the container on the scale and scoop out of it until the negative weight is correct ;)
  • prettigirl01
    prettigirl01 Posts: 548 Member
    Options
    Read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    Thanks for linking this.

    To the OP:

    You should just give it some time and see if you are making progress at a rate reasonable to you and reasonable for your current stats. Many people can do fine without weighing and measuring and if you CAN lose weight at a reasonable weight without using a food scale then you certainly don't need to use one.
    this is what I am going to do. give it some time and see how it works for me without the measuring. if it does not then I will purchase a scale. thanks to everyone for the responses. I take everything into consideration
  • IllustratedxGirl
    IllustratedxGirl Posts: 240 Member
    Options
    I've been losing weight by measuring in cups.. Which is not the most accurate way to do so. I was setting my net calories to below my BMR to give room for error just in case. I should be getting a kitchen scale soon though :)
  • aethre
    aethre Posts: 150 Member
    Options
    I measure maybe 50% of my meals... I have a tendency to under-estimate fruit & veg and over-estimate carby things like rice and pasta. Oh, and cheese, I've started to always measure my cheese because if not I'll be doubling the amount ^_^

    But I'm a big fan of the 'hm, what's in the fridge, let's just throw this together, herbs, spices, tadahhhh!' kind of cooking. Measuring is not too compatible with that mode of thinking, but that's fine. It's a great way to get extra veg into meals, anyway.

    If you are measuring, though, an electronic scale with a 'tare' function is your best friend!
  • mathmatt
    mathmatt Posts: 58 Member
    Options
    The way I see it, everything else is estimated so I estimate my food too. BMR calculators are just not exact to each and every person, calories burned in exercise aren't exact, there is a lot of calorie output that isn't exactly measured through the day. If I was a little low on one thing and a little high on something else it'll all work out on a longer time frame than the 1 day. I lost 55lb this way a few years ago before I knew about MFP. I got lazy and packed 15lb back on so I'm back so now I'm on here and now I'm working on the last 5.

Categories