How beneficial are food scales?

I wouldn't say that they're 'beneficial', more like they are essential.

Strong this. An actual ounce of cheese is ****ing depressing.

I agree with everyone here, food scales are good. But just gonna say, I actually lost almost 10 pounds without a food scale (just practically estimating) but I think I'm a bit of a special case since when I started using a food scale to help me maintain my weight, I found out that I was really overestimating the amount I ate; apparently, my portion sizes are smaller than recommended normal portion sizes. :x So it turned out, I was actually under eating daily by an extra minus 100-150 calories while losing weight. Oops... But anyways, yes, you should buy one!

I felt silly even considering buying a food scale, but I know myself and I know I'm fibbing a bit when I say I ate 50 calories (a tablespoon for example) of hummus. But I want to stop lying to myself and maybe using a food scale would be a way to finally lose that last bit of weight. Perhaps I'm struggling not because of what I'm eating but the amount in which I'm putting into my diary and it not truly matching up. So I'm here to ask, if and when you started using a food scale did you find it made a huge difference in your weight loss once you started properly measuring how much you were really eating?

Why would you feel silly? Lots of people use food scales. Got in many a kitchen and you will see them on the counter.

I bought a food scale a few months into my weight loss journey because I realized that there is no such thing as a medium, small, large anything, and also began to wonder if one tablespoon of anything really weighed the same as the serving size on the package. After getting my food scale I learned that three bananas that appear to be about the same size are different weights in grams, 16 grams of peanut butter is less than a tablespoon, and a medium size chicken breast does not really exist. Now weight most everything in grams, most meats usually in ounces. I do this because I want to be as accurate as possible.

I kind of get the "feel silly" thing, if you live with people who might think you're overdoing the whole counting thing or otherwise be affected by it. I have a teen daughter at home so I keep my calorie counting to myself. She knows I'm trying to drop a few pounds but I prefer to model a more relaxed approach.

But having a scale doesn't mean you have to weigh everything. Some day when you're home alone, weigh your cereal. See where it hits the bowl. Use that visual for the next week. Weigh calorie dense things now and then but practice 'winging it', too. Re-check for portion creep occasionally.

I was a bit appalled when I first started using a food scale at how bad my ability to estimate was... but I'm getting better after a few months of weighing most things. I can guess with reasonable accuracy the calories in restaurant foods these days (weight changes reflect my guesses most days) and don't weigh absolutely everything at home anymore.

Training your brain to understand how much you are actually eating is, I feel, really important for anyone who wants to be in control of their weight for the rest of their life... rather than just until they stop being 'on a diet'.

I bought a food scale at the 2nd week ..because I was worrying about eating more than I should.
It helped me understand how much is really a portion. Especially for meats..which cannot be measured in cups..
You should buy one!You'll see the difference!!

It was my number one best weight loss tool I ever purchased. Of course, YMMV, but for me, I'd say that if someone could only afford one scale, pick the food scale over the bathroom scale. It's that important, IMHO.

I could NEVER properly estimate proper portions (duh, that's how I got overweight in the first place). A food scale takes away all the guesswork and estimation errors that eyeballing a volume measuring creates. We all vary, but *I* am just not one of those people who can "measure" up portions correctly otherwise. If you think you may be like that, too (you're not alone--bunches of us suck at this, lol), get a food scale.

^^^^THIS a thousand times. Food scale over weight scale. Your weight will fluctuate and the bathroom scale will lie to you, but your food scale never will! eating proper portions and recording your calories ACCURATELY is the cornerstone of losing weight!