What is so wrong with guesstimating?

Nothing is wrong with it if it's working for you. It just doesn't seem to work for many people on here.

If I am estimating some amounts and still losing am I still doing it "wrong"? I never tried counting calories in the past, it seemed too complicated. I started using this app to get an idea of how many calories I was eating daily. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it is.

I do measure some things, but shared meals, I guess. I think when I have less to lose I may need to be more accurate.

I am getting a little overwhelmed and actually that isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life, but I will if it helps me learn portion sizes.

I think people take different approaches to this. I prefer to take the "least amount of effort possible" approach and then tweak as needed. So yes, I estimate. I didn't want my weight loss to interfere with my lifestyle. I didn't want to pass up invitations to eat out, or to go to BBQs. I didn't want to have to prepare my meals separately or agonize over weighing every piece of meat before cooking. So I estimate more times than not. When it is convenient for me I will measure out of curiosity, but I don't weigh and measure as a rule, I use it more as a reality check. If this is to be a life long change then it has to fit in my lifestyle in the least intrusive way possible. Otherwise it will end up just being a fad for me that I will completely abandon when I lose interest and take on a new hobby to obsess over.

So, I think if you are losing and are happy with the rate of loss, then keep doing what you are doing. As you get closer to your goal, your weight loss will slow down. If you start to feel stuck, then do a portion control recheck, by weighing and measuring for a spell. If I have a party to go to (I find parties the toughest to estimate, because I can usually find a reasonable equivalent for restaurant food, but home cooked meals at someone else's home is tough) I give myself more cushion room by eating less the days surrounding it. I assume that I will probably eat and drink a days worth of calories at the party and let it happen without guilt. Usually my weekly average still falls in my target range, and if it doesn't I don't fret if I see a gain or no change (i'm on maintenance now so no change is my goal), because I know the reason.

The big difference for me now isn't that I completely changed my eating habits, but that I am more mindful about it. Which meals are worth the extra calories and which aren't? Convenience meals that I turn to because I don't want to put in the effort are usually not worth the calories, but a nice night out with friends and family almost always is. I have made similar changes with my finances in the past couple of years and I have been much happier as a result. I have no problem spending money and calories on things that are important to me--but learning to pay attention so that I am better able to identify what is worth the calories or money was the key.

I agree, keep doing what you're doing until it doesn't work anymore. If at some point your weight loss slows down or stalls, and it will, go back to strict weighing and measuring to check yourself. Last night I eyeballed myself a "4 oz" glass of cabernet. Then I raised my skeptical eyebrow and pulled out the measuring cup...6 oz. Never hurts to double check.

Some people look at an 8 ounce steak and think it weighs 3 ounces. lol and there is a big difference in calories. but if you're good at it, and you're losing weight then meh.

If you're losing weight and you're happy with your progress, keep doing whatever it is you're doing.

But be aware that as you get closer to your goal, the accuracy will matter more. If at some point you stop losing, or slow down more than you think is appropriate, take another look at what you're doing to look for areas you can improve.

If it's working for you I wouldn't change it. Try to measure what you can. I have always measured food as far as TBS, cups, etc. to determine serving sizes for things that come with multiple servings like oatmeal, dressing, etc. For meats I look to see how many ounces are in a package, like a tube of ground turkey has 16 ounces so if it looks like I had 1/4 of the package I log 4 ounces. It has worked great for me. If I eat at a restaurant I try to find the calories from the restaurant and if I can't find it I log something similar.

I have seen people on here say that you need to weigh all of your food... even when bread comes in a package at 100 calories a slice some people would say you need to weighta slice to confirm the weight matches what the package is claiming. To me, that's overkill and I wouldn't want to live that way. A few extra pounds would be worth not getting THAT obsessive about food, although my "estimating" method is working just fine.

For the easy/hard aspect... Its easy for me. Food scale is on the kitchen counter. I put a plate/bowl/whatever on it, hit the on/off button. Scale comes up to 0 weight. I put food in/on and see the weight. Tare if I'm adding a different food. I do the same thing at work when putting food together for lunch. I did buy a 2nd scale to keep in the office.

I still go with the if it works/keep doing it mantra. But if you have a food scale, use it from time to time. Just to get used to it, learn portions, etc. as has been mentioned.

My mum used to bake a lot, so she could literally put knife to butter get so many ounces, water in pan almost pin point perfect, so for her was a very accurate guess, now me, no chance, my judgement skills on sizes are terrible.

So as the saying goes, if it works, don't fix it, when it breaks, back to the old drawing board.