Tracking portion / weighing?

Carpercia
Carpercia Posts: 134 Member
edited November 16 in Getting Started
Hi everyone,

I've been using MFP now properly for about 1 week and I had already been seeing good results (continue to do so).
I'm wondering about those of you that don't weight / measure everything but instead make a reasonably educated guess.

This is the approach I've been using while generally leaning towards over estimating too.
In addition to this, I try to put in some extra exercise or even just walking time just to be sure.


Opinions / advice?


Replies

  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    While you can lose weight without weighing your food, my advice will always be to weigh solids, measure liquids.
  • tommyspav
    tommyspav Posts: 2 Member
    I usually make a large salad for dinner. I like to throw in lots of ingredients (spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, carrots, tomatoes, egg plant, onions, tofu, etc.). I find it somewhat tedious to methodically measure every little ingredient I add--if I did this, it would take me a good half hour to put a salad together! So I've been weighing the higher-calorie items (e.g., seeds) and using a measuring spoon to add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. I know this isn't ideal, but for me it strikes a nice balance between practicality and exactness.
  • Carpercia
    Carpercia Posts: 134 Member
    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    While you can lose weight without weighing your food, my advice will always be to weigh solids, measure liquids.

    tommyspav wrote: »
    I usually make a large salad for dinner. I like to throw in lots of ingredients (spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, carrots, tomatoes, egg plant, onions, tofu, etc.). I find it somewhat tedious to methodically measure every little ingredient I add--if I did this, it would take me a good half hour to put a salad together! So I've been weighing the higher-calorie items (e.g., seeds) and using a measuring spoon to add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. I know this isn't ideal, but for me it strikes a nice balance between practicality and exactness.


    I can see where you are both coming from. For me its about striking the balance - as long as the scales keep moving and I'm being more active, I'm happy!

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    There are few things I don't weigh/measure.

    Lettuce, spices and some condiments like mustard...everything else is weighed/measured...I see consistent success when I do this.
  • swirlybee
    swirlybee Posts: 497 Member
    If you're new to calorie counting, it's best to weigh/measure everything until you get better at eyeballing things. I generally don't weigh leafy greens and most vegetables since they don't really amount to much. I usually will just enter 1 cup for those even though I eat less than that.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    You add extra exercise time? If so, that's the opposite of being cautious (the way that trying to overestimate your food is). As it is, many of the exercise burns from the database are inflated for many people.

    As for not weighing/measuring, it's fine if you're getting results. As is losing weight without counting at all. I've done both things before just fine! Chances are, though, that as you go on, your loss will be slower than it could be, and will stall, and you'll have to learn to weigh anyway. The smaller you get, the longer you've been doing it, the more likely you are to hit a point where the scales are barely moving and you'll need to get more precise. So just keep that in mind -- you can opt to think, "if it's inevitable, might as well learn it now" or something more like "hey, this is working for now, why make it harder on myself, I can learn it later." /shrug
  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
    If you can lose weight without weighing and measuring every little thing, more power to you! Whatever way you use to lose weight should be sustainable forever--If you don't plan to weigh your food at maintenance, there's nothing wrong with trying to get along without weighing it now. Just keep it in mind as an option if/when your weight loss slows down or stops, because as you get smaller your margin for error is also smaller--Also, weighing EVERYTHING for just a week or two can really help you learn what an actual portion size looks like.

    Personally, I prefer to weigh everything because I'm a little OCD and I enjoy it... Plus it really does teach you to eyeball proper portion sizes in the future. :) I can now almost perfectly eyeball things like 20 grams of cheese, 100 grams of ground beef, 15 grams of peanut butter, etc.
  • julesmm44
    julesmm44 Posts: 6 Member
    I don't weigh/measure everything. I try to use measuring cups/spoons/count for serving sizes or divide the amount into however many servings the product says it has. I don't have a food scale and don't feel the need to get one.

    I am also not in a rush to lose weight and only had to lose about 30 lbs. I've been logging for 3 months and have lost 17 lbs.

    I think it is personal preference. If I get too precise I will get frustrated with eating and probably go down a bad path. I know my weight loss has slowed, but I am still losing so I don't plan on changing my ways.
  • Carpercia
    Carpercia Posts: 134 Member
    futuremanda wrote: »
    You add extra exercise time? If so, that's the opposite of being cautious (the way that trying to overestimate your food is). As it is, many of the exercise burns from the database are inflated for many people.

    As for not weighing/measuring, it's fine if you're getting results. As is losing weight without counting at all. I've done both things before just fine! Chances are, though, that as you go on, your loss will be slower than it could be, and will stall, and you'll have to learn to weigh anyway. The smaller you get, the longer you've been doing it, the more likely you are to hit a point where the scales are barely moving and you'll need to get more precise. So just keep that in mind -- you can opt to think, "if it's inevitable, might as well learn it now" or something more like "hey, this is working for now, why make it harder on myself, I can learn it later." /shrug

    A good point. I suppose you could say that adding extra exercise is the opposite of being cautious if the only goal is to count calories. It works for many people - and thats good.

    For me, I'm looking to get much more active and MFP is a good way for me to track my food / calorie intake in addition to my workouts / fitbit etc. So far, so good. I'm happy to weight & learn as I go. Thanks for the feedback / smile

  • Carpercia
    Carpercia Posts: 134 Member
    Susieq_1994 wrote: »
    If you can lose weight without weighing and measuring every little thing, more power to you! Whatever way you use to lose weight should be sustainable forever--If you don't plan to weigh your food at maintenance...


    Agreed - key word for me here is sustainable. I'm all about it :smile:
  • Carpercia
    Carpercia Posts: 134 Member
    julesmm44 wrote: »
    ...

    I am also not in a rush to lose weight and only had to lose about 30 lbs. I've been logging for 3 months and have lost 17 lbs.

    I think it is personal preference. If I get too precise I will get frustrated with eating and probably go down a bad path. I know my weight loss has slowed, but I am still losing so I don't plan on changing my ways.

    Agreed on the frustration with precision etc. I'm in a similar boat - I only have to lose about 18lbs, although I am interested in becoming more toned and fit over time with hard work and effort in addition to balancing my diet.

  • jessicatombari
    jessicatombari Posts: 159 Member
    I love to be precise and I weighed most of my food at first but after a while you kind of get the jist of what weighs what and what measurement something is so now I just estimate unless I`m absolutely not sure. When I estimate though I always plug in a little more than my guess to make sure I have all the cals counted for, just in case!
  • Carpercia
    Carpercia Posts: 134 Member
    jessicatombari wrote: »
    I love to be precise and I weighed most of my food at first but after a while you kind of get the jist of what weighs what and what measurement something is so now I just estimate unless I`m absolutely not sure. When I estimate though I always plug in a little more than my guess to make sure I have all the cals counted for, just in case!
    :smile: same as that !
  • Nicshtik
    Nicshtik Posts: 36 Member
    I weigh/measure carbs and protein because they are generally very calorie intense and easy to mis-judge. I usually eyeball fresh fruits and veggies, because even if I am off, what does it matter?
    My biggest issue is really portion control, so I want to know what the actual portions are of calorie intense foods and retrain myself to stick to them, but can I really eat too much lettuce?
  • jessicatombari
    jessicatombari Posts: 159 Member
    Nicshtik wrote: »
    I weigh/measure carbs and protein because they are generally very calorie intense and easy to mis-judge. I usually eyeball fresh fruits and veggies, because even if I am off, what does it matter?
    My biggest issue is really portion control, so I want to know what the actual portions are of calorie intense foods and retrain myself to stick to them, but can I really eat too much lettuce?

    I mean lettuce is good to eat but its pretty much just water and minimal nutrients! And if you are trying to lose weight significantly or quickly (not sure if you are) then I would measure fruits and veggies. Veggies are lower calories typically than fruits because fruits have more natural sugars that adds more carbs to their overall cal count. A lot of fruit can actually add up quite fast! Also fat is more calorie packed than carbs and protein so I would measure that too :)
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