I don't weight my food

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Replies

  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    If you're losing weight, then it's not an issue.
    It's usually suggested when someone isn't losing weight and doesn't know why. In those cases, assuring accuracy of logging is the 1st thing they need to do, because it's really easy to eat more than you think you are.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Kruggeri wrote: »
    Not sure I want to jump into this debate but... I don't weigh my food. When I first started with MFP, I didn't really have much experience with calorie counting, or any sort of dieting really. The simple act of logging, and being aware of how many calories were in a serving of food, enabled me to make better choices, control my portions, and lose weight. It wasn't till I was a couple of months into MFP that I started reading the forums and the advice to get a food scale for accuracy. I kind of figured that when I hit one of those frustrating plateaus, I would get one, and not that I never did plateau, but it never got to the point where I couldn't tighten things up on my own without the food scale. My plateaus were always explainable... Issue - I was over my calories. Result - I stopped losing weight. Correction - don't go over your calories. :)

    I'm pretty much in maintenance now, although I haven't adjusted my calories upward yet - partly because, without using a food scale, I think I need a bit of a buffer to allow for margin of error. I am confident that with a food scale I probably would have lost weight a little faster, and that I could probably raise my calorie goal and maintain a little easier, but I am probably going to continue without weighing my food.

    I agree with others that a food scale is a great tool, especially for people that struggle with portion sizing or those that are "volume eaters".

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  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    @mamapeach910 I was going to also say that the main thing I want to be more accurate about is my wine calories but u already measure that in a spaghetti sauce jar so how much more accurate can one be?
  • mistikal13
    mistikal13 Posts: 1,457 Member
    I used to weight everything when I first started. I'm now in maintenance and can eyeball everything pretty well.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Kruggeri wrote: »
    @mamapeach910 I was going to also say that the main thing I want to be more accurate about is my wine calories but u already measure that in a spaghetti sauce jar so how much more accurate can one be?

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    Cheers!

  • JSurita2
    JSurita2 Posts: 1,304 Member

    elliej wrote: »
    Some people wear never-weighing as a badge of honour, why?! How does it make you superior? I don't get that. It's about what works for you as an individual.

    Personally, I weigh things like pasta that I'm really bad at eyeballing but not veg, fruit, bread slices, proteins. I used to weigh cheese portions until I could fairly accurately eyeball.

    I'm pretty sure no one said, it makes them superior. If not weighing works for them then why weigh? To each his own.
  • minties82
    minties82 Posts: 907 Member
    I lost 12kg 4 years ago using MFP and not weighing my food. However, all I really ate was boiled eggs and packer soups so there wasn't much to weigh.

    Now that I eat high fat and protein foods, weighing works better. It's no hassle anyway, only takes a few seconds.
  • PrettyPearl88
    PrettyPearl88 Posts: 368 Member
    edited May 2015
    randomtai wrote: »
    Rockin2014 wrote: »
    I started my weight loss journey 10 weeks ago. In these 10 weeks I have lost 10kg (22lbs) just as planned. However, I hardly ever weigh my food. I measure with cups, spoons and my eyeballs and each and every week I have met my target. If I am eating something I've never had before and which I find impossible to figure out I will weigh it (if I'm at home).
    I sometimes wonder whether the focus on weighing your food is to big on MFP and I believe it may scare many people away because they find it too much of a hassle.

    Anyone else not weigh and still see great results?

    Eyeballing works up to a point. As soon as the weight loss slows down it becomes time to buckle down. Whatever works for people.

    Agreed. Eyeballing personally never worked for me; it was actually part of the reason I gained weight in the first place. Measuring with cups works to an extent. When you first start out and have a lot of weight to lose, it often works fine. If you're measuring mostly liquids, it's also probably fine. But if you're measuring a lot of food (not liquids) with cups, weighing is much better. Peanut butter, for instance, is EXTREMELY INACCURATE when you measure it with measuring spoons. What looks to be one tablespoon of peanut based on the measuring spoon and your eye...will actually be almost TWO TABLESPOONS WORTH OF CALORIES when calculated by weight. If you're like me and you regularly eat peanut butter, that's a lot of extra calories that aren't being logged! If you only have a few pounds left to lose, not weighing may be what's causing you to plateau. If you're maintaining, not weighing may cause you to gain back a few pounds over time.

  • PrettyPearl88
    PrettyPearl88 Posts: 368 Member
    edited May 2015
    Accidental double post. Sorry! :(
  • scorpiophoenix
    scorpiophoenix Posts: 222 Member
    I made it to my goal (38lbs lost) without weighing my food. I baked a lot as a kid so I can eyeball with decent enough accuracy. Some people suck at eyeballing and should weigh. For me, personally, I feel like if I start to weigh my food it will take me to a neurotic level that I don't want to be at when it comes to my food/weight.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    Weigh?

    I don't even log mine anymore.
  • mordant57
    mordant57 Posts: 58 Member
    I weigh to help myself learn proper portion sizes. I never had an issue with eating healthy, just with eating too much. Weighing helps to keep me on track and not overindulge even if it's a healthy food.
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