We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Weigh everything?

cazbit
cazbit Posts: 122 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
This is going to sound silly probably but I throw myself at the mercy of the elders to ask.

There is a great amount of experience on here and people constantly say weigh all your food. I nod and think of course but at the weekend something occurred to me. Should I weight everything? For example I buy a pack of five bagels, the pack tells me what each bagel is worth, I have been using that number but should I actually be weighing the bagel, same with bread. Or am I over thinking it?

Sarcastic comments and giffs welcome, I realise I am probably asking and incredibly stupid question!

Replies

  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    Most accurate will be weighing everything. Personally, I generally weigh everything, except things packaged and sold as single servings, like bread, bagels, single serve chips and granola bars, etc. If I notice that my losses aren't what I would expect, I may change that. I am very accurate with everything else and I honestly don't eat a whole lot of these types of products to feel like it matters. I probably eat bread/single serve foods maybe 2 or 3 times a week.
  • cuckoo_jenibeth
    cuckoo_jenibeth Posts: 1,434 Member
    Weigh everything! OK....liquids can be measured, but any and all solids should be weighed. Now, do I always do this?? No. I will eat a 90 calorie granola bar (as per label) and chart it as such. But chicken breasts, ground meat, peanut butter, vegetable, fruit, grain, etc can vary greatly and should be weighed!

    To see a "real world" example measure 1 Tbsp of peanut butter and then weigh the peanut butter to see how far off from that "serving size" it truly is!!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,368 Member
    I weigh everything except yogurt cups. Got some bad surprises with packaged stuff..
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    Cazbit... I had a pre-measured pot of Greek yogurt the other day. Was apparently 200g. I weighed it out of interest as I slopped it on my fruit... There was only 180g. So I could have done myself out of 20g worth of calories. Remember it works both ways. Definitely weigh pre packaged stuff. You never know :)
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    edited June 2015
    I weigh them the first couple of times I buy them, if it is spot on I just that every time I eat it. Many, many times it is out by a mile! One of the worst ones I find is the single serving cereals, they should all be 30g but I have had as high as 36. That can be a lot of calories over a week.
  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
    I don't think it's a stupid question, but then again, my answer will probably be different than everyone else's.

    I don't weigh everything. I weigh the foods that I have the most trouble keeping track of. For me, that's rice (which is almost a nightly dinner staple in my house). Ask two people to measure out a cup of rice and you'll probably end up with two very different servings. Rice is also something I can keep eating until it gets out of hand. Therefore, I get the scale out for the rice. Same with air-popped popcorn.

    For staples, that's actually about it. I'll still measure with a cup or count pieces, but I'm not going to go through the hassle of weighing everything. My logic behind this is that these habits are sustainable for me. I can measure this way for the rest of my life. I can look at labels, count, and log - but taking a food scale with me in my purse when I go out to eat? Weighing everything that lands on my plate? I'm not going to be able to keep that up.

    (Note: I'm not denouncing the effectiveness of weighing everything. I'm well aware that you're going to get a clearer picture by weighing everything. I just think it all gets rather tedious.)
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    If you reach a point where you stall, then I think that weighing everything, including prepackaged items, can provide useful information. Practically, though, if you're losing weight at the pace you want, then it's not terribly necessary. I tend to weigh prepackaged items once or twice when I try a new product or switch brands, just to see, but I don't weigh them every time.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    If you like weighing stuff, by all means, weigh everything. Otherwise, you won't know what stuff weighs. But some of us have lost an awful lot of weight by not weighing anything. The package says there are 200 calories in a bagel, that's what I use. Even if you weigh everything, it is impossible to know exactly how many calories something has and it is impossible to know exactly how many calories you burn. But if you get close enough, it all balances out in the end.
  • cazbit
    cazbit Posts: 122 Member
    Thanks for all the great feedback guys I really appreciate it. It's great to hear what everyone else does, I think for the moment as my weight loss has slowed I'll be extra vigilant but in the long run I would like to be a little more flexible once the weight is off x
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
    I tend to trust the label if it says one slice of something = however many calories. But I don't really eat much bread or bagels (just not my favorite). I don't weigh my single portion yogurts, though maybe I will tomorrow morning to verify it. I recently weighed out my oatmeal to check if it matches my measuring-cup portion (it did, precisely, so I won't weigh it anymore).

    This isn't really what you are asking about, but I had been estimating a 3rd of an avocado (based on how i slice it open) and realized that is probably way off. So I'm now weighing it...and it turns out I was UNDERestimating. Oh sweet avocado, I am so happy to have more!!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    cazbit wrote: »
    This is going to sound silly probably but I throw myself at the mercy of the elders to ask.

    There is a great amount of experience on here and people constantly say weigh all your food. I nod and think of course but at the weekend something occurred to me. Should I weight everything? For example I buy a pack of five bagels, the pack tells me what each bagel is worth, I have been using that number but should I actually be weighing the bagel, same with bread. Or am I over thinking it?

    Sarcastic comments and giffs welcome, I realise I am probably asking and incredibly stupid question!

    I don't

    But some do

    I do weigh oil ...not measure it
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner wrote: »
    Cazbit... I had a pre-measured pot of Greek yogurt the other day. Was apparently 200g. I weighed it out of interest as I slopped it on my fruit... There was only 180g. So I could have done myself out of 20g worth of calories. Remember it works both ways. Definitely weigh pre packaged stuff. You never know :)

    Yeah, every cup of yogurt I've had has weighed lower.

    However, OP, bread can easily weigh more, and if you're eating something higher in calories such as a bagel, that can throw you off. The only things I don't weigh are single serving packages (string cheese, Quest bars) or things I'm eating at work/when I'm out.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,368 Member
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner wrote: »
    Cazbit... I had a pre-measured pot of Greek yogurt the other day. Was apparently 200g. I weighed it out of interest as I slopped it on my fruit... There was only 180g. So I could have done myself out of 20g worth of calories. Remember it works both ways. Definitely weigh pre packaged stuff. You never know :)

    Yeah that's why I don't weigh yogurt cups, it's usually less than what the package says, so it doesn't bother me.

    But overall, unless you eat a lot of high calorie packaged stuff, it typically only amounts to 20-30 calories, so it's not a huge deal with a 500 calorie deficit. It can be more annoying when your deficit is 250 or less though.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited June 2015
    yes i would weigh the bagels

    for examples some weeks ago i had cheesecake...the serving size was 46 gram for one piece was 210 calories
    When i weigh it ...it was not 46 gram but a lot more...and brought the calorie amount to 253 calories!!!!!
    So have that a couple of times ( like my taco which was also much more) and you have suddenly almost 100 calories more in-accuracy.

    for me..i dont like that. The fact is the smaller you deficit the more accurate you have to be to keep losing weight. So it is a small task to weigh everything.

    So i weigh everything i want to be as accurate as possible to know what i eat.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories