Food Scale?
LoBaas
Posts: 13 Member
Hey there, I'm a 22yo female trying hard to lose weight and get healthy. I have used MFP on and off for the better part of two years, but now I am ready to get serious about it. I am new to the community section, and as I read, I have noticed a lot of talk about weighing food. My question is: why do this? Is this more accurate or easier than measuring with cups? Should I consider buying a good scale? If so, any recommendations?
Thank you so much! Any help or support along this journey is very much appreciated.
Thank you so much! Any help or support along this journey is very much appreciated.
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Replies
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it's both easier and more accurate, to me. Make sure to get a digital scale that can measure grams, has a "tare" function and can do negative if you start with the object on the scale and then take away.0
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A digital food scale isn't a consideration, it is a must.0
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You can fit a lot more broccoli into a measuring cup if you cut it up small and really smush it in than if you put a few large pieces in, and you could still say it's 'a cup' of broccoli. But it's going to be more calories. 100g of broccoli is always 100g of broccoli no matter how you cut it.0
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
While in the video she is kind of over-exaggerating how much people put in measuring cups (or at least I hope she is), it does definitely show that measuring cups can be inaccurate. I tested myself with 1 cup oatmeal (no oats over the rim of the cup). 1 cup should weigh 80 g, but it weighed 93 g. That takes the bowl of oats from 300 calories to 348.75 (if I did the math correctly). Over time inaccuracies like that will add up and depending on the food it can make a few grams off can make a huge difference calorie wise.
oh and for the easier part, yep totally easier. I set my plate on the scale, press tare, add ingredient, write down weight, add another ingredient, and so on. No measuring cups or spoons to clean and my scale can quickly be wiped off.
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Weighing the food will get you the best estimate possible. It's not necessary. People can and do lose weight every day without using scales. But if you want the best possible estimate on how many calories you're taking in, a scale will help you get that.
I've tried several and like OXO the best. Second place goes to the Post Office scale. If the PO scale wasn't so hard to read with a plate on it, it would get first place.0 -
You don't have to use one. A lot of people don't, just estimate their food, and if they're not losing, cut their calories. Personally, I'd rather avoid the guessing part and just weigh it. It takes 2 seconds to just put my plate on a scale and tare it.
And measuring cups? It's more work, more dishes, and not as precise, so why even bother?0 -
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It really is more accurate. As to whether or not its truly a necessity, well, I would personally say that if you find it inconvenient AND you are losing weight or otherwise meeting your goals without it, then its not necessary. That said, I do tend to weight almost everything at the moment:) However, unless you want to do it for the rest of your life, you will at some point need to transition to a less obsessive approach to healthy eating
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I weigh like 90% of what I eat and it really helps me. I bought "Smart Weigh Digital Kitchen Scale" on amazon, and I love it. Very accurate, buttons with a tactile response, looks high quality and has a ton of units to measure by...highly recommend it!0
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Thank you so much for all of the responses! After some consideration, I ordered a digital food scale from Amazon. I was surprised at how relatively inexpensive they are, I was expecting them to cost $50+! I plan to use it to get a better idea of how much I am really consuming as I journey toward my goal weight, yet I am fearful of becoming obsessive. I would ultimately like health to be a natural and normal habit, not something I have to think much about. Again, thank you for the input.
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Thank you so much for all of the responses! After some consideration, I ordered a digital food scale from Amazon. I was surprised at how relatively inexpensive they are, I was expecting them to cost $50+! I plan to use it to get a better idea of how much I am really consuming as I journey toward my goal weight, yet I am fearful of becoming obsessive. I would ultimately like health to be a natural and normal habit, not something I have to think much about. Again, thank you for the input.
You don't have to get obsessive about it. Once you weigh your food consistently, you end up being better at estimating, so if you don't have a food scale available, it's not a huge deal.0 -
Thank you so much for all of the responses! After some consideration, I ordered a digital food scale from Amazon. I was surprised at how relatively inexpensive they are, I was expecting them to cost $50+! I plan to use it to get a better idea of how much I am really consuming as I journey toward my goal weight, yet I am fearful of becoming obsessive. I would ultimately like health to be a natural and normal habit, not something I have to think much about. Again, thank you for the input.
I used a scale for the better part of six months and then I killed it on accident (got too much water on it, it never came back on. Oops) anyway for a month I didn't use one cause I couldn't get into town to buy another. So I was eye balling and because I know what it looked like from the scale, when I did get a new scale, I was pretty close to all the correct serving sizes!
Using the scale takes no time though and you dont have to worry about how much you might be over eating.
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A digital food scale isn't a consideration, it is a must.
+1
You need a scale to truly accurately measure. Measuring spoons are good enough/close enough, but most products are sold by weight, not volume. That's not just some claptrap that the lawyer said they should put on the label. It's there because the volume can change, but the weight remains constant.
If you're using measuring cups and/or are estimating AND ARE LOSING WEIGHT CONSISTENTLY, that's great! Keep it up! If you are not losing at your predicted rate, the first place to start is whether you're accurately gauging your calorie intake. A scale will keep the measurements honest.0 -
I consider my digital the best weight loss investment I ever made. They are very reasonably price. I purchased one at target a couple of years ago, for bread making, measuring flour by weight, is a much easier when making bread. When I started with MFP, I saw all the comments about using the scale and haven't stopped since. I credit the digital scale with never having experienced the frustration of a "false plateau" in my weight loss journey.
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Two things I would replace in a heartbeat if I needed to, my food scale and my fitbit. When you know your Calories in, and your calories out, it really takes all the guesswork out of the process. I've been using both for the past year and a half with consistent steady weight loss. I also credit my food scale to never having to deal with any "plateau's" along the way. I plan on using my scale for life as it literally takes me an extra 10 seconds when I'm platting my food. Totally worth it!0
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Two reasons to buy a food scale. Peanut butter and cereal.
You're welcome. 0 -
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I would not be without my Ozeri scale. Really makes me understand the true amount in a serving. I rarely use cup measurements. Less messy when measuring out yogurt, for example, when you can null out the weight of the container to add yogurt, null out again and add berries by weight.0
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The month I bought my food scale, I lost 9lbs. This was after counting calories and losing some weight, for 2 1/2 months before I got it. It was nice to have that good of a month after already doing it for a few months.0
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I would not be without my Ozeri scale. Really makes me understand the true amount in a serving. I rarely use cup measurements. Less messy when measuring out yogurt, for example, when you can null out the weight of the container to add yogurt, null out again and add berries by weight.
I
my Ozeri scale! I've named it George, and George holds exclusive, prime real estate on my tiny kitchen counter. The one time I saw my husband moving George to get better access to the toaster oven, I nodded with approval when he said, "Don't worry, I'll see to George's safety and have him back home in a few minutes."
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I've owned a digital food scale for years and never use it. I used it today and I placed 30 nuts in a plastic cup and put it on the scale. It weighed 1 1/2 oz and a serving of 1 oz is 170 calories. How do I remove the weight of the cup to only know the weight of the nuts? What about meals with several ingredients? I have in the crock pot ground turkey, pasta sauce, vegetables and spices. How would I know the exact calorie count if I weighed all the ingredients together in a bowl? I am new to weighing food so I appreciate any input.0
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tiffkittyw wrote: »I've owned a digital food scale for years and never use it. I used it today and I placed 30 nuts in a plastic cup and put it on the scale. It weighed 1 1/2 oz and a serving of 1 oz is 170 calories. How do I remove the weight of the cup to only know the weight of the nuts? What about meals with several ingredients? I have in the crock pot ground turkey, pasta sauce, vegetables and spices. How would I know the exact calorie count if I weighed all the ingredients together in a bowl? I am new to weighing food so I appreciate any input.
Put the cup on the scale. Tare the scale (that puts the scale with the cup on it at zero), put nuts in cup and voila! The weight of the nuts only.
The same with your meal altho your scale might not like the weight of the crockpot. Then put your recipe in the recipe builder for calories per serving.
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tiffkittyw wrote: »I've owned a digital food scale for years and never use it. I used it today and I placed 30 nuts in a plastic cup and put it on the scale. It weighed 1 1/2 oz and a serving of 1 oz is 170 calories. How do I remove the weight of the cup to only know the weight of the nuts? What about meals with several ingredients? I have in the crock pot ground turkey, pasta sauce, vegetables and spices. How would I know the exact calorie count if I weighed all the ingredients together in a bowl? I am new to weighing food so I appreciate any input.
Most food scales have a "tare" feature. Place the empty bowl on the scale, press tare and the scale resets to zero. You then place the food you want to measure in the bowl and measure out the amount you want.
For recipes, if you buy prepackaged turkey that comes in 16 oz or 20 oz package, the package tells you exactly how many calories and how many servings are in the package. You weigh vegetable separately and take note of all the weights before you start cooking. For pasta sauce, again if you use a bottled sauce, calorie counts are on it. Most prepackaged foods now have UPC barcodes you can scan with your phone or iPad- that is a super fast way to input data into MyFitness Pal's recipe builder. Of course you need to weigh everything you put into the pot, including cooking oil or butter, etc. Add the total calories and divide it by the number of servings and you will get the per serving value. Hope this helps. Good luck!
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@tiffkittyw In addition to ellerist's helpful explanation, if your digital scale has varying units of measure (usually just a button that you can push to cycle through), then I'd recommend measuring in grams rather than ounces, particularly with foods such as nuts and seeds (but everything, really.) It is far more accurate. Most serving sizes will specify grams in parentheses. Example: 1 oz (28g)0
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It is wise. Like I have some granola and it says 1/2 cup is 50g and I had a huge amount but it was less than 1/2cup. It came to 32g. It was more than enough for me. 50g would have been ridiculous and more calories.0
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Thanks for the food scale advice!0
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I'd say yes! Dont buy a cheap one either one with weight in grams oz and lbs and tare function. I got m8ne at target it was 35. Not what I was hoping to spend but it was so worth it! I had my el cheapo 8 dollar plastic oz scale but it was a joke literally bc I saw such a difference in my measures! Eye opener0
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I guess i need to invest in a food scale!0
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I have lost 30lbs without weighing my food - just using my common sense and sometimes 'over estimating'.
I have recently ordered a cheap electric food scale from Amazon so I can eat more rice and pasta based meals - I'm not overly comfortable in 'guessing' foods like that. Unfortunately, it's taking a while to arrive and still has around a week until it's delivered grr! So I'm playing the guessing game until then..
Like I said, if you use your common sense with the majority of foods, you can make this work without the scales but for some foods - it really is pretty essential 0
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