Anyone here NOT use a food scale?

I've never used a food scale and have lost 135 lb eyeballing some things and measuring many...for example I always use measuring cups for stuff like rice and cereal when I eat those. I actually never even considered getting a food scale. I'm now in my goal range (weight) and think it might be useful for me if I ever get really serious about getting to the lowest in my goal range, but at this point I don't see that happening for me because I'm very happy with where I am. Good luck, and remember you have to find what works for YOU - and for your health psychologically as well as physically.

I have one but I never use it. I used to do WW and they had different ways of measuring portion control that were easier, especially away from home. I do try to overestimate portions to give myself a cushion.

I didn't know anything about food scales when I first started on MFP. When I started reading the forums and how much they are recommended to improve logging accuracy and help with plateaus, I told myself that if I ever did find myself in an unexplained plateau or unable to lose weight at the rate I wanted, that would be the first thing I invested in. I never did reach that point (plenty of plateaus but they were always totally explainable - holidays, illness, not exercising, etc), and lost the weight I wanted and am now in maintenance.

I will say that I keep a bit of a buffer with my calorie goal - it is set about 150 cals under where MFP thinks my maintenance cals are, but I do eat back my exercise calories and use a FitBit for estimating total cals burned. I know if I used a food scale I could probably be more accurate and set my goals a little higher, but again, this worked for me for the last 990 days so I don't see why it wouldn't work for the remainder of my days using this tool...

I also ALWAYS recommend a food scale to people just starting out - I think if I had one from the beginning I probably could have hit my goals more quickly.

I can see how those struggling with an ED may also want to not implement that level of control.

Good luck!

I eyeball and have lost 31 pounds since June -- but I also set my weekly weight loss on MFP to 2lbs/week and find myself averaging more like 1-1.5 lbs/week, which is fine with me. Also, I'm still a good 17 pounds from my initial goal, which is still quite a bit higher than out-of-the-box healthy BMI, so I have plenty of wiggle room. As I get closer to my goal, I want to try and use more measuring cups and maybe even a scale from time to time so I can check the accuracy of my eyeballing, but I eat out a lot and over friends' houses and love to travel, and I just don't see weighing everything I eat as a sustainable thing for my life.

I lost without one and maintain without one.

I have lost 55 pounds without ever using one. I suppose if I am ever in a state where I think I am measuring and eating within my MFP guidelines and not losing, then I would certainly use one. I have enough buffer built into my deficit with all of the excercise that I have not had that problem. So, I will continue along using measuring cups, eyeballing, and guessing. It is working.

When I started I never used a food scale. Lost about 20 pounds that way. However as I've gotten closer to my goal weight and my deficit is getting smaller, I started to use a food scale. I couldn't keep eye balling.

shandy4487 wrote: »

Wow! I didn't know so many people didn't use one! Lol thank you guys all soooo much for your responses. I feel much better knowing a scale isn't absolutely necessary. You guys rock

no it's not at all...it's just one of the many helpful tools that is recommended.

For me it meant logging 1460 calories and losing 1/2lb a week vs logging 1460 accurately and losing 1lb a week.

personal preference...I still use it to this day but not as consistently as I did when I was losing.

WinoGelato wrote: »

I didn't know anything about food scales when I first started on MFP. When I started reading the forums and how much they are recommended to improve logging accuracy and help with plateaus, I told myself that if I ever did find myself in an unexplained plateau or unable to lose weight at the rate I wanted, that would be the first thing I invested in. I never did reach that point (plenty of plateaus but they were always totally explainable - holidays, illness, not exercising, etc), and lost the weight I wanted and am now in maintenance.

I will say that I keep a bit of a buffer with my calorie goal - it is set about 150 cals under where MFP thinks my maintenance cals are, but I do eat back my exercise calories and use a FitBit for estimating total cals burned. I know if I used a food scale I could probably be more accurate and set my goals a little higher, but again, this worked for me for the last 990 days so I don't see why it wouldn't work for the remainder of my days using this tool...

I also ALWAYS recommend a food scale to people just starting out - I think if I had one from the beginning I probably could have hit my goals more quickly.

I can see how those struggling with an ED may also want to not implement that level of control.

Good luck!

Yep this is exactly me too. I've never used one (I guess I've just been blessed to be very good at estimating) and it hasn't ever been an issue. I do occasionally measure out certain things to help if I don't feel like I can estimate accurately.

That said, if I ever find that my results aren't matching expectations, it will be the first thing I change. And I absolutely will continue to recommend using one to anyone who isn't achieving their goals without one.

I do have one though and I mostly use it for cooking recipes where the measurements are given in grams versus cups/tablespoons....I think an important thing to remember is that ultimately there are a lot of estimates in this process and there are certain tools that can increase accuracy of those estimates: scales for CI and HRM for CO but in the end of the day there will STILL be inaccuracies in the process even with those tools. I am comfortable with my eyeball estimates.

I have never used one and I'm down 93 pounds.

I only weigh food when I'm canning stuff from the garden. I can't imagine weighing every bite of food I eat. Honestly I don't know people do it. I'm guessing their style of eating/cooking must be pretty different from mine.

I use one. But that's because I'm the worst eyeballer ever.
But I'm a big believer in "what works for one, might not necessarily work for all"
With a history of ed (yay you for seeing someone too btw) I'm glad you have realised it's a trigger. Listen to the above people and do what they do

Good luck op!!!!

I want to swing the other way with this. I also have a history of ED, bulimia in particular with fasting tendencies. I have actually found that a food scale allows me to even out my intake. For example, a lot of your canned goods seemed to be on the short side as far as their serving sizes, so by weighing, I find I can eat a bit more. I have yet to come across a canned food that has more than what the serving label says it should. I also find that by weighing, I get a better sense of what I'm eating. When I get down on myself for a "binge," I can remind myself that I didn't actually eat that much because I know exactly what I ate and how much.

Weighing isn't for everyone, and if you feel you may be triggered, I recommend not to. I just wanted to give a different viewpoint from someone that has suffered from EDs.

I also apologize if something doesn't make sense in this. Typing this with a fever and the flu.