Anyone here NOT use a food scale?

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.

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

Yeah, it's totally doable. I never used a scale the first time I lost weight. I went from size 44 pants, xxx-large shirts down to size 33 pants, and large shirts. I also didn't log my food at all. I just went by feel, and made myself eat smaller portions. It worked, though it probably took longer than it would have logging with a scale.

I like using my scale, but if it's a trigger, then don't do it! You can succeed just as well without one.

I do not. Not because I don't think it's a good idea.. just not a good idea for me. It's hard enough logging everything, so I eyeball instead. I just can't weigh everything I eat for the rest of my life. Learning the portions is easier for me. handful of this, size of a fist etc.

I, for the first five years of losing and then maintaining, used a mixture of cups, eyeball, and occasional kitchen scale. I counted my loss on a now defunct site and only moved to MFP when maintaining.
I went from 130 to 100-105 in a year using my above method, then maintained for 4.

It was only this past year, when I discovered MFP had a forum, I learnt that a digital food scale is an excellent tool, and bought one. I could have probably lost a little faster, but don't think one is necessary to lose weigh unless you are having problems.

Nowadays I use my scale every few months just to realign my eyeballing with the actual portion size.

If a scale is a problem, have one on hand, just to establish a portion, but don't feel you have to use it daily.

They come in useful for making cheesecakes too.

Cheers, h.

vespiquenn wrote: »

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.

I agree with this.

But you don't have to use one. Just adjust your goal if you're losing too much/not enough.

No, but my meat is usually weighed at the butcher's department and I do use that math. And I use real measuring cups with olive oil, peanut butter, cereal, rice or pasta, because they are so calorie dense. I have cooked for so long that I can eyeball really well for most other things. It would screw up the recipe to be wrong, so I'm not in the habit of trying to stuff it in the cup

I also tend to underestimate on purpose, so that obviously works better for weight loss than being wrong in the other direction. If someone's calories are bordering on low, that would be bad, but mine have always been set high and slow