I understand and then I don't (scales and weighing and calorie worrying)

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Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    I find it very strange that you have such a strong opinion about something you seem to not care about.

    If I had to guess I'd say that you are worried and bothered by the idea that you may have to start tracking your calories more accurately to continue to lose weight.

    That's what I said in a longer version..
  • justincooper405
    justincooper405 Posts: 107 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    I find it very strange that you have such a strong opinion about something you seem to not care about.

    If I had to guess I'd say that you are worried and bothered by the idea that you may have to start tracking your calories more accurately to continue to lose weight.

    That's what I said in a longer version..

    That's cause I liked it Roxie ;)
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    I've never weighed or measured foods, and I only log periodically, and have lost about 50 lbs and kept it off for nearly three years. I'm currently in maintenance (after losing the baby weight from my fourth pregnancy), but I seem to still be losing about .25 lbs per week on average (I'm 142 lbs currently). I imagine that will stop eventually. For me, simply sticking to foods that promote satiety is the key (I was never a boredom eater, an emotional eater, or a stress eater, so I didn't have those concerns). Logging (based on eyeballing) shows me that my calories tend to be all over the place (as low as 1200 some days, high as 2500 others) but it all seems to average out.

    That said, I found what works for me. Had I ever gotten "stuck" I would have known (thanks to this site) to start weighing and measuring to get a more accurate picture of how much I am eating. As it stands I only have a ball park guess. I think the reason that weighing gets so heavily promoted here is because there are so many "I'm eating X number of calories and still not losing" type posts, where the person is eyeballing, or using imprecise measurements (package labels, measuring cups and spoons) and so only has a ball park guess as to their true consumption. Eyeballing is great, if you are good at it (one of many useless talents I possess, lol). But most people suck at it. And no wonder - portion sizes, package sizes, heck, even plate sizes have all increased dramatically in recent years warping our sense of what a "serving" really is.

    Weighing is a useful tool. One that many people use with great success. As you get closer to goal, OP, you may find that you need to use it too.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    Great work so far :) you probably have another little while before you might have to use a scale, maybe not! I think you have a great mindset. Worrying doesn't do us any good, anyway. Living a healthy life is much better than worrying.

  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
    Height 5'6"" starting weight 204 Current weight 170 Ultimate weight 155

    Do I weigh my food-never
    Do I log? Often
    Do I keep about under my allotted calories yes
    Is it working for me right now-absolutely
    I am very disciplined about walking most days-or biking or something.
    I weigh myself daily.
    If I plateau then I MAY buy a food scale.
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    KateTii wrote: »
    I started so close to my goal, need to stick to my calories to ensure weightloss etc. blah blah blah. Everyone else has said this.

    Apart from that very good reason, I love weighing everything because then I KNOW what to expect. When I started, the only reason why I started was because this way I don't have to guess what i'm eating and hope it equals weightloss. I don't have to be that person who skips all the treats, eats only salad and then binges four days later. I was not going to start this just to lose a couple of kilos if it meant being miserable (and then going back to old habits anyway). Basically, I love it because I know how much pizza I can fit into my day and still lose weight. Love me some pizza.

    SO much this as well. If I want a giant slice of cake, I can weigh it and make it fit!
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,187 Member
    I weigh 108. When I weighed an orange I ate recently, I found it was 40 calories more than what I had initially logged (based on eye-balling the fruit). For my calorie goal, that's a big deal.

    Others may have more wiggle room, but when you are dealing with fewer calories, accuracy can be important.

    Yes and no. I only had about 14lbs to lose at the end of 2009 and by the time that I joined MFP I had already lost 6 lbs without counting calories. I lost the rest and got to maintenance by just measuring, estimating, and even using some generic entries in this database. I didn't get a food scale until I reached maintenance and that was almost 6 years ago. The only reason to get the scale was to count my macros.

    I am now hooked to the scale few times a week. I don't take the scale with me when on vacation, eating out or a friends house; heck I don't even estimate or log when I don't make the meals myself. I am trying to break the scale "umbilical cord."

    So it is possible to lose weight and even maintain without a scale, but I agree that it may take more time; so if people don't mind and have good eating habits and are aware of what and how much they are eating, just let it be.

    After all we are all special snow flakes...
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
    "Thanks for sharing your opinion on this. And if you don't get it, you just don't get it! Not rocket science here.
    Not to be snarkie at all, don't do it and for those of us that got many years under our belts, we will stick with what we know and what works for us!
    And by the way, some us do train! And some do have health issues and some just want to stay or be as healthy as they can, they reached a goal and want to keep it that way."

    Unfortunately..you do come off as snarkie..and I am fairly certain, that's how you intended it to be. I believe I mentioned, my opinion, and also gave instances of where it could be important. I also did not accuse anyone of NOT Training? So thanks for your reply..and I am fairly sure, you intended it to be snarkie. It is what happens on forums like these, when people assume they know what others mean, or imply and rush to judgement.
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
    "When you have a large amount of weight to lose, and reduce your calories as drastically as you did, then weighing matters less. A 308 pound man can lose if he estimates food. It is also possible just to cut out stuff like soft drinks or candy and lose without really counting calories.
    The challenge is when you are trying to lose a pound a week and you only weigh 150 pounds. Then every gram really does matter.
    Being 200 calories "off" a day matters very little when you are 300 pounds. But once you reach the lower range 200 calories extra a day can be the difference in loss and gain."

    I believe I said this very same thing in my original post? (If you re-read my original post) My question is..at 150 pounds..why are you trying to lose one pound a week? Is it training for something? Is it an ideal weight you simply want to reach? I said I understand and yet I don't? Is it life or death if instead of 1 pound a week..it's 1/2 pound..or 3/4 of a pound? Once you reach whatever goal you set..are you then going to be at the mercy of a food scale for the rest of your life to maintain a certain weight?

    Again..I am not attacking anyone for whatever they do? I just truly would like get where some folks are coming from. If it's to help with your mindset..I can understand that completely. Losing weight and eating right is a mental battle as well as a physical one.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    "When you have a large amount of weight to lose, and reduce your calories as drastically as you did, then weighing matters less. A 308 pound man can lose if he estimates food. It is also possible just to cut out stuff like soft drinks or candy and lose without really counting calories.
    The challenge is when you are trying to lose a pound a week and you only weigh 150 pounds. Then every gram really does matter.
    Being 200 calories "off" a day matters very little when you are 300 pounds. But once you reach the lower range 200 calories extra a day can be the difference in loss and gain."

    I believe I said this very same thing in my original post? (If you re-read my original post) My question is..at 150 pounds..why are you trying to lose one pound a week? Is it training for something? Is it an ideal weight you simply want to reach? I said I understand and yet I don't? Is it life or death if instead of 1 pound a week..it's 1/2 pound..or 3/4 of a pound? Once you reach whatever goal you set..are you then going to be at the mercy of a food scale for the rest of your life to maintain a certain weight?

    Again..I am not attacking anyone for whatever they do? I just truly would like get where some folks are coming from. If it's to help with your mindset..I can understand that completely. Losing weight and eating right is a mental battle as well as a physical one.

    Lets just say I don't understand why you don't understand, and it makes absolutely no difference. I'm coming from --I do what works.
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    My initial run with MFP I lost about 90 +/- pounds. Life stuff happened and I stopped logging and hitting the gym. However, I thought I "had" this thing. For the most part, I paid attention to what I thought I was eating, with a lot of eyeballing and guessing.

    Fast forward to today. While I never gained all the weight back, I did gain a large chunk of it back. I've started tracking again and it has made the difference, down 20ish pounds in the last 2-2 1/2 months. Do I weigh everything? Nope. But I do make it a habit of weighing most things. I don't weigh pre-packaged food of the single serving variety, but if it's something where I only eat part of it, then yes, I weigh it when I am at home and have the scale handy. I'll never be one of those who brings a scale out to a restaurant...it's just not THAT important to me. I'll either not log it, count it as one of those days, and move on. The goal is to have more logged days than not logged days.

    I still haven't gotten back in the gym, but tracking my food is what is currently working. I could probably lose more or eat more if I started back in the gym, I'm just...to be honest...too lazy for that at the moment. I don't want to take the time out to get it done. That's all on me. I'm in no hurry and so far what I'm doing is working; when it stops working, I'll do something else.

    People lose weight different ways. That's not to say that it's still not calories in/calories out, but the way they go about CI/CO is different. Keto, paleo, IIFYM, vegan, etc., the goal is the same. The bottom line is to find what works for you, and when it stops working, change it up a little until you find something that you can maintain. Personally, I found what works for the dropping portion of the game, it's the maintaining that I need to work on.

    I agree with most of your post, just want to point out that veganism isn't a weight loss plan. It's an ethical position. The goal is to avoid unnecessary animal exploitation, not to lose weight.

    I wasn't referring to those of you who are vegan because it's an ethical position, I was referring to those who use it as a weight loss program of sorts.

    Some, not all, but some "go vegan" to lose weight, that is the only reason I added it to the list. It's the same, in this particular scenario, as going gluten free when you do not have a gluten intolerance, because someone said it was the "healthy" thing to do.
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
    "All of this.
    Got a huge deficit you can do, you've got a ton of leeway for incorrect estimates. Take advantage of it. No reason to be nitpicky and make things difficult if you're being successful.
    When you don't have that much leeway, lots of people find that weight loss is not so easy. That's when weighing comes in. "

    Once again, I acknowledged this in my original post? I think perhaps some are taking offense w/o really reading what I wrote? I said "I know the weight comes off easier, when you are really overweight" and then "Maybe if I get down to 198 and have serious trouble losing anymore , I'll get more serious about it. But this is a lifestyle change, it should not, after time, require food scales and worrying over juice in a can..should it?"

    So I basically said in my original post exactly what you just said and a slew of people liked..which means nobody read what I posted..they rushed to post? This happens a lot in online forums.

    My thought is..as the first replier to my post said "those of us that got many years under our belts, we will stick with what we know and what works for us!"

    I never said CHANGE what you're doing. I didn't say it was dumb or incorrect or stupid. I simply thought, if you have years under your belt, I would think at some point you would be able to tell what you can eat, what is good for you, what to avoid, how much to eat and so on.

    My intent was not to antagonize people..or question what they were doing? I have only read a few thoughts, but that surely looks where the responses are headed to me. Defensive replies to what is perceived as an attack on what they do? That was not the intent of my original post.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    My initial run with MFP I lost about 90 +/- pounds. Life stuff happened and I stopped logging and hitting the gym. However, I thought I "had" this thing. For the most part, I paid attention to what I thought I was eating, with a lot of eyeballing and guessing.

    Fast forward to today. While I never gained all the weight back, I did gain a large chunk of it back. I've started tracking again and it has made the difference, down 20ish pounds in the last 2-2 1/2 months. Do I weigh everything? Nope. But I do make it a habit of weighing most things. I don't weigh pre-packaged food of the single serving variety, but if it's something where I only eat part of it, then yes, I weigh it when I am at home and have the scale handy. I'll never be one of those who brings a scale out to a restaurant...it's just not THAT important to me. I'll either not log it, count it as one of those days, and move on. The goal is to have more logged days than not logged days.

    I still haven't gotten back in the gym, but tracking my food is what is currently working. I could probably lose more or eat more if I started back in the gym, I'm just...to be honest...too lazy for that at the moment. I don't want to take the time out to get it done. That's all on me. I'm in no hurry and so far what I'm doing is working; when it stops working, I'll do something else.

    People lose weight different ways. That's not to say that it's still not calories in/calories out, but the way they go about CI/CO is different. Keto, paleo, IIFYM, vegan, etc., the goal is the same. The bottom line is to find what works for you, and when it stops working, change it up a little until you find something that you can maintain. Personally, I found what works for the dropping portion of the game, it's the maintaining that I need to work on.

    I agree with most of your post, just want to point out that veganism isn't a weight loss plan. It's an ethical position. The goal is to avoid unnecessary animal exploitation, not to lose weight.

    I wasn't referring to those of you who are vegan because it's an ethical position, I was referring to those who use it as a weight loss program of sorts.

    Some, not all, but some "go vegan" to lose weight, that is the only reason I added it to the list. It's the same, in this particular scenario, as going gluten free when you do not have a gluten intolerance, because someone said it was the "healthy" thing to do.

    I think you're talking about plant-based diets. You're right -- so people do that to lose weight, but veganism would involve avoiding non-food forms of animal exploitation as well.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,741 Member
    trixiex wrote: »
    Did you expect a bunch of high -5's?

    It was a vaguely inflammatory post which put down a large percentage of readers main method of achieving their health goal and keeping control of their weight loss.

    It's like when my training buddy told me she lost 2 inches from her hips with just training and no change to her diet. Delighted for her but still wanted to punch her in the face. Gently though.

    That's a lie, but good for you for restraining yourself! Your comment made me laugh.
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    I use scales not just because I don't want to eat over my calorie allowance, but also because I don't want to eat too much under it. I'm not good at guessing amounts, and see no reason to try if I don't have to (and as long as I have scales, I don't have to).