Do I have to actually weigh my food?

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truelygreat
truelygreat Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm planning on losing we and i heard all i have to do is eat the calories that MFP gives me. I'm going to log my food in but do i have to actually weigh it?
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Replies

  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,200 Member
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    If you don't weigh your food you're basically just guessing. Guessing can lead to you accidentally imbibing more calories and not losing or underestimating and not eating all that you could.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    How else will you measure it?
  • scoii
    scoii Posts: 160 Member
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    If you guess then you go one of 2 ways. You either overestimate everything so you eat so little that your lean muscle gets consumed as well as other negative medical impacts.

    Or more likely, you look at a pack of rice and it says 150 calories a portion, so you record that for dinner. In reality your eating 400 calories of rice as you and the manufacturers have a completely different idea of what constitutes a portion.

    You can spend 6 months guessing and getting nowhere with weight loss, but after 3 months of using a scale you teach yourself what is OK, then you can test your estimating skills.
  • WatchJoshLift
    WatchJoshLift Posts: 520 Member
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    Only if you want an accurate count of calories that you're consuming.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
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    You do not have to weigh your food.
    I just used standard measuring cups/spoons, and got very good at estimating.
    I had no problems losing weight. I lost over 1/2 of my current body weight, and have maintained the loss for over 2-1/2 years now.
    If you are not losing weight, measuring and/or weighing your food is pretty crucial to make sure your calories consumed are less than calories burned, which is required for weight loss.
  • Jams009
    Jams009 Posts: 345 Member
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    You don't have to weigh food in order to lose weight, but it's the best way to ensure you're being as accurate as possible with your diet, otherwise it's just guesswork and very easy to get wrong.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    You could start off by not weighing, and if you feel you aren't losing the way you are supposed to you could then start implementing more accurate methods. Weighing is actually easier than spoons and cups (to me) because it does not generate extra dishes. All you need to do is put something on your plate and tare for the next thing.

    This. Try it. If you're not losing after 4-6 weeks, weighing could give you a more accurate lookat what you're eating.
  • ashleyminnich1
    ashleyminnich1 Posts: 60 Member
    edited July 2016
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    I don't, and I've lost 40 pounds. However, I almost never eat all the way to 0 calories left. Leaving a few gives me wiggle room if something is inaccurate.
  • SamanthaLouiseMence
    SamanthaLouiseMence Posts: 663 Member
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    You don't have to weigh out your food, I didn't to start with and lost 1 stone, but now I've got one and I am measuring out and I've noticed I was eating more on some foods than I thought and not as much as I thought with other foods
    It'll help you log more accurately and hopefully help you lose a bit more each week
    But you don't have todo anything you don't want to, it's entirely your choice
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    You don't have to. I just found that it was much easier for my peace of mind than guessing (and it turns out I was HORRIBLE at guessing).
  • katharineshalia
    katharineshalia Posts: 243 Member
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    I used to always underestimated and was missing out on those sweet calories. No wonder I was miserable. Weighing in grams has been a game changer because I'm not depriving myself and i can eat exactly what I have entered and not have to worry because the math takes care of itself. Now if I have a week of not losing I don't stress because I know my body will eventually catch up to the math (cico).
  • allenpriest
    allenpriest Posts: 1,102 Member
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    You're an adult. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do.

    But that's the wrong question.

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