Do I have to actually weigh my food?
truelygreat
Posts: 2 Member
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
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Yes. I promise, it's worth the tune and effort.6
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You don't have to do anything, but if you weigh your food, logging your calorie intake will be more accurate. If you just "guesstimate" it could be way off and slow or halt your progress. Most people are really bad at estimating. Good luck!11
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You don't have to weigh it but you will get much better results weighing rather than guessing what and how much you are eating.
It is a little tedious at first but once you have something entered it is easy to re use that item again as it is stored in your recent foods etc.
Try to use correct entries and refer to the USDA when looking for an item. Ie-: skinless boneless chicken breast USDA - then check the nutritional info against the data base. If you are in doubt it's best to go for a higher calorie entry rather than lower.
Cheers, h.6 -
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.10
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Do you have to? No, but for the most accuracy in your logging it's a good idea.6
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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.4
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You dont HAVE to but the first time you post youre not losing weight, that will be the first question asked.
I've been doing this for 2 years now. I weighed EVERYTHING for the first year and a half. Now, I am still losing and eyeball and estimate and dont log my food. I'm still losing. HOWEVER .... like I said, I weighed for a LONG time. And if my weight stalls out ... I know where to start to look and what to do.5 -
How else will you measure it?2
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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.3 -
Only if you want an accurate count of calories that you're consuming.1
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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.3 -
I do not know what 35 grams of dry pasta looks like, but I know that's what I can afford to eat with dinner tonight. I don't see any other way that I could ensure I am eating what I want to eat.5
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No of course you don't have to.
If you are successful over time then it's the results that matter - if you don't get expected results then food logging inaccuracy is probably the first thing to check.
It is very educational though for portion sizes and calorie density of different items.6 -
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.1
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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.0 -
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.3
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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 choice2 -
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).4
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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).2
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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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