Do I have to actually weigh my food?

2

Replies

  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    It's a good idea to weigh. I didn't for a very long time and never had trouble losing. I started once I had to knock another 200 calories off my goal and want to make sure I'm as accurate as I can be. Anyway, it's not hard. Food you're going to put on a napkin or in a dish anyway, just put the napkin or dish on the scale and hit "tare." Weighing sounds tedious but it's barely any extra work.
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
    I resisted the idea of weighing food for a long time. I posted a question like yours, too. My reasoning was that every part of the equation is a gross estimate, so how much real difference could it make to tighten up only one component. Also, I felt like it was obsessive and what would my husband think if he caught me weighing my food?

    I was never fully convinced but I got a scale anyway just to see what would change. I found that I had been overestimating food intake and so I could actually eat more than I had been. That was welcome news. And my husband never questioned it...at least to me.

    If you are satisfied with your progress then maybe you don't want to fix what isn't broken. You can always try weighing food later on if that ever changes.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited July 2016
    OP you do not HAVE to do anything you choose not to.. But I can say that it is possible after about 4 weeks if you are not loosing at the rate you have selected, or you have not lost anything, you will be starting a thread that asks "Why am I not Losing Weight". The first thing we will ask is are you weighing all of your food.
  • godlikepoetyes
    godlikepoetyes Posts: 442 Member
    I have never weighed my food. I do sometimes measure things I use often, like butter or milk, to be sure I'm staying consistent. This has worked for me, but I've read many posts here from folks who aren't losing because they don't log accurately. When I started MFP I was very educated and aware of calories in foods. Lots of people aren't. It depends on the person.
  • Mike02209
    Mike02209 Posts: 301 Member
    I try to weigh/measure everything, just curious what people do to measure peanut butter without making a sticky mess. I have been estimating 2 tablespoons, but that is subject to error.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    Mike02209 wrote: »
    I try to weigh/measure everything, just curious what people do to measure peanut butter without making a sticky mess. I have been estimating 2 tablespoons, but that is subject to error.

    Put the jar on the scale and scoop it out. I used to just weigh it going on whatever I was putting it on, but that wasn't accounting for what was left on the knife (and if you're like me, you lick the knife afterwards).
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Mike02209 wrote: »
    I try to weigh/measure everything, just curious what people do to measure peanut butter without making a sticky mess. I have been estimating 2 tablespoons, but that is subject to error.

    weigh the entire peanut butter jar in grams and take out the amount you want and then subtract from the total weight..
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    IF you have a lot of weight to loose estimating will work short term. The more you loose and less calories you need, the more it will get harder to use estimating to loose weight.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
    No, but if you aren't losing at the weight you wish, it's definitely beneficial to start. If you start right away, you'll be off to the most accurate calorie counting you can do, but you don't have to if it seems like too much.
  • Of_Monsters_and_Meat
    Of_Monsters_and_Meat Posts: 1,022 Member
    You don't have to, and there are some tricks to get around some of the weighing. Although all of this is about accuracy. Can I build a shed without measuring boards? yup, will it be "great" probably not.


    Take a crock pot meal for example. I figure out the entire pot. It is fairly easy if most things are predetermined and I only have to worry about vegetables. (chicken says how much it weighs on the package).

    Then I make the whole pot a meal in mfp. Split it up into say 5 containers. Then I just log 0.2 of my meal every time I have one. Everything is then evened out in the end.

    same thing like with milk. There are 16 cups in a gallon of milk. As long as you get 16 "cups" out of the gallon it doesn't matter if some were more and some were less. (if other people are drinking it, kinda doesn't work so well).
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    edited July 2016
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Mike02209 wrote: »
    I try to weigh/measure everything, just curious what people do to measure peanut butter without making a sticky mess. I have been estimating 2 tablespoons, but that is subject to error.

    Put the jar on the scale and scoop it out. I used to just weigh it going on whatever I was putting it on, but that wasn't accounting for what was left on the knife (and if you're like me, you lick the knife afterwards).

    This is what I do for a lot of things now. I have a Mainstays scale that does negative weight, so I put the package on the scale, tare it, then start removing product.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 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?

    You don't have to weigh your food. I lost weight without weighing. But if you want to be accurate about your calories that is the best way.
  • lisalewis7588
    lisalewis7588 Posts: 76 Member
    I am pretty good at guesstimating, but I still weigh most things to make sure. I had a major stall a couple months ago and it was because I had gotten lazy and hadn't been weighing everything. I'm only on a half pound per week so I have to keep a pretty tight ship, and it's really easy to go over that if I don't weigh everything. I totally make it a game though, complete with patting my own back when I guess right :wink:
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 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?

    No, you don't have to weigh your food. However, I highly recommend it if you want to know how much you are eating so you stay within your calorie goals. ;)
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    Just weigh yourself, eat away, then weigh again. Subtract the difference. :#

    I have definitely had that experienced before....lots of times. :D
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    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^

    Some people are better at measuring than others. You may be eating a larger % of foods that are fairly accurate measured in cups.

    But as you get closer to goal you may find yourself struggling with "plateaus." Last time I lost weight (yo-yo here) I had a several week plateau. Hindsight is 20/20. That was just inaccurate logging on my part.

    Using a scale is not a big deal.
  • Jalexander33
    Jalexander33 Posts: 52 Member
    At the very least measure your food when possible. If you can weigh it that is even better. As others have said it's the best way to get the most accurate calorie counts for the foods you intake.

    I rarely weigh my food but I make up for it. I do Cardio 4/5 times a week on top of lifting weights 4 times a week w/ added short cardio after the lifting workout. Of course when I get to the point I am not shedding pounds off I will have to start weighing my food more.
  • Xo_healthylc
    Xo_healthylc Posts: 77 Member
    I am a horrible estimator. I have to weigh my food if not my cup of rice could easily be 3 cups lmao.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    edited July 2016
    I don't weigh, but I have to say you should at least measure for a while to learn what portion sizes look like.

    I overestimate...like if I think my strawberries are medium, I assume the database thinks they're large. If I remember eating 10 nuts, I assume and log 12. When I'm not sure of an item I am choosing from the database, I assume the worst...I figure nobody's fudging the numbers to make them higher.

    It has worked for me so far so I have no plans to change but if you find yourself not losing weight, then weighing and measuring is necessary.