Losing weight and not needing to weigh food
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I don't weigh my food either. I weighed cheese for a week until I could eyeball an oz. Right now I don't eat my exercise calories back 1. for overage or wrong estimation and 2. because I'm just walking and I have plenty of fat storage to fuel me right now.
I'm not saying I won't weigh my food or eat back my exercise calories, I'm just not doing it now and see no need to yet. This is going to be a life way of eating so I'm taking this year of logging my food to try and learn portions and approximate calories so that hopefully one day I can eat intuitively.
We will see how it goes:).0 -
I'll never feel sorry for anyone who uses the tools at their disposal to meet the goals they have set for themselves.
Never.
Using the resources you have available to meet your goals is sound logic, and for many people that weighing of food probably gives them a mental boost as well, knowing that their goals will be closer to linear with the guesswork removed.
Every person has to find what works for them, what motivates them, and what keeps them personally accountable. Though I don't and never have weighed my food, I'm all for people figuring themselves out while I just work on me. And unless it reaches a point of obsessive fear, unhealthy, too time consuming, etc in a negative way, I find no reason to ever judge them as wrong or feel sorry for them.
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So what I'm hearing is your way is right and everyone should find it as easy to weigh as you do? And my way is wrong because it didn't work because I shared that I gained back my weight and had 100 lbs to lose, for reasons I didn't come close to sharing, but than was fat shamed at one point?I could just as easily say I feel sorry for people who have 100+ pounds to lose to begin with but that isn't reflective of how I actually feel and it would be quite callous of me to do so.
This is the point of my whole post, there is more then one way to lose weight, and some people feel like they have to weigh when they don't. They are also way more likely to give up because of the hassle of weighing everything.0 -
Many of us are on here because at some point we lost track of "normal" portions and started adding in a little more pasta here "because I've had a hard day" and an extra large piece of cake "to tidy it up". I always weigh cereal, pasta, rice - those things which are hard to judge. For meat I allocate myself a proportion of the total weight cooked (so if I cooked 500g mince, then 125g) but give myself the smallest portion to be on the safe side. If I'm making a cheese sandwich I put the bread on the food scale then ad the cheese and log that weight - I might think I cut 30g but the scale shows me I've cut 45-50g. Multiply that across weeks and months and that's a lot of extra cheese!
No-one is saying you have to log everything every day of your life. What most of us are saying is that weighing and logging helps us from slipping back down the slippery slope. We've gone to a lot of effort to get to where we are, why would we diss the tools that helped us do it?
I've been weighing and logging for over three years now. Please don't feel sorry for me - save your pity for those who decide they can manage without it and then wonder where it all went wrong when they put the weight back on. I accept I lean towards the greedy and am just thankful I found a way to control it rather than just buying bigger clothes every year and wondering why my joints ached and I couldn't walk so far.
Baking is also much more reliable if you weigh rather than use measuring cups, just in case anyone wondered3 -
I am still weighing and measuring because I don't feel that I trust myself to know the rough exact of portions yet. I don't think I obsess about it because I am still retraining myself.1
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So what I'm hearing is your way is right and everyone should find it as easy to weigh as you do? And my way is wrong because it didn't work because I shared that I gained back my weight and had 100 lbs to lose, for reasons I didn't come close to sharing, but than was fat shamed at one point?
What, you don't like being shamed? Yet you start a thread to shame a huge percentage of the MFP community who uses a food scale? Really?This is the point of my whole post, there is more then one way to lose weight, and some people feel like they have to weigh when they don't. They are also way more likely to give up because of the hassle of weighing everything.
No, that was not the point of your post, the point of your post was to show that you are better than other people, and that many MFP members are to be pitied for doing something that you don't do yourself. There was nothing altruistic about your post. But nice try to redirect.
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no what you're hearing is that people don't want you to feel sorry for them if they weigh their food and that you shouldn't if it works for them.
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LaceyBirds wrote: »So what I'm hearing is your way is right and everyone should find it as easy to weigh as you do? And my way is wrong because it didn't work because I shared that I gained back my weight and had 100 lbs to lose, for reasons I didn't come close to sharing, but than was fat shamed at one point?
What, you don't like being shamed? Yet you start a thread to shame a huge percentage of the MFP community who uses a food scale? Really?This is the point of my whole post, there is more then one way to lose weight, and some people feel like they have to weigh when they don't. They are also way more likely to give up because of the hassle of weighing everything.
No, that was not the point of your post, the point of your post was to show that you are better than other people, and that many MFP members are to be pitied for doing something that you don't do yourself. There was nothing altruistic about your post. But nice try to redirect.
The OP seems to like to challenge the common MFP advice.1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »I also look forward to prelogging my day every morning, it's the first thing i do after turning on the computer.
I've recently started doing this, at least for some meals. This makes meal preparation easier, since I've already made certain decisions ahead of time (will that be 15g or 25g of air popped popcorn?) though certain things, like the weight of a chicken breast or or an egg still needs as it were in situ measurement. But it's perfect for things that I weigh out like soups and pre-cooked dishes. Saves time, lessens the work, reduces stress. Best of all, I can pretty much guarantee that I'll be under my goal at the end of the day. No surprises.
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OP, is this the type of post you intended
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10441909/newbie-maintainer#latest0 -
So what I'm hearing is your way is right and everyone should find it as easy to weigh as you do? And my way is wrong because it didn't work because I shared that I gained back my weight and had 100 lbs to lose, for reasons I didn't come close to sharing, but than was fat shamed at one point?I could just as easily say I feel sorry for people who have 100+ pounds to lose to begin with but that isn't reflective of how I actually feel and it would be quite callous of me to do so.
This is the point of my whole post, there is more then one way to lose weight, and some people feel like they have to weigh when they don't. They are also way more likely to give up because of the hassle of weighing everything.
You quoted my post so let me respond to that by saying:- No, me choosing to weigh food isn't the only "right" way. It's pretty much the most accurate way to do things, but it's not the only way. People achieve weight loss in many ways such as high carb, low fat; low carb, high fat; extreme restriction of certain food groups; calorie counting; etc. Some of which aren't even necessary. Person A thinks to lose weight, they must ban donuts. After a month, they go on a dozen donut binge and give up with weight loss. If Person A knew about calorie counting and a food scale, they could have fit a few donuts into their weekly calories, thus making weight loss a lot easier on themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.
- You were "fat shamed" by me? No, you weren't. I wrote that I could say that I feel sorry for people with 100+ pounds to lose meaning that people who have more weight to lose have a higher margin of error to play with when it comes to calorie counting and, therefore, have less of a need to use a food scale than those with less weight to lose. I then went on to state that feeling sorry for people who have 100+ pounds to lose is not actually how I feel and it would be callous of me to feel that way. So what you did was took what you wanted to out of that and projected your own guilt onto it, even though your own initial post was judgmental and combative in nature. I don't pity people for their weight because there is nothing to pity; they are still the same person regardless of what their weight is on a scale.
You say the point of your post was that there is more than one way to lose weight, but it really wasn't reflective of that at all. In fact, nothing in your initial post is indicative of you taking that stance. It's not just me interpreting it that way either; every other person that responded is taking your post the same way. I'm going to point out exactly how this reads to me:
"I see some people making a 2nd job out of measuring and weighing. (Negative and judgmental feelings against people who weigh food.) When I lost 100 lbs in 2 - 3 years. I didn't weigh my food once. (I didn't have to do what THOSE people had to do.) I'm not saying it's not helpful at times. I did have an idea of my measurements (a cup of food was my most common) but eating healthy and giving myself alittle kcal cushion was what worked. (Fair point, but this still took measuring.) I feel sorry for those people that weigh everything, all the time. (I was able to get by with just a measuring cup and some calorie padding. I feel sorry for people who want to be more accurate about their calories. Also, no explanation as to why, you simply "feel sorry".)
I know when you are closer to your goal weight it can make more of a difference. But after gaining back the weight I lost (in a 2 year span, for reasons like not logging at all) I have been able to lose another 30 lbs, still not weighing. (All right, so if you know it makes a difference when close to goal weight, there should be no feeling sorry for people. Less room for error calls for more precision. You gained back the weight you lost and relost 30, so you never had to deal with the precision issue.)
I think sometimes people make too much of a deal about measuring. Has anyone measured their food and logged
routinely for 8+ years? My concern is my goal, to eat healthy and do what I need to to lose weight and than keep it off, and be able to keep that up for decades (i.e. the rest of my life). I can't imagine weighing food for so long. I thought, after losing 100 lbs, I had an idea of portions, but it turns out I did not if I wasn't logging my food. (Weighing food gives many people the best idea of what actual portion sizes look like. This way when they do feel like taking off the "training wheels" so to speak, they have a better idea of how much they can eat without having to weigh, measure, log, or flat out guess.)"
Nothing about this reads to me as "There are many ways to lose weight, but some people feel like they have to weigh food to get results. I feel like that would cause some people to give up." and if that was the intention of your post, it could have been written as such with follow up questions such as "Those of you who weigh your food, why do you feel that it is so helpful? Have you done it for an extended period of time? Has it ever made you feel like giving up?" This is in the debate section and there is nothing about your post that even calls for debate. It's just like "Hey, I didn't use a scale and lost some weight. I feel bad for people who use a food scale to lose weight. I couldn't imagine ever doing that. The End."
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Hmm, in an effort to figure out the point of this thread, I went back to the first post:I see some people making a 2nd job out of measuring and weighing.
Really? Or are you IMAGINING that people are spending that much time on it. I realize some find it burdensome and I don't think everyone should do it (or needs to), but for me it takes no extra time to weigh my food while cooking. Logging takes a little extra time and trying to estimate what I eat at a restaurant does, so I don't plan to always log, but even when I'm not I occasionally weigh things and for some foods (like oatmeal and pasta and ice cream) I do regularly weigh out portions as a self-check. If this extra 5 seconds or so is a "second job" you must have a very unusual first one.
Also, when I used to bake (something I rarely do now, so, wowie! extra time), I would weigh ingredients, and didn't find it burdensome then.I feel sorry for those people that weigh everything, all the time.
Of all the things in the world, this is a really strange thing to pity people for, especially if they are happy and given that it's a chosen activity that they could stop doing if they disliked it/thought it wasn't worth it. Don't you see how condescending this sounds?I know when you are closer to your goal weight it can make more of a difference. But after gaining back the weight I lost (in a 2 year span, for reasons like not logging at all) I have been able to lose another 30 lbs, still not weighing.
I know I can lose without weighing, but if I am close to goal weight (currently I am) and have a goal of trying to maintain and then gain muscle without regaining significant fat, there are reasons to try to hit a precise calorie goal (I'm not really doing that at the moment, as I am trying to get back to logging and figure out my real TDEE, as I stopped logging for quite a while). I switched to weighing when I didn't need to be so precise (I was still easily losing 2 lb/week) because I find it much more bearable and fun to log when weighing. If you find weighing to add to the pain, that's fine, but just remember people are different. Many of us enjoy the added detail and accuracy and much prefer weighing to estimating.Has anyone measured their food and logged
routinely for 8+ years?
Don't know, don't care, don't see how it's relevant. I probably never will. IMO, something isn't useful only if you plan to do it consistently forever.I thought, after losing 100 lbs, I had an idea of portions, but it turns out I did not if I wasn't logging my food.
Okay. I actually do have a good idea of portions and find logging more annoying than weighing. I spot check weigh, as noted above, when not logging. I also sometimes weigh foods like vegetables to be sure I am eating as much as I think or just because I am interested in how closely I can predict the weight or what something new might weigh -- again, I may be weird, but I find this fun and a normal part of the cooking process (I've always hated using measuring cups).
I have maintained for 18 months and am starting to log again because for me it's motivation to keep a deficit (or I am hoping it will be), since like I said I find tracking interesting.
What was your real point in starting this thread if not to insult those of us who find weighing worth doing?8 -
I'm short and middle aged. I must weigh my foods because there is almost no margin of error. People with more leeway might be able to get away with not measuring sometimes.1
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I have an appetite that far outweighs my physical abilities therefore I need to log and weigh most of my food to stay even. Can I do it without weighing? Yup, but I would probably under-eat rather than over-eat trying to get portion sizes correct. Weighing wasn't really necessary the first 50 lbs or so I lost (I was 120 lbs overweight at the beginning) but as I got closer to my goal it became much harder to lose the weight without being more accurate in my measurements. If you are able to lose the weight at the rate you want without weighing your food, then I'd say good for you! If you can't though, weighing and logging can help. The real trick will be transitioning into not weighing or logging food at maintenance, and that is going to take some time for me. Likely another year. I've been at maintenance and in a recomposition phase for a few months. It's working but wouldn't be if I wasn't weighing and logging everything.0
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I like using a mix of weighing and portioning.
Anything individually wrapped, I don't weight (like granola bars... except is instant oatmeal since I know that my brand can be way off). Anything I cook, I weigh while cooking. But once it's cooked I say I eat 1 portion of it, regardless if that portion is more or less than I think. If I end up eating the whole recipe, I figure it'll balance out. I've recently started backing off of weighing everything. I no longer weigh my apples.. sort of. I weight 1 of them in the batch and use that weight for all of them. When I buy a new batch, especially if it looks like a different size, I weigh it.
However, I'm tall enough and heavy enough that I don't really need the specifics of weighing. Once I lose 10 lbs, I'll likely need to go back to weighing pretty much everything.
My theory is I probably don't want to weigh food all my life... so I want to try to teach myself how to control my weight without weighing all of my food. But I will still track it.
I lost 25 lbs before never weighing anything.. but I also overestimate the calories in the food items when doing this. That's not something everyone will do. And I actually get to eat more when I do weigh my food. However, since starting to weigh my food, I've found calorie counting more stressful. So I'm slowly working my way back to not weighing since I actually had more success with that and have really been struggling (mentally) lately. It's a brain game for me. Less of a physical one.
I think people should be open to trying new things. If not weighing their food isn't working for them, then it's time to start. If weighing isn't working for them... maybe new ideas are needed. They may or may not still include weighing food.1 -
This seems to be an emotional subject. But weighing and logging food works for all walks of life.
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This seems to be an emotional subject. But weighing and logging food works for all walks of life.
but actually its you getting yourself upset.
also as i said before you didnt right your OP well1 -
I'm also curious why people are so offended by what I feel sorry for? It's not like I'm saying, "Man, those starving people in Africa and people that weigh their food really have it tough in life."0
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I'm also curious why people are so offended by what I feel sorry for? It's not like I'm saying, "Man, those starving people in Africa and people that weigh their food really have it tough in life."
could be this line. lol
I see some people making a 2nd job out of measuring and weighing. When I lost 100 lbs in 2 - 3 years. I didn't weigh my food once.3
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