Do you weight everything?

LisaTcan · November 2016

I just had a baby and I'm struggling to lose weight more than I have in the past. I bought a food scale to start weighting rather than measuring my portions. Surprisingly I'm already pretty accurate (i.e. what I have been logging as two tablespoons of peanut butter is actually 30gms).

My question is - how much of your food do you weight everyday? Meats, veggies, packaged foods? For example if I'm having two slices of bread that is pre-sliced should I be weighing it?

Thanks!

queenliz99 · November 2016

In the beginning I weighed everything. Now I have good idea what portion sizes look like. As for bread, I would weigh it.

janejellyroll · November 2016

When I'm shooting for a deficit, I do weigh everything. I'm maintaining now, so I'm a little looser. Bread is something that, in my experience, can vary a lot from the calorie count that you would expect. If you're struggling to lose, tightening up your logging can make a big difference.

Spliner1969 · November 2016

I agree with @janejellyroll, if you're still losing weight weigh it all if you can. Granted some things, like a half cup of milk or half cup of almond milk is not that big of deal unless of course we're talking about whole milk which can add up. But in general if it's a solid and can be weighed, do it. I'm also in maintenance now so I don't weigh any liquids, and I might not weigh a slice or two of bread, I'll just go off the label/bar code. But meats/other things like cereals, veggies, I still weigh. I'm pretty good at estimating by sight but I'd rather be accurate while I'm in recomp so my macros are as accurate as they can be.

besaro · November 2016

i typically don't bother weighing prepackaged items. sliced bread from the grocery, nah, sliced bread from the local bakery? yes. I have occasionally weighed a tortilla just to see consistency of packaged goods and they are pretty damn accurate. but i weigh 99% of my items.

Jetamu96 · November 2016

I usually weigh things that i'm more likely to underestimate. Like if I'm craving some chocolate or nuts I make sure I weigh it because otherwise the little devil on my shoulder will tell me that I didn't really have THAT much.. xD If the packet tells me how much each piece/slice is then I don't bother weighing it

lemurcat12 · November 2016

When I was logging and weighing (I'm not now), I did not weigh single serving things (like a plain single serving yogurt or a protein bar), and I probably wouldn't have weighed bread of the type you are talking about, and I also did not weigh oil used in cooking/salad dressing (used a spritzer and estimated or a teaspoon). I weighed most other things, which was the vast majority of what I ate. I found it easier than estimating or messing around with cups or spoons.

If I had had an issue with losing I would have tightened up on the logging for a week to see if I was off before cutting calories, though.

Wynterbourne · November 2016

If it's not a liquid, yes. Including prepackaged items. US law allows weights to be off by as much as 20%. If you don't have that much to lose, not weighing those multiple slices of bread that say 100 calories on the package, but are actually 120 calories can eat up a deficit quite easily.

graysmom2005 · November 2016

Yes. My scale just chills on my counter. Folks, I'd weigh prepackaged foods. It's an estimate and many times can be a TON more calories than it says on the box.

LisaTcan · November 2016

OK thanks for all the comments! I will start weighing packaged foods I eat regularly to make sure the calories I've been logging are accurate. I find measuring cups much easier for liquids so I'll probably continue using them for that but weigh dry foods.

avskk · November 2016

I weigh everything that isn't a pure liquid -- prep-portioned things like bread and granola bars, cans of soup, raw spinach leaves, meats and cheeses, vegetables and fruits, crackers and candies, salad dressings and olive oil, even my purportedly 0-calorie cooking spray. I measure liquids such as milk, coffee creamer, and stock.

GottaBurnEmAll · November 2016

The only things I don't weigh are very low calorie condiments like sriracha, sugar-free ketchup, soy sauce and things like spices. I log them, but just ballpark guess the amounts. From being a cook who can accurately measure anything from 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of something in the palm of her hand, I can pretty much guess the volume of these things.

I also guess at how much cooking spray I've used, logging anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon. For a big bowl of air popped popcorn that I spray with it, I log a full teaspoon.

rileysowner · November 2016

LisaTcan wrote: »

I just had a baby and I'm struggling to lose weight more than I have in the past. I bought a food scale to start weighting rather than measuring my portions. Surprisingly I'm already pretty accurate (i.e. what I have been logging as two tablespoons of peanut butter is actually 30gms).

My question is - how much of your food do you weight everyday? Meats, veggies, packaged foods? For example if I'm having two slices of bread that is pre-sliced should I be weighing it?

Thanks!

Pretty much everything except for liquids, and even those when I have the appropriate conversion, so water and milk. In terms of pre-sliced breads, I have found some are pretty close, but many are off, some by large amounts.

Francl27 · December 2016

Everything except yogurt cups (I did a few times and it was always under, so I don't care). I've had some bad surprises!

fidangul · December 2016

I haven't ever weighed my pre-sliced bread before. But I weigh it if I'm slicing it. I haven't had any problems losing nor maintaining so far.

I do do a lot of eating out at restaurants and family/friends homes too, so I do my best to guestimate well......However, I eat at least one meal per day at my mum's house. So I've bought a kitchen scale that she happily keeps in her kitchen for me to use.

CooCooPuff · December 2016

I don't weight: yogurt cups, things in squeeze tubes, stuff like gum and bullion cubes, food when I'm not at home

LushFix · December 2016

Totally just noshed down a protein bar.... I should start weighing them.

I weigh most things, including bread, it's always wrong, I actually find weighing a lot of foods easier then using spoons anyways!

HappyGrape · December 2016

weight loss almost everything. Now not random, but I estimate 75% of the time and seem to be working

i always measure pasta home as it's something I always underestimate!

Wynterbourne · December 2016

k9education wrote: »

LisaTcan wrote: »

I just had a baby and I'm struggling to lose weight more than I have in the past. I bought a food scale to start weighting rather than measuring my portions. Surprisingly I'm already pretty accurate (i.e. what I have been logging as two tablespoons of peanut butter is actually 30gms).

My question is - how much of your food do you weight everyday? Meats, veggies, packaged foods? For example if I'm having two slices of bread that is pre-sliced should I be weighing it?

Thanks!

I weigh pretty much anything that is practical to weigh. I weigh my cereal, frozen veggies, peanut butter, meats, etc. Generally, I don't weigh anything that is typically measured in quantity. For example, I don't weigh mini Reeses Peanut Butter cups. I don't weigh yogurt cups (though I would weigh a serving of yogurt out of a large container). I don't weigh ice cream novelty bars (but I do weigh ice cream). I don't weigh pre-sliced bread. What would you record anything? 7/8 of a slice? 1 1/8 of a slice? Oh no, my 40-calorie bread weighs 10% more than an average slice according to the bag! My progress is ruined by that extra 4 calories! C'mon. Failing to weigh it is going to have absolutely no appreciable difference in your diet unless all you are consuming is bread.

You weigh it in grams. That's why the info on the package reads, for example: Serving Size: 1 slice (56g).

janejellyroll · December 2016

k9education wrote: »

LisaTcan wrote: »

I just had a baby and I'm struggling to lose weight more than I have in the past. I bought a food scale to start weighting rather than measuring my portions. Surprisingly I'm already pretty accurate (i.e. what I have been logging as two tablespoons of peanut butter is actually 30gms).

My question is - how much of your food do you weight everyday? Meats, veggies, packaged foods? For example if I'm having two slices of bread that is pre-sliced should I be weighing it?

Thanks!

I weigh pretty much anything that is practical to weigh. I weigh my cereal, frozen veggies, peanut butter, meats, etc. Generally, I don't weigh anything that is typically measured in quantity. For example, I don't weigh mini Reeses Peanut Butter cups. I don't weigh yogurt cups (though I would weigh a serving of yogurt out of a large container). I don't weigh ice cream novelty bars (but I do weigh ice cream). I don't weigh pre-sliced bread. What would you record anything? 7/8 of a slice? 1 1/8 of a slice? Oh no, my 40-calorie bread weighs 10% more than an average slice according to the bag! My progress is ruined by that extra 4 calories! C'mon. Failing to weigh it is going to have absolutely no appreciable difference in your diet unless all you are consuming is bread.

You'd record in in grams.

And I've had calorie differences as much as 70-80 calories for pre-sliced/prepackaged items. When you are closer to goal or on a smaller deficit, that can add up pretty quick. A 40-calorie slice of bread isn't going to have that much of an impact if it weighs 10% more. But if you're eating a more calorie-dense bread or roll, it can make a difference. When I have bread it's usually at least 80-120 calories per standard slice, so I like to know how much I am eating.

Do you weight everything?

Replies

Categories