Weighing vs. estimating

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  • kierrakins
    kierrakins Posts: 16 Member
    I have always been an estimator. I have a scale, and I used it a few times just to get an estimate on meat portions, but since then, I haven't touched it (unless a baking recipe requires it). I just don't have the time to weigh everything when I'm cooking, because I enjoy spontaneity. It always annoys me when people basically demand that you use a food scale in some recent threads I have read. You do you, and I'll do me lol. I don't generally eat back the calories I burn doing exercise (unless I feel hungry), since my routines are pretty moderate so any issues with my estimations are generally resolved through my workouts.

    That's just what I do. To each their own :)
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I weigh and measure still, six months into maintenance, because I want no fuzzy edges or misunderstandings about what's going on. It's worth it to me, day to day, to not have a grey area or any gaps in my understanding.
  • ShaeSweetness
    ShaeSweetness Posts: 61 Member
    I have this little tiny food scale from weight watchers from years ago. Its cool and comes in handy. I dont weight everything by any means but ive weighed a few of my favorite foods just to get an idea. im big on low sodium ham and i always log 4 ounces when ive had more than 2 slices. Weighed it out of curiosity and 4 slices is just under 2 ounces, and i realized i had been putting more cals down then needed. I weigh small things like that just to have an idea around the general amount that im eating. The rest of the stuff i just size up on my own from my knowledge of how much things weigh from what ive already seen weighed. But similar to you if in unsure i tend to jack up the calories a bit and with my workouts i always lower the calories a bit to make sure im not cheating myself!
  • artbyrachelh
    artbyrachelh Posts: 338 Member
    "Weighed it out of curiosity and 4 slices is just under 2 ounces, and i realized i had been putting more cals down then needed."

    That's a great example of why indeed food should be weighed!
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
    artbyrachelh wrote: »
    "Weighed it out of curiosity and 4 slices is just under 2 ounces, and i realized i had been putting more cals down then needed."

    That's a great example of why indeed food should be weighed!

    If you want to quote the poster and have it appear like ^ that does, you can hit the "Quote" link below the post you want to quote :smile:

    And I agree weighing can be very useful! It was an eye-opener for me. While I've gotten good at being able to pick out 4 ounces of meat, I still use mine for calorie-dense things like oats, butters, avocados, etc.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited October 2017
    I weighed most things for a while and found it very educational to see where my calories were coming from and portion sizes but was never going to do it forever.
    Transitioned to weighing only calorie dense items (breakfast cereal, cheese for example) and estimating more.

    Crucially I suppose I was prepared to adjust my goals based on consistency and actual results rather than blind faith in numbers.

    I don't find it at all difficult to maintain at goal weight without weighing or logging food. I'm still calorie aware but don't calorie count.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,008 Member
    I'm a scientist, thus of course I weight my food! However, I do allow for some freedom. When I get a new loaf of bread I put in on the scale. Then I use an average based on the number of slices. Weighing my food when cooking is super easy and only takes about a minute extra: peel onion, put on scale, input weight into app, chop onion, Open tube of tomato paste, put on scale and swich on, use paste, put back on scale and log, etc. When cooking a new recipe I have a rough idea on the calories. If I noticed halfway in that it might be far too high in calories then I might make some changes, like use chicken breast instead of paneer for example. If the recipe comes in too low I add something or eat someting else later in the evening. Easy.
  • artbyrachelh
    artbyrachelh Posts: 338 Member
    edited October 2017
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    If you want to quote the poster and have it appear like ^ that does, you can hit the "Quote" link below the post you want to quote.

    Thanks for info
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    I weigh and measure when it's convenient and estimate when it's not.

    It's been accurate enough to allow me to lose 38# over 18 months and maintain my wt at 158 +/-3# over the past 11 months.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,312 Member
    I weigh some food - calorie dense things that it is easy for me to have too much of - cheese, dried fruit, cracker biscuits, for example.
    Rice, meat, veg at tea because i have the scale there and is easy to do.
    But most things I do not weigh - I treat every mandarine or banana or egg as the same size, every cup of coffee as having same amount of milk, a slice of bread, muesli bar etc to be what bar code says it is, a container of yoghurt to contain how much it says it does etc.
    I also estimate when I am out and log things as similar to other things I alredy have in my list

    This worked for me the whole way through - both at the start and as i got closer to goal and when I am in maitnenance.
    Have maintained at BMI of 22 for around 4 years now.

    My advice would not be to weigh as accurately as possible - it would be to weigh as lazily or aproximately as works for you.
  • WannaBeSk
    WannaBeSk Posts: 1 Member
    Personaly I started by weighing all my food and since I have some staples that I just looooooove to eat... I got an eye for how much should a portion be. I spot checked a few times since I just started guestimating how much each portion weighs and Im pretty close every time so that's the way I'm going. Obviously for something new I will do my best to weigh it accurately!
  • ccruz985
    ccruz985 Posts: 646 Member
    I weigh almost everything! I NEED the most accurate count I can get or that's the thing I will be obsessing about for the rest of the day. Cold cuts, nuts, vegetables, fruit. I don't weigh a lot of things that have barcodes though, I generally count on the accuracy of the label (this does not apply to nuts).
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    It is possible to lose weight not counting calories, tracking food, using a food scale. If you are struggling to achieve the result you want logging consistently and as accurately as you can though could be very helpful. A food scale is a useful tool.
    I did not weigh everything starting out and still lost weight. Eventually I started using a food scale for some things like peanut butter, yogurt, cottage cheese, pasta. It is easy and quick.
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