losing weight without food scale

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neerajanarayan1967
neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
in Success Stories
Anybody lost weight by calorie counting without a food scale? I have a considerable weight to lose. Pls advise.
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  • pkweier
    pkweier Posts: 349 Member
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    I did not use a food scale until March 2017 when I joined MFP and I lost 145 pounds just by cutting what I ate in half. ( I started Jan 2016) I stalled and a co-worker told me about this site. I now weigh all my food and lost almost 40 more since March. I will continue weighing my food as I'm trying to find my maintenance calories.

    While it worked for me not weighing food I recommend that you do if you find your not losing as you want.
  • neerajanarayan1967
    neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
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    Thank you very much for your immediate response. I am using MFP for calorie counting without a food scale. I lost some inches all around my body but no weight change on the scale. I started on sep '17 so i am worried. Pls advise.
  • notreallychris
    notreallychris Posts: 501 Member
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    I would imagine that tracking calories on mfp without a food scale would be wildly inaccurate. Be it good or bad. You could be overestimating or underestimating something as simple as peanut butter, and eyeballing or guessing that could mess up your whole day.

    Are you lifting?
    What are you worried about?
  • neerajanarayan1967
    neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
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    I am doing Leslie Sansone walking and Jillian Michaels 30 days shred 5 days a week. I do 2 miles walking followed by JM 30 days shred. I have 65 lbs to lose.
  • bigjonb4116
    bigjonb4116 Posts: 154 Member
    edited November 2017
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    i lost my first 140lbs by calorie counting / controlling portion sizes and without MFP,but i cut out as much processed food and takeaways , cakes sweets fizzy etc. so losing the weight was inevitable, but i am using MFP religiously now, and fine tuning the cals etc, MFP keeps you accountable.(i was starting from 32.5st so any amount i cut down was going to make a difference)
    There is so much available info on the internet now , that as you get into your weightloss journey you learn more along the way, and you can fine tune to what suits you best-the important thing to do is just to start the journey!!
    if you are controlling your calories going in, and you can add a bit of exercise too even if its only walking, then your weight will start to come off.
    good luck
  • taziarj
    taziarj Posts: 243 Member
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    If you have a lot to lose and MFP is setting you up with a 1000 calorie daily deficit, losing weight without a food scale will be easier. The larger the deficit, the higher the margin of error. It is when you get to a 250 or 500 daily deficit that it becomes more important to use a scale. Just a slight inaccuracy can wipe out a small deficit and put you in to maintenance or even a surplus.
  • brig220
    brig220 Posts: 52 Member
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    Any kind of tracking will make you eat less and you’ll loose weight, especially if you have a lot to loose. For example, you’re going to think twice between 0.5 cup and 1 cup of rice, its down to portion control. All of that reduction is significant and will make you loose. A scale is a useful gadget that isn’t very expensive. I use it for meat mostly, everything else on this app seems to have volume counter as well as weight.
  • neerajanarayan1967
    neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
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    Thank you very much for your advise. I am controlling my portions but i am not seeing any result on the weighing scale. It is not budging. I am drinking lot of water also. I am a south indian as well as house wife, I am not used to much processed foods. Is losing inches okay? Will it be followed by weight loss considerably? Pls clarify. I am ovewhelmed by the members response. Thanks once again.
  • notreallychris
    notreallychris Posts: 501 Member
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    neerajanarayan1967 wrote: »
    Thank you very much for your advise. I am controlling my portions but i am not seeing any result on the weighing scale. It is not budging. I am drinking lot of water also. I am a south indian as well as house wife, I am not used to much processed foods. Is losing inches okay? Will it be followed by weight loss considerably? Pls clarify. I am ovewhelmed by the members response. Thanks once again.

    This is why a food scale is important. If you're eyeballing portions, and the scale isn't moving, your likely eating at maintenance.

    If you were gaining, you'd be eating at a surplus.

    If you want to lose, you need to be in a deficit.
  • neerajanarayan1967
    neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
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    Thank you. I will buy it asap.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    I lost all of my weight - 100 lbs. - without using a food scale. I only used measuring cups and measuring spoons, so it is possible.

    I cook and eat a number of Indian style dishes. There are a lot of Calories added to many Indian dishes from the oil and ghee during cooking. There is also a lot of oil in the pickled condiments - I make homemade pickled lemon with a quarter of the oil the recipe calls for.

    Fats have more than twice as many Calories per gram (9) than Carbs (4) and Protein (4). My guess is that you need to measure your cooking oils and ghee more carefully; you may be eating a lot more Calories from fats than you are estimating.
  • neerajanarayan1967
    neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
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    Point noted sir. I am cooking in my house but i will defenitely keep an eye on this.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    neerajanarayan1967 wrote: »
    Point noted sir. I am cooking in my house but i will defenitely keep an eye on this.

    Are you using MFP's Recipe Tool to track the Calories in your homemade recipes?
  • Lisa8823168
    Lisa8823168 Posts: 139 Member
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    I concur with posting about the ability to loose weight without a scale. Measuring cups/spoons and reading packages to understand what amount of calories are for those measurements is key.

    Be careful when choosing your food items in MFP lists. Same items may have several listing...not all accurate to packaging. When in doubt, hit the product manufactures website for nutritional information.

    CyberTone made a great point about using the recipe section. Do make sure you follow that same recipe each time you make your favorite dishes. I am a pretty good cook, but I found it necessary to stop winging my recipes and stop using my hands as my measuring spoons. Items you would not suspect, can be very high is calories and macro nutrients.

    The first several months will be very educational...invest the time and you will really benefit...even without a scale.
  • bellaesprita000
    bellaesprita000 Posts: 384 Member
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    I lost 23 lbs in just under 90 days without a food scale. I've been successful using measuring cups and spoons thus far, but know it's possible due to a higher calorie deficit. Once I get closer to my weight goal, my calorie deficit will decrease and I'll have to be more accurate in my logging.

    I second double-checking all entries in the database as well as on packages of things you buy regularly fairly often.
  • neerajanarayan1967
    neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
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    yes. I am using MFP's recipe tool and get the calories logged. As lisawolfinger said I used to choose the same item every time. By the way when you people see the first weight loss result on machine? I lost considerable inches in my waist and other parts within one month. I want to know whether i am going in a right path. pls give your opinions.
  • evilpoptart63
    evilpoptart63 Posts: 397 Member
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    I lost most of my weight by tracking my food old school with a pen and paper. I had absolutely no problem with it when I had a good amount of weight to lose but eventually I got down to the last 15-20lbs and bought a food scale to be more accurate. If what you are doing now is working, might as well stick with it :) just keep an eye on the scale and your measurements to make sure you are staying on track with your goals. Good luck!!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,191 Member
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    neerajanarayan1967 wrote: »
    Anybody lost weight by calorie counting without a food scale? I have a considerable weight to lose. Pls advise.

    People can lose weight without a kitchen scale. Usually the recommendation to use a scale is when a person is saying they are only eating 1000 calories a day while exercising every day and not losing weight. In those sort of instances the vast majority are not logging well, and are eating far more than they think they are. In that case, a food scale and carefully selecting the database entries for the correct ones becomes necessary. You can measure your portions other ways to successfully lose weight, but it is far easier to do with the more accurate way to measure, using a scale.
  • jaci66
    jaci66 Posts: 139 Member
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    The larger you are, the easier it is to lose weight without a food scale. As you get closer to your goal weight, the food scale comes in very handy for losing as it helps track your calories more precisely. I would suggest you continue doing what you're doing if it is working for you. Consider, at some point though, the practical need/use for the food scale. I have found it comes in very handy and they aren't expensive.

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