losing weight without food scale

neerajanarayan1967
neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
edited November 22 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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Replies

  • pkweier
    pkweier Posts: 349 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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: 155 Member
    edited November 2017
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    Thank you. I will buy it asap.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    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
    Point noted sir. I am cooking in my house but i will defenitely keep an eye on this.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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: 8,331 Member
    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
    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.
  • baoyaoren
    baoyaoren Posts: 11 Member
    If you lost several inches, it means you should be doing something right.

    Basically, if you started a new exercise regime, your body needs to build the muscle suited to that exercise.

    You started about 6 weeks ago, meaning that if you keep the same level of exercise you should probably see weight loss soon.

    If don't start losing weight and stop losing circumference over a week or two, and you don't want to deal with a kitchen scale (I don't) you can try to change the nutrient ratio of your meals. Look at what you have logged now, if you tend to surpass the preset nutrient goal with sugar, carbs or fat. Change the meals to reduce that one, and instead add more vegetables and protein. Even if your measurement isn't exact, as you homecook it should be relatively consistent.
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,899 Member
    You would probably be shocked how your portions will be different than eyeballing while using a scale. Not just food scale but measuring spoons as well.
    A food diary is a mandatory tool too!
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
    All you need to lose weight is eat less than you burn. That said a scale is a super useful cheep too. It is silly and much harder to go without.
    Can you build a shed without a hammer? Perhaps but it is a cheap easy tool that would make it much better so why would you skip it?
  • pogiguy05
    pogiguy05 Posts: 1,583 Member
    A food scale is a great tool. As others have mentioned you would be very surprised at how much a serving of something is when weighed.

    As for the weight and inches. It is better to believe what you see in the mirror and when you measure then what the scale says. Muscle weighs more then fat so it could be that you have started to gain muscle.
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,169 Member
    Congratulations on losing inches! I am happier about losing girth around my waist than hitting a particular weight. My clothing is definitely fitting better. I would agree with those who recommend buying a food scale. I made very good progress without one for three months, then seemed to stay at the same weight. I started using a food scale and discovered I was overeating calorie-dense foods like cheese because I underestimated what a one ounce serving looked like. I wasn't accurately logging in my calorie intake because I was making guesses.
  • DEBOO7
    DEBOO7 Posts: 245 Member
    Concur with many posted comments.... in the beginning just cutting out processed foods, booze, takeaways, sodas, ice cream etc works - and amazingly so! I lost 60lbs in 7 months doing that alone. However there comes a time when you're leaner and leaner bodies require more hands-on management. In a sense every calorie counts. Now 3.5 yrs and 99lbs down I weigh pretty much everything I eat. That includes having a scale in my drawer at work which makes the team giggle as they call it my druggie scale.
    The beginning of the journey is tough, the end of the journey requires grit and focus.
    For me the last 5lbs are elusive.
    Will my body co-operate... probably not.
    Will I give up.... probably not.
  • neerajanarayan1967
    neerajanarayan1967 Posts: 41 Member
    Excellent comments and advises. Thank you very much for the overwhelming response.
  • ccruz985
    ccruz985 Posts: 646 Member
    I did but halfway through I plateaued and it wouldn't budge. Changing my workout routine and getting that scale not only jumpstarted the loss but took me all the way to the finish line.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Some do but I can't. I slide right back up to eating like a 280 pound woman and become a 280 pound woman. I'm finally accepting that I will always need to weigh and measure both my food and myself. If I could do it without those tools I wouldn't have spent the last 50+ years of my life fat.
  • 2snakeswoman
    2snakeswoman Posts: 655 Member
    Just start out with measuring spoons and cups. If you use them faithfully, and you're not getting the results that you want, then invest in a food scale. I use both, and my problem is not that my equipment isn't accurate enough, it's that I get tired and just start eating without even trying. So I'd say the first step for both of us (maybe) is just get used to taking the time to measure and write down what you're eating. I gained a lot of weight just trying to eat less without actually quantifying anything.
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