You don't use a food scale?

I use a cheap $9 food scale. Weigh and measure almost everything. Makes a big difference in my ability to keep within my calorie budget, especially since my budget is only 1300 calories. When I don't have a scale available (restaurant meal, dinner at a friend's house), I guestimate portion sizes. Eating out is the hardest--I don't know how much extra fat or sugar went into my meal to make it taste really good. Just do you best.

My new food scale will arrive today from Amazon. I'm 20 from GW, and have had my own internal debate over using a scale. I can lose weight w/o, and I know this sounds crazy, but I've been worrying that by using one I will seem a bit too obsessed with the whole food thing. I want to set a good example for my teens, and personally, I feel like I spend a good portion of my time thinking about my food planning. Still, I get the argument about accurate measurements
Anyone else feel this way?

I've been on here actively a week can anyone recommend a good food scale?

OhMsDiva wrote: »

I will admit that I have never weighed a tortilla or a piece of bread.

It's funny you should mention this, because when I make PB toast for breakfast, typically I place the toast on the scale, tare, and then add the PB directly to the toast until i reach my preferred grams. I did this for 2 pieces this morning and prior to the tare, I noticed a difference of 3 grams between the two slices of toast. Not to say that changed my entry in any way, I'm not about to start weighing and obsessing over each individual bread slice unless and until my deficit is so small that I have to do so in order to keep losing, but it was an interesting moment.

Also, I do this for salads since it's been mentioned here. I don't think it takes any longer to weigh all of the ingredients in a salad. I put the bowl on the scale, tare, add an item and note it, then tare, add an item and note it, etc until I have accurate information to log. It doesn't seem especially difficult or tedious to me.

mkculs wrote: »

My thinking is that when the deficit is large and there is a lot of weight to lose, weighing probably isn't AS essential (unless you are one of those folks who fills every measuring utensil beyond full, every time), but it does make a difference *and* helps you with the information/data you are gathering. More importantly, as each of us gets to the end of the losing stage, those small deficits will be hard to maintain consistently without weighing. I have lots of time until I get there but find weighing food is just easier

Well said, and I think it just builds good habits that will serve us well when we do reach that final stretch.

DoubleUbea wrote: »

I weigh bread, using rye or multi-grain bread, each slice can be a different size and weight. It isn't drastic but I do it anyway.

I do the same. I weigh just to check and see if it's in line with the serving size grams. If it's more then a couple grams off, I will adjust my entry though. I once had a ciabatta roll come in at 30 grams over the suggested serving size! Sliced bread is usually dead on or pretty close.

I do have a question though. What do you all do when the barcode scanned entry gives you Milliliters instead of grams? I've found if I use milliliters the calories are WAY off. (Why a liquid measurement option is available on so many solid foods, I have no idea. ) For now, I just divide my measurement to grams per serving and go that route. But it would be nice to not have to do math all the time. But why is milliliters available so often? Am I missing something?

^^ This is why it took me so long to finally break down and buy a scale. I wasn't weighing a thing, and was losing weight. I think you're right it really boils down to consistency. Even measuring cups and spoons should work to a point (leveled, not heaping) as long as you are consistent. That being said, the scale has made certain foods so much easier to enter into the database. It's a life saver for measuring out whole foods like meat and veggies. I for one can't eyeball what 3oz of meat looks like, nor do I really know what a serving of sliced watermelon looks like.

It's also surprisingly more convenient to just plop out 113(1 serving) grams of cottage cheese onto my plate. Instead of looking at it and going "Is that 1/2 a cup? A bit more? Maybe I should measure so I know what it looks like...?" Or the often mentioned peanut butter. Stick the thing on the scale, tare and scoop out your serving. Way easier then guessing or using a tablespoon to make sure you got 1 serving.

Admittedly, I don't weigh everything. I either forget to tare and plop it on my plate, or it's packaged food and I'm at work. Or I'm cooking for a crowd and can't be bothered with it, lol. If I stall out, I know where my pitfalls are, and right now it's not lack of weighing. It's "Crap I forgot to plan dinner. Let's grab something." And over-eating in general. lol. BUT I still think it's really important for people to do. Especially if they aren't very good at eyeballing portion and serving sizes. Or for things you really can't eyeball very well. Our eyes are untrustworthy little buggers anyways...