Weighing "everything"
Options
Replies
-
I buy individual servings of yogurt, cottage cheese and peanut butter. I haven't been weighing those. Do you actually dump those out and weigh them?
No, I never once weighed a single-serving packaged item. I don't actually eat many foods that fall into that category, however. If I'd had issues losing maybe I would have started, but there's so much else that's an estimate (any meal I don't make myself, exercise calories, guessing at the right entry to use for certain cuts of meat, etc.) that it just didn't seem worth it to add the extra time, especially since if I eat a single serving it's usually when I'm not at home.4 -
All of your feedback has been so helpful and I thank you. I believe alot of "weigh everything" advice is geared toward those who are not losing steadily or are very close to goal. I've always been a rule follower.5
-
All of your feedback has been so helpful and I thank you. I believe alot of "weigh everything" advice is geared toward those who are not losing steadily or are very close to goal. I've always been a rule follower.
^ Indeed. It's important when it becomes important. I lose on about 200 calorie deficit so I did weigh packaged foods when losing. Before I did that, I could easily overdo by about 50-100 calories some days; so 25-50% of my deficit.
At maintenance now, it's not as important.3 -
To add to what everyone else as said, a trial period of weighing and logging every flipping thing gives you first-hand experience of what things you personally should prioritise weighing in future. For example, I know that I should weigh peanut butter. I've also learned that if I can't be bothered to weigh everything, I can eyeball how much margarine I use pretty well. Oh, and I can estimate the volume of the tomatoes, and skip entering the lettuce at all.1
-
I don't, as calorie counts are inherently not exact anyway, but I do account for approximate serving sizes. Let's say I eat a 250 g can of soup for lunch, and it says serving size is 110 g, servings per container are "approximately 2". I will use the correct multiplier to get the right amount for the entire can. I do buy one brand that has both "one serving" and "entire can" listed, which is nice.0
-
I join those who do NOT weigh prepackaged items. If a container of yoghurt says it is 160g, I accept that it is - or at least on average is close enough
I am quite a lazy logger and I dont weigh things like bananas either - I always buy small ones (so they fit in my lunchbox) and just call every one a small banana - 1 serve.
If I am somewhere else and i eat one that is obviously larger, I might call it 1.5 serves of a small one.
I'm sure they are not all the same size but averages even out.
Accuracy for the sake of accuracy is not worth it to me - I have never tried to be super accurate - what everyone should try to do is find the level of accuracy that brings the desired result - a line that will vary between people.
So, in theory, I lost on an average of 1460 net calories per day - this may or may not be the actual number but since I did lose at the rate I was expecting, the accuracy of the actual number doesnt really matter.
Go by your real life weight loss results - not your 'on paper' numbers.6 -
I stopped tracking my food now but I used to weigh everything. Now that I have a lot more experience, I'd say weighing everything isn't a necessity unless you're not making any progress over time. I'm glad I weighed everything though because some prepackaged items are way off. Things like yogurt have always been within a couple of grams but other items have been shocking. I once weighed a granola bar that was 75 calories more than it was supposed to be. At the time I was running a 250 daily deficit and something like that can easily cancel it out.6
-
If you are losing weight to your satisfaction then I would say that it's not necessary just yet. As your margin of error becomes smaller as you lose more weight, then those sorts of things really start to matter.0
-
Maxematics wrote: »I once weighed a granola bar that was 75 calories more than it was supposed to be. At the time I was running a 250 daily deficit and something like that can easily cancel it out.
For some reason, the box of rolled oats I buy states that one serving is 1/2 cup or 40 grams. Anytime I weigh out a 1/2 cup, however, it's actually 60 grams.
1 -
I have been maintaining for years and I still weigh my meat, avocado, some starchy veggies (carrots, potatoes, corn), bread, cereal, and my oats. I don't weigh anything packaged and I have maintained my weight. It became to obsessive for me to everything and I had to take a step back.2
-
I really only weigh stuff if I'm curious or really dont have a clue on what it contains, but i imagine it's more important the less you are trying to lose. I have a lot to lose and an extra 10% of my daily calorie goal wont make much difference. An extra 200 calories for someone in a 1500 calorie deficit isnt as critical as for someone in a 250 calorie deficit.0
-
When I first started using a food scale I weighed EVERYTHING. I mean every single thing. Lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, onions.. in hindsight it became just way too obsessive for me. Like another posted mentioned I’m a lot more relaxed with tracking & don’t feel the need to weigh out every single thing anymore and still obtain results. For me this works better.
I weigh low calorie veggies so that I will eat MORE of them.- I aim for 28 g / 1 oz lettuce per sandwich and previously was eating less than half an ounce.
- For broccoli I aim for 100 g per servings and was previously eating @ 70 g.
4 -
I am having great success with CICO and my food scale.
However I have a few nagging questions.
I buy individual servings of yogurt, cottage cheese and peanut butter. I haven't been weighing those. Do you actually dump those out and weigh them?
Someday I will reach the point of where every calorie will count...someday.
Please feel free to ask any of your food scale questions here if you'd like.
Thanks!
I do not and never have.0 -
I only weigh things like cashews.
Once a month maybe I pull out the scale to make sure I’m eyeballing close enough, but that’s it. I’ve never weighed prepackaged foods.
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 913 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions