Food Scales that work with My Fitness Pal?

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Koiotic
Koiotic Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello,

Would anyone know of a food scale that will work w/My Fitness Pal? I have found a few that do connect to an App - but haven't found one that works w/My Fitness Pal.

Love the idea of the App - I see another one that has the info directly on the scale - I'm counting Macros so it seems like a good idea - as I have noticed that I really have to pay attention to items in the food logs to make sure they are accurate.

Any help/ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks! and have a great day!

Replies

  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    I’ve never heard of a connection between MFP and a food scale. But it’s easy to enter weights once you get used to the app.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited September 2021
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    I'm trying to envision the simplification that would provide.

    You have your item in hand you are going to weigh.
    You find the item in the app database whose weight is going to be received and tap on it.
    You weigh the item, perhaps tap a send button if really done, how would the scale know otherwise.
    The scale sends the weight either to it's app & account, and account syncs to MFP account & back to app, and updates the weight of the item being eaten. (or MFP uses bluetooth and spends the money for programming to talk to this scale)

    But now you have to tell the app what the serving size is in weight - not all entries are by grams or weight at all, many are per volume.
    So now you have to look at package, see what the weight is per serving, perhaps input that or do the math for how many servings.

    Because the scale has no idea of weight per serving, it's weighing an unknown item.

    I think you have not gotten to see the food database enough to see it ain't going to work except for allowing you to not punch in the weight - but you would have to punch in extra details for just a weight reading to be meaningful.

    It's much easier to look at package, see the weight per serving, weigh out as many servings are part of servings you want, math in the head.
    Then find the item in the database, confirm the nutritional info matches the label in hand.
    Enter the number of servings.
    Then it really doesn't matter if the database entry is using volume, or pieces, or about 1/2 package, or whatever - you already know how many servings per weight.
    Done.


    Curious too how a scale allows counting macros beyond putting the item in your food diary and the macros are right there counted up for the day?
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,428 Member
    edited September 2021
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    What @heybales says. I was looking for a new scale a little while ago. I accidentally poked a hole in the soft plastic screen covering my LED readout on my faithful three year old Ozeri, which has been a workhorse through spills and drops.I figure next time it really gets wet, it’ll go kaput.

    I have the Renpho body scale and like it, so was looking at their food scale. Lots of complaints about their app, but since I use MFP anyway, I couldn’t care less.

    What I would like is one that can:
    1.) handle heavier weights (mine often errors out if the bowl is full, necessitating additional bowls to weight additional ingredients, creating unnecessary dishwashing
    2.) one that I can read weight on a dinner plate or larger bowl without precariously balancing it hanging off one side. When I was doing a ton of eBay, I had a postage scale with a sort of pullout function so I could read the weight of the package was covering it. I think I’ll be looking for something that does that, if it’s available on a kitchen scale.
    3.)I’m afraid of getting a large flat scale because it will take up so much countertop real estate.

    Luckily they’re all cheap and reliable, so if I get one I hate I won’t feel bad Goodwilling it on. My kitchen scale is worth its own weight in gold. It’s the single most used item in my kitchen, so worth getting right.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Check out America's Test Kitchen reviews - they liked the Ozeri (which is why I got it too), but they had a nicer one with pull out readout you mention, and heavier weight possible, for a bit more (I just didn't need those functions).
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I mean, in a way, all food scales work with MFP...

    But I'm not aware of, like, a "smart" food scale that syncs to MFP.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    Check out America's Test Kitchen reviews - they liked the Ozeri (which is why I got it too), but they had a nicer one with pull out readout you mention, and heavier weight possible, for a bit more (I just didn't need those functions).

    This review is from 2016 and has my first model of "OXO Good Grips 11-Pound Stainless Steel Food Scale with Pull-Out Display" as their top choice.

    https://www.americastestkitchen.com/equipment_reviews/1696-digital-kitchen-scales

    I have two of them. The one I bought in 2018 is a battery HOG. Oh, and it has a really hard time with weights under 4 grams. Hopefully they've since improved these issues.

    My earlier model is at my mothers, and I liked it better, except for the fact that it would not stick at the last type of measurement used - every time it turns on it resets to oz, and since I primarily use grams I find this annoying.

    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B079D9B82W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    I also have an Ozeri, which is fine with low amounts of grams. However, it doesn't have much capacity. I am currently using both scales - the Ozeri for calorie dense foods like olive oil and the OXO for heavier foods and foods in bigger containers or pots.

    Probably when I move to Mom's I will ditch the two new ones and just use the 2016 OXO.
  • farendabell1
    farendabell1 Posts: 1 Member
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    I’m with you @Koiotic . As you said, there are scales with their own apps that log your food as well. Seems MFP would just partner with someone to keep it in the family.

    I log everything and made a 20 ingredient dinner. For the fresh stuff it’s be nice to look it up in MFP, throw it on the scale and log it. Instead, I gotta look it up, weigh it, change the unit if measure (assuming there’s one that’s a simple equivalent), type it in, change to decimal if necessary, and log it.

    If it’s scannable, a compatible scale could scan, weigh, done.

    I also make a lot of larger recipes and this would be good for that too.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,389 Member
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    Uh, I'm not sure how that would work. The barcode scanner is bad at the worst of time, and when the wrong product pops up, or one without units in grams then I have to search by hand. If a scale sends the weight to the app then I still have to find the right product with the right units. For that the app needs a buffer to keep the weight in case I click on the wrong product. Otherwise I have to weigh again and try again. Or just add the info by hand to start with.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Dittos.
    @farendabell1 - keep using MFP and looking up items and you'll soon discover why the typing in of numbers and perhaps clicking the unit is nothing compared to finding the correct item to even use.

    I could see if you have gotten the vast majority of stuff you'll be weighing to be in your frequent list for easy access - in which case the unit is already correct, just a number change. But awaiting feedback from pressing a button on the scale to "send" could be a tad quicker.

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