Weigh your food . . . . . .

albinogorilla
albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
edited October 2 in Food and Nutrition
The first two weeks i was on here i weighed and measured everything, and found out that I was eating 3-4 portions of somethings vs the 1 on the label. I think its important for people to get an idea about what portion sizes are when they start, because that can be a real wake up call. It seems I read quite a few posts about people doing everything right.........supposedly.......but in the calories-in calories out game, if you follow the rules the weight comes off. If the weight is not coming off, then it means you are either over estimating your calories burned, either for your activity level, or for your logged exercise calories or that you are underestimating the calories you are taking in.

Case in point, i have my goal set to lose 2 lbs per week, a 1000 calorie deficit per day. I lose 1-2 lbs every week. I stay close to my calorie goal but don't sweat going over, those weeks i lose 1. When i am very strict, i lose the 2. And I only workout (weight train, with maybe 10-15 min of cardio before) for 45 min to an hour 3-4 times per week most weeks. Often I only workout so that i can eat more!!

I think a lot of frustration comes from this logging issue, and can be avoided, and help people to better reach their goals!!
Keep in mind, a lot of calorie info is user submitted.......and that can be a real problem when they are telling you a Chinese Food Chicken finger is only 50 calories........So be careful!!!

Replies

  • healthyliving_girl
    healthyliving_girl Posts: 290 Member
    This is great advice. I tend to pick the highest calorie amounts when there are a few to choose from. But I do measure most of my food. I don't have a scale, but just measuring using measuring cups and spoons has helped me "stay on track," ensuring I don't go over without knowing it. :)

    I think it's too common for people to think bigger For example, my husband will say "that's about a cup of rice" when he gives me some food. However, I once measured his cup of rice and found it was 1.5 cups of rice - a definite calorie difference!
  • catwrangler
    catwrangler Posts: 918 Member
    *sigh*

    This is where I always lose it after awhile. There is nothing more tedious than weighing and measuring foods, yet that is what MUST be done for the rest of my life.
  • GymRatRaceRunner
    GymRatRaceRunner Posts: 160 Member
    I've been weighing my food religiously since I started here, but i only set myself to lose 1lb per week. I've recently changed to losing 1.5lbs per week, but I think I like your idea of shooting for 2 and if you come up a little short, you still lose 1. I might try that.

    I too sometimes workout just so I can eat again. If I want something, and I don't have enough calories without going over, I'll do some aerobics or calistenics for 15-30 mins, depending on how many I need.
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    Maybe I'm just eating the wrong things, but I rarely have to touch a scale to log my food properly. Meat is really the only sticking point. Generally, I just go by what the package says. I used half the package of frozen green beans and there's 5 servings in a package? Well there you go.

    So yes, figuring out what you're eating is essential, but a scale isn't required most of the time for me.
  • VanillaSky72
    VanillaSky72 Posts: 57 Member
    I agree about weighing and counting calories. I lost a lot of my weight doing that too. I need to go back to this because once I hit the calorie intake for the day, then the eating should stop. I go way over my calorie count if I don't count the intake of food. We are the ones shuffling food into our mouths!!! We are the ones that got us fat. There is a lot more than just calories too. Eating Gluten free and preservative free food is a big one too along with eating more raw foods. If your eating 1800 calories full of wheat, bad carbs and sugars, your never going to lose the wieght, so what you eat does matter too.
  • Statsol
    Statsol Posts: 28 Member
    Yes, this is the toughest part without question. In some ways, it makes the case for using prepared foods. A real eye opener for me was when I actually measured a cup of cheerios and poured it in my bowl. My regular "eyeball" serving was almost 2 1/2 times more.

    "Measure and weigh" - nothing is more important in the input side of the equation.
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
    I agree about weighing and counting calories. I lost a lot of my weight doing that too. I need to go back to this because once I hit the calorie intake for the day, then the eating should stop. I go way over my calorie count if I don't count the intake of food. We are the ones shuffling food into our mouths!!! We are the ones that got us fat. There is a lot more than just calories too. Eating Gluten free and preservative free food is a big one too along with eating more raw foods. If your eating 1800 calories full of wheat, bad carbs and sugars, your never going to lose the wieght, so what you eat does matter too.

    Agree, and no matter what others say, i would also add time of day ............ i taking any calories (other than post workout protein shake) after dinner ( no later then 8pm when i am up until 1pm) and it made a huge difference.............
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    I appreciate the distinction between volume and mass, but I admit it. There's a tiny part of me that wanted to get rick rolled.

    *bows head in shame*
  • lmarshel
    lmarshel Posts: 674 Member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    Dam right I lick the spoon! LOL The scale was a real eye opener for me. :)
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    *sigh*

    This is where I always lose it after awhile. There is nothing more tedious than weighing and measuring foods, yet that is what MUST be done for the rest of my life.

    Not necessarily.

    In the same way you wont be reading food labels for the rest of your life. After a while you'll get good at judging simply with your eyes, especially if you eat the same thing often.
  • carrie1128
    carrie1128 Posts: 267 Member
    *sigh*

    This is where I always lose it after awhile. There is nothing more tedious than weighing and measuring foods, yet that is what MUST be done for the rest of my life.

    Not necessarily.

    In the same way you wont be reading food labels for the rest of your life. After a while you'll get good at judging simply with your eyes, especially if you eat the same thing often.
    Exactly! You just have to do it the first few times before you get what 1 portion of cereal looks like for example. I often wonder if people are actually weighing their food and paying attention to portion size when they complain they can't eat their full amount of calories. I am not a big person and I usually have to at least double the portions in the data base.
  • keengkong
    keengkong Posts: 83 Member
    I sometimes weigh food. More commonly I use a measuring cup. Weighing food is more accurate, so long as you have a good scale.
  • NiciS72
    NiciS72 Posts: 1,043 Member
    Amen BigBearw. I also highly recommend you purchase a good food scale, one that is electronic and do both ounces and grams. I think I only paid around $40 for a digital one at Target.

    Case in point, I buy Jimmy Dean's Turkey Sausage Crumbles. The package says 2/3c is 80 calories. HOWEVER in parentheses it says 57 grams. If you weigh out 2/3 cup it's WAY more than 57 grams. SO, I use the scale EVERYTIME!!!!! I've found this discrepancy on A LOT of foods and now that I'm weighing EVERYTHING I see more movement in the scale!

    Happy Eating/Losing Ya'll!
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