To anyone who doesn't have a food scale. . .

jen1127
jen1127 Posts: 19
edited December 16 in Food and Nutrition
Go buy one immediately! I've been guesstimating my food sizes for the last 2 weeks and boy was I off! The chicken breast I thought was 4oz was actually 8oz!! So my diaries are probably all messed up with inaccurate portions. This food scale is now becoming the most used thing in my kitchen!
«134

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    QFT


    Absolutely a necessity for accurate portions. I agree - $20 well spent.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    Thanks, but if I got to the stage I was measuring everything I ate, I would consider myself to have an eating disorder. I have managed to lose all the weight I wanted to without one.
  • carajo
    carajo Posts: 532 Member
    Thanks, but if I got to the stage I was measuring everything I ate, I would consider myself to have an eating disorder. I have managed to lose all the weight I wanted to without one.
    I have to agree...I would get OBSESSED with the thing and not dare eat without it;) I know myself all too well!!!
  • NKF92879
    NKF92879 Posts: 601 Member
    I have one, but I only use it for about 1/4 of the stuff I eat. Calorie counts are always going to be an estimate, anyway...
  • kanonxbou47
    kanonxbou47 Posts: 265 Member
    Thanks, but if I got to the stage I was measuring everything I ate, I would consider myself to have an eating disorder. I have managed to lose all the weight I wanted to without one.

    Imthink my bulimia was bad enough without a food scale.
  • MsDreaB
    MsDreaB Posts: 97 Member
    Yeah I def. need to go buy one..for the most part I eat things with calorie content on the side but I am eating more meats and stuff so I think it would be good idea to weigh how much is 2 oz etc I just don't want to get too obsessed :/
  • douglasmobbs
    douglasmobbs Posts: 563 Member
    It would not be a for ever thing, scales really help with portion control.

    Once you have used them for a while you get used to what things approximately weigh.
  • androde
    androde Posts: 96 Member
    Thanks, but if I got to the stage I was measuring everything I ate, I would consider myself to have an eating disorder. I have managed to lose all the weight I wanted to without one.

    I got all OCD with mine till I accidentally broke it.
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
    QFT


    Absolutely a necessity for accurate portions. I agree - $20 well spent.

    for 20 bucks, what's the best one to get?
  • Le_Joy
    Le_Joy Posts: 549 Member
    My food scale helps me from getting too obsessed. Instead of being like do they mean a level 2/3 cup or stressing about how to measure spaghetti, I just weight things. Makes it much easier for me. Some people don't need one to lose, then again some people can eat whatever they want and never get to be as fat as I am now having already lost 65 lbs.
  • Art63
    Art63 Posts: 87
    Excellent advice about using a food scale. It's so simple to just put the plate on top, turn the scale on, and plop down your food. I use mine a lot.

    Another point worth adding that goes right along with the original post....measuring out things like cereal was a shocker for me. What I had been placing in my bowl was way more than what the cereal box used for computing the calories. In other words, if you're not measuring as well as weighing you may be fooling yourself as to the number of calories for your portion.
  • jen1127
    jen1127 Posts: 19
    For me (who's very new to this site and calorie counting) I'm finding that I had NO idea of the right portion sizes. I was waaayyy off, thus affecting my serving size and calories. So for me it is most needed until I get more experienced.
  • abibrand
    abibrand Posts: 10
    Everyone is different, but it can be really hard to eyeball things if you've never really been into these things before.
  • JeSuisPrest
    JeSuisPrest Posts: 2,005 Member
    Best investment ever!!! Other than maybe an HRM!
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    I weigh absolutely everything, even to the point where I had to buy a scale that weighs in smaller increments. I don't think it's OCD at all, just good to know how many calories I am eating, kind of the point of my food diary really :drinker:
  • beckylawrence70
    beckylawrence70 Posts: 752 Member
    got one, a must!
  • lisapr123
    lisapr123 Posts: 863 Member
    I agree. There are items (nuts especially) that I can either buy in bulk and package to individual serving sizes, or pay a lot more and have them prepackaged for me. And meat is a particularly good thing (for me) to measure out. My eyeballing skills suck when there is a beautiful filet in front of me!

    If something isn't measured out, it's not a big deal. Things are estimations....from calories in to calories burned during exercise. But knowledge is power and a food scale helps tremendously. People will spend $100 on a heart rate monitor, but not $10 on a food scale? I don't get it, especially since I'm in the camp that believes weight loss happens in the kitchen more than in the gym.
  • TinkrBelz
    TinkrBelz Posts: 866 Member
    I bought a super cheap one to see if I liked it...and I did. So, I bought the $20 digital scale at Walmart and I love it!
  • SparkleShine
    SparkleShine Posts: 2,001 Member
    I really need to get one! I hate estimating...especially meat!
  • lisadlocks
    lisadlocks Posts: 212 Member
    Of course my eyeballing is way off. The scales don't lie, my eyeballs do!
  • kyle4jem
    kyle4jem Posts: 1,400 Member
    It would not be a for ever thing, scales really help with portion control.

    Once you have used them for a while you get used to what things approximately weigh.

    So true... it helps you get a better perspective on what's what and I can now judge what 100g of this and that are without always getting out the scales, but I still always weigh my cereals because there's such a difference between cinnamon toasties and cheerios and crunchy-nut clusters :tongue:
  • Hernandeak11
    Hernandeak11 Posts: 351 Member
    I personally slightly underestimate weight I found out when I decided to try out my parents' food scale

    I'm probably never going to buy one, but to each their own.
  • laurarpa
    laurarpa Posts: 244 Member
    I love my scale and actually found out I was overestimating a lot. For instance, I thought I had 6 oz of chicken and it was only 4. I'm actually quite accurate at estimating now but I still like to use it sometimes.
  • SteffieMark
    SteffieMark Posts: 1,719 Member
    Thank you for this advice. I added it to my Sunday morning shopping list. I can't wait to use it.
  • DFWTT
    DFWTT Posts: 374
    +1. Got the Taylor Biggest Loser one from Wally World with the glass top. Useful for portion control of high cal beverages like milk and wine, cereal, protein powder and other supplements. Mostly dry goods and ingredients for recipes go on it and it looks good in the kitchen too. TIP: buy some wax paper for the top so you aren't having to constantly clean it.
  • emyishardcore
    emyishardcore Posts: 352 Member
    Where can you get food scales from?
    I currently measure my food w/ measuring cups. :)
  • AVinmill
    AVinmill Posts: 88 Member
    Agreed. What's the point in tracking cals/macros if you are always estimating everything and are probably way off. A scale should be one of the first things you get when deciding to eat healthy. I got a Presidents Choice brand digital scale from the Real Canadian Superstore and it is amazing. I think it was only 20-30 too.
  • sondra216379
    sondra216379 Posts: 174 Member
    I agree it's a must for me!
  • lausa22
    lausa22 Posts: 467 Member
    I actually had been overestimating my portions.
    I would put 100g in when I'd actually be eating like 80g.
    To be honest, I just stick to what looks good in my diary, like if I wasn't really sure about how big a portion was, I'd take a guess to the nearest 10g or something.
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I'm buying a food scale right now on Amazon. I've been procrastinating buying a new one for years.The one I have is very cumbersome to use, so I often don't. Do you have a recommendation?
This discussion has been closed.

Categories