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

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Replies

  • Suziq1023
    Suziq1023 Posts: 46 Member
    Going to Aldi's tomorrow and get one. Especially for the meat and things that just don't fit in a measuring cup. Are the MFP calories listed at cooked weight or raw weight? I know 1/4 lb. Patty is smaller when it's cooked but don't know if the weight changes. The whole weight/volume thing baffles me.
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
    Another thing I wanted to add. They work great when measuring bulky things such as chopped fruit or veggies. I think lots of people eyeball it and say "oh that looks like 1 cup" or they stuff it into a measuring cup and bulky chopped food will never entirely level off at the 1 cup line. Seriously, weight it in grams or ounces, check the data base and compare against those that simply go by the '1 cup' listing.

    Eye opening really. Same with some dry food, most don't level off entirely. How do people go about figuring rice and pasta? How does someone eyeball a serving size when it says ounces?
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,357 Member
    I seriously don't know how I lived without one in the pass, I love my food scale :D
  • kaiser90
    kaiser90 Posts: 29
    i am buying one today :D
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    I haven't found a scale to be necessary at all. Sure, your measurements can be way off without one but they don't have to be. If you buy an 8 ounce package of cheese or 1.67 pounds of chicken breast I just make sure that by the time I've used all of it I've accounted for the total weight. As long as you keep that in mind when you're measuring you're not going to end up eating way more food than you thought you were.

    I've been successful so far measuring my food like that and just eating more if I'm hungry or less if I'm not in general--regardless of how many calories are logged in my diary--so maybe that's accounting for any inaccuracies in my measurements? I'm not sure but it's working for me and I don't want the food scales, heart rate monitors, diet foods, books or any of the other diet paraphernalia that's on the market cluttering up my home.
  • amuhlou
    amuhlou Posts: 693 Member
    I can understand estimating things like snacks. If my bag of pretzels says 7 pretzels is a serving, I might weigh it once to see how close it is, but I'm not going to weigh that every time.

    It's harder to guesstimate when you share foods with other people. My hubby and I both snack on cheese occasionally, so I can't just log an entire bar of cheese as if I'd eaten it, and I'm not going to hover about trying to see how much he's eating.

    Another reason I love my scale is for logging recipes into myfitnesspal. We cook 6 nights a week, 4+ portions at a time (2 dinner, 2 lunch). Just recently I made a soup that had a laundry list of ingredients - estimating on that many ingredients can really start to add up.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I easily lost 16 pounds and reached my goal without a food scale. If I had trouble losing the weight, I would have considered buying one, but it never became necessary.
  • Ceej17
    Ceej17 Posts: 25 Member
    Yes i got one when i first started my diet at Wal-mart for about 20$! Also if you enjoy cooking there are sheets to tell you how much certain things should weight with baking. So instead of measuring a cup of flour you can weight it which is way more accurate.
  • tubbytracey
    tubbytracey Posts: 10 Member
    I have one and I am not using it.......going to start NOW!
  • dorkof82
    dorkof82 Posts: 129 Member
    i use mine everyday... best dollar i ever spent. thats right, a buck. 99 cent store has everything...
  • mfoster1019
    mfoster1019 Posts: 152 Member
    i don't know what i would do without my food scale. i use it for EVERYTHING!!!!
  • 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.
    Good for you.

    I believe the point of the OP is well taken however, especially in this world of gigantic portion sizes.

    I believe this is more of an issue in the US than here in the UK.
  • VanillaBeanSeed
    VanillaBeanSeed Posts: 562 Member
    I just bought one yesterday!! Starfrit digital one for 19.99. I really need it mostly for meat and veggies. And the odd thing that is portioned in grams! :D
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    I love my food scale and use it all the time. After a while I can eyeball something and know how many ounces it is but I always double check to make sure I'm right. You would be surprised at how what you might have thought was a serving size is actually two or three servings.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    I use it mostly for meat and cheese.

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