I have never had, or used, a food scale. I mostly go off package weights. But I cook in a very specific, fairly atypical way (I always cook 4 portions of a meal at once...2 for our dinner, 2 for our lunches the next day, and divide whatever I cook into 4 equal parts) which makes it easy to go off package weights (1 lb packages of meat, cooked in 4 portions = 4 ounces per portion...8 oz of pasta, cooked in 4 portions = 2 ounces per portion, etc). If you don't distribute as evenly, it might be harder to do without a scale.

cdiem~ A kitchen scale is definatly worth it. I got my little digital one at target for like 30 bucks. Its small and easy to put away. I leave mine on the counter cause i use it so much. It comes especially in handy when i make pasta. I pretty much weigh everything that i make at home that goes into my mouth. I feel the scale is much more accurate than measuring cups. Im getting better at eyeballing portions when i am out to eat now that i acutually know what one looks like

My food scale, I think, is one of the most important health tools I have. I was not losing well for months. I bought a new food scale and realized I had been overeating alot. Particularly fruits - I just 'judged' their calories and was off and over by hundreds per week.

I agree with Countingdown...it has taught me so much about portion control.

I love spaghetti squash too. I bought one the other day and realized when I got home it cost over $7.00. I was shocked...however, it was a great big one. I ate many meals from it and froze some - and decided that I am worth it!

A food scale is def a good investment. I got mine at Target for like $30. I think they're much more relaible than measuring by cups, esp if you're the type of person that rounds off the cup like I am... I end up with way more than an actual cup. Sigh.

Anyway - Pasta is good in moderation, and the scales help keep it that way!

The same thing happened to me with pasta. I bought the whole wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods (their store brand), and it tells you how many cups for that specific pasta (2oz=3/4 cup). It's the only pasta I eat because I can measure it without a scale, plus, it tastes MUCH better than all the other whole wheat pastas I have tried!

Yes, pasta and rice are both about 100 cals/oz dry weight.

But 2 oz is a pretty good serving as someone else said. I never have more than that and often have less.

Kitchen scales are the norm here in the UK so no, I have never made that mistake - I always weigh everything.

Originally Posted by cdiem4994:
How many of you have weight scales and how much do you use it? I've been toying with getting one, but my kitchen is sooo crowded and I don't want to overcomplicate things.

I have one. My oldest son bought it for me and I love it.
I use it a lot but will be using it more often soon.