Hi ALL,
I need to return to watching my calories again. I have went through phases of counting calories everyday, and I need to get back to losing weight.
Anyway, I really, really, wanted a food scale.
Now, (not kidding) I got one for Christmas and can't remember why I wanted this so bad.
Why would it help me to weigh something when I can just read it off of the box?
I know it sounds like a silly question, but I am just excited to use it and need some ideas what to weigh.
I use my lovely, wonderful scale to weigh everything! Cereal, cheese, meats. Before I got my scale, I have no idea what 52 grams of cereal looked like. And with shredded cheese? 28 grams is a lot!
I have also measured take-out/delivery, to know exactly how much food I was/am still eating. My roommates and I got chicken one night. The portion they sent for one was 12 ounces! That's a ton of food!
The scale is also useful for baking, as well. Baked goods come out better when ingredients are measured by weight, not volume.
A scale (especially when calorie counting) can put our snacks into perspective. A handful of even healthy snacks like nuts can wreck havoc on a diet. Your handful could end up being more than the serving size. The same with chips or chocolate. This helps you NOT have a mistaken binge. When I am on plan, I measure with measuring cups, spoons and the scale. It really works. Eventually, you will even develop a good eye for your food.
Scales are great! I have one. My son got it for me for my birthday a couple of years ago because I wanted it.
I use it to weigh my meat portions and if I have cheese (which is rarely for me) I weigh those portions too. It really helps you to learn what a serving looks like.
Don't underestimate how important accuracy is when you are counting calories.
If you had two people with identical metabolism and lifestyles. If those individuals ate exactly the same way but one of them had an apple a day more then the other, that would equate to an 8lb weight gain per year. 80*365 / 3500
I love it just for the fact I dirty way fewer dishes now. No more getting out the measuring cup for oatmeal or cereal. I don't need to scrub out the tablespoon if I want some peanut butter or cocoa powder. I don't need to try and use a mental ruler or cheese grater for a piece of cheese. I can do my Christmas baking with nothing but a bowl and a spoon.
And I finally know the calories of a chicken breast without chopping the thing up into a measuring cup or guessing if it's a "small, medium, or large-sized" breast!
I also want to add that when the box says "12 pieces" is a serving, it doesn't always work out that way. The food company figures the calories and stats based on the weight listed next to the number of pieces it says is a serving size. Also, I have found that thinks like baked goods often weight more then they are "suppose" to, so many people are unknowingly eating many more calories then they think.
I love my digital scale. I do use it to verify package ingredients, but also to measure foods that do not come with labels (like fruit, veggies, meat...). If I were only eating premeasured frozen meals, or getting meal delivery like Bistro MD, Seattle Sutton's, Jenny Craig or whatever, I'm not sure I would use the scale all that much, but weighing cereal, crackers, and fresh foods, it's great.
Why would it help me to weigh something when I can just read it off of the box?
For most packaged single serving foods, the net weight posted on the package is A LOT SMALLER than the actual net weight of the food inside.
This is because consumer affairs (our whatever body that monitors the food industry to ensure consumers are being protected), mandates that over a certain percentage of all packages must have at least the amount of product as stated on the label by the manufacturer.
Remember, machines fill these packages, so its not going to be able to package every single unit to the EXACT amount . So to make sure that majority of the packages have the minimum amount written on the package, manufacturers aim to put MORE in the package than on the label, that way the one's that are below-average still hold at least the amount labelled on the package.
For example, say you buy a honey bun that is labelled as weighing 2g (this is hypothetical, I don't know how much a honey bun weighs). If you weigh the same honey bun yourself, do not be shocked if it weighs 2.8g. That would mean you ate over 40% more calories that you thought you did. For most people, not a big deal. For a serious calorie counter, those things can make or break your weight loss efforts.
I know I'm doing a really bad job at explaining this, but long story short is that weight labeling on packaged foods frequently tends to be wrong.
Thanks for the info ladies. I am trying to use my scale here and there, I haven't yet figured out how to work it into my everyday routine, but I am becoming more familiar with it now.
I weigh pretty much everything. I was overeating a lot of things and not realizing it.
52 g Kashi Go Lean - my standard serving weighed out to almost twice that
32 g Peanut Butter - I was eating 2 full servings when I thought I was eating one
28g shredded cheese - don't want to know how much I was eating, but it was more than that!
227g of yogurt
28g tortilla chips - 'about 14' isn't always about 14. Sometimes it is about 10.
30g trail mix - I was eating almost 60g every time, thinking it was one serving. That was when I was measuring out 1/4 cup like most of the packages said....
I even weigh the peanut butter I put on my sandwiches...
Food Scale Question
