Okay, so lately I've taken up a new hobby... brewing my own beer! There's a club here in Portland that loans you most of the equipment you need, and so far it's been a blast. Part of the process involves measuring out small amounts of ingredients, so I bought a cheapo kitchen scale that goes up to 2 pounds. Just for the heck of it, I figured I'd try measuring out my usual breakfast portions, oatmeal yesterday and cheerios today. And wouldn't you guess, for both of them, I thought I was eating 2 servings when I was actually eating 3!! Geeeez. I'll have to keep measuring out my lunch and dinner foods, I bet those are off, too. Glad I got this thing!

a kitchen scale is so helpful with knowing the truth about what you are eating

I measure my cereal and milk every morning and I weigh pasta, rice and other grains as well as vegetables like potatoes every time I eat them. I can do it by eye as well, but it's startling how easy it is to eat more than a "portion" and thus to consume much more calories than you realise. Honestly, I think a kitchen scale is essential if you want to count calories, I couldn't do without mine!

Brewing your own beer sounds like loads of fun!

I was off on cereal, oatmeal, granola, peanut butter, rice, just about everything...

I've made my own beer in the past, fun!

Yeah, I bought a kitchen scale a month or two ago and I can't believe how much I use it. It was so inexpensive, too, and I don't know why I didn't have one before. Now I KNOW how much chicken I'm eating, or how much pasta I'm cooking, etc. Before I was just guessing.

Cereal and things like that I measure with a measuring cup. Same thing with yogurt, milk.....just about everything gets measured right now, and will until I learn how much a portion is!

I've been resisting getting a scale because I know my DH thinking that I'm getting nutty. But I have been using measuring cups and spoons for everything where possible.

However, there have been a couple cases just today (and so then, really, every day) that I couldn't be sure how much I was eating compared to the calorie counts on the packages (my asian rice crackers list calories by the ounce, I put chopped nuts in my oatmeal so I don't really know what the calorie count is since I chop them myself, and I eat slices of light cheese where the calorie count is in ounces of cheese, not slices).

So I have been toying with the idea of just getting a really small cheap one (ie, not digital) that I can take out of the cabinet when I need it, rather than leaving it out. I was all prepared to buy one at Wal-Mart tonight and I finally found where they would be, but in typical Wal-Mart fashion, they are on back order until 5/1 -- aargh.

I know I saw them at Target the other day, but I wasn't committed to buying one at the time. I guess I'll have to go back.

I have been using mine a lot lately. It has really helped with apples, bananas and grapes. I now know that my normal sized apple and banana actually equal 2 servings each. That makes them together a nice 240 calorie breakfast. I also have used it to weigh a serving of tortilla chips and my favorite apple cinnamon Quakes (rice snacks) instead of relying on the package serving size.

I couldn't cook anymore without my scale.

Newleaf, I know you said you want a non-digital one but mine was really cheap ($20, I think) and it's small enough to tuck away. I put it on top of the fridge and then just get it down when I need it. I had the same problem as you mention with cheese--before my scale, I had a terrible time with cheese because I buy it grated but the calorie count would be a 1" block, or an ounce.

I really like it. And I live alone, so I don't have to worry about if anyone thinks I'm obsessive. The cats don't care; they just hope I'll give them a piece of whatever I'm weighing.

Windchime - upon your suggestion, I looked online for a small digital scale and you're right -- it's probably a better choice. I thought they only came dinner-plate sized, now I see you can get much smaller. And they have the benefit of weighing in oz and g, which I could see would be important.

Do you have one of the little Taylor scales? Cute about the cats; I'm a cat lover so I understand completely!

Alright, so I bought a scale today. If anyone wants a good one cheap, there's a great auction on ebay for one (starting at $0.99 with $6 or $9 shipping, I can't remember). I emailed the seller and learned that she used the scale a couple times but it was in like-new condition. But I wanted my scale NOW, not waiting 5 days for the auction to end and then another 5 days to receive it in the mail.

But for people more patient than me... it's a good option. It was a Taylor digital scale, 8lb capacity.

So far I'm loving the scale. Woo hoo!! I've got it tucked away, maybe my husband will never even know I got one, since he's not usually around when I prepare food...

I picked up a little cheap non-digital scale and find it handy for cheese mostly. I would looooove a digital scale but they are REALLY pricey here!

I bet your jaw dropped when you saw your extra servings! LOL! Glad you have access to a scale now

I showed my husband the scale today because I felt like I was hiding something from him... Yes, he thinks I'm nutty, but that's probably nothing new!

I got mine at GNC for like ten dollars and it's great for when I make bread and want to weigh out the sections of the dough (helps me calculate the calories based on the fraction of the whole loaf etc etc) and it's been great for measuring out dry pasta. The pasta that I've been buying has nutritional info on the box based on ounces of dry product or cups of cooked product. Weighing it out helps keep me from making too much with the intent of measuring out one serving and storing the rest, which I never would actually do - I'd just eat the whole thing.

Ohh I use my scale for bread too! I make a big 5lb tub of bread dough from the Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day book. I got that each 1lb loaf (the recipe is just flour+ water+ a small amount of salt and yeast) is 475 calories so I'll make .5 lb loafs or a .5 lb pizza or stromboli crust. There's really nothing like homemade bread.