How many of you...

[nessa12690]

...use a food scale?
So far on my new plan I've been able to measure everything very exact, except for meats. So I'm thinking of purchasing a food scale. Would the cheap walmart one do (lol) or are those not as accurate as others?
&&
If anyone have some guidelines for eyeballing portion sizes when eating out/at someone's house, please share!

[nunu713]

I use my food scale everyday. I got mine at Target for around $30. Make sure you get one that measures in both ounces and grams - serving sizes aren't always measured consistently.

I can't really help you on eyeballing portion sizes - I try not to eat out!

[MT-mtn_girl]

We use ours daily. More because my husband is cutting for his competition in a few weeks and needs to be a little more precise than I do. I do weigh my meats cause I stink at guessing. Things like peanut butter I don't weigh, just use the actual tablespoon and level it off, but I don't eat tons of PB (only like 1 serving a day).

Mine was in the $30 range also. I think it was worth it.

[nessa12690]

I use my food scale everyday. I got mine at Target for around $30. Make sure you get one that measures in both ounces and grams - serving sizes aren't always measured consistently.

I can't really help you on eyeballing portion sizes - I try not to eat out!

Yeah, I guess not eating out is one solution lol

[FemmeFatale28]

We use ours daily. More because my husband is cutting for his competition in a few weeks and needs to be a little more precise than I do. I do weigh my meats cause I stink at guessing. Things like peanut butter I don't weigh, just use the actual tablespoon and level it off, but I don't eat tons of PB (only like 1 serving a day).

Mine was in the $30 range also. I think it was worth it.

I use one of the $20 "biggest loser" scales from bed bath and beyond. I weigh EVER-Y-THING. I conducted an experiment and measured and then weighed, and measuring cups suck ESPECIALLY with PB, becuase PB is sticky and it "packs" alot of things cant really be measured accurately

[Echo814]

In general when eating out or in a situation where you are not in control is: meat should be around the size of your palm or a deck of cards and about as thick, grains: what you can cup in one hand, veggies: what you can cup in two hands. Cheese should be roughly the size of two dice and piece of bread no bigger then a cd I believe. Not precise but when in a pinch it works.

[nessa12690]

I use one of the $20 "biggest loser" scales from bed bath and beyond. I weigh EVER-Y-THING. I conducted an experiment and measured and then weighed, and measuring cups suck ESPECIALLY with PB, becuase PB is sticky and it "packs" alot of things cant really be measured accurately

lol I want a biggest loser scale!

&& the other day I as at my parents house and needed to use their 1/2 cup measuring cup...well it was WAYYY smaller than the one I use at home. It could've been just the different shape or whatever but I swear it was a lot smaller

...which makes me wonder how accurate they really are.

[andrerox80]

i think the question is how many people here don't use one. most do, and then track everything on thedailyplate or one of the comparable sites. par for the course here. you don't need to spend a fortune on one but i agree about it having grams and ounces.

[EricaJuneBaby]

Also when eating out watch out for extra sauces, especially cream and butter, anything that looks greasy has a lot of fat, at restaurants get your veggies steamed and meat grilled or poached and any toppings or sauces ask for them on the side so you can decide how much to add. It's best to just order extra veggies or a salad instead of their potatoes and rice which are usually loaded with fat.
Another way to think of a cup is about the size of a tennis ball, an ounce is the size of your thumb. 3 ounce of meat is the size of a deck of cards. a TBSP is the tip of your thumb (not very much I always make mistakes with tbsps they end up heaping! which is a huge deal when you're talking about PB or salad dressing or something full-fat)

I have a foodscale since I am terrible at eyeballing I always underestimate when I am feeling hungry I'm not a religious calorie counter and weigher though just when I feel like im slipping

[deawalsh]

I measure absolutely everything that enter my mouth! I always carry it in my lunch box!...if you wanna buy one i would suggest you invest a lil more (a digital one) rather than buying the cheapest one....Its a highly recommended object that i wouldnt live with anymore...As for the protein portion when you go to friends house: personally, i would bring my scale with me! thats what i always do! that way you're sure of what you eat!

[Mrs_Muscles]

I'd be lost without my food scale. I weigh and measure everything when leaning out.

My hubby found it for me, but I think he bought it at Target. It switches between ounces, grams and kilograms, and can go up to 3lbs I think. It also has a zero/tare button so I can add some food, get the weight, then zero and add more. Love it!

[vandalgirl59]

I weigh EVERYTHING (and I do mean that) on my scale to the gram. I was horrified when I made the transition from measuring cups to my scale; I was eating WAY more than I thought I was!
*hugs scale*

Edit: I too travel with mine My parents even bought one for their lake house so I don't have to haul mine when I go spend weekends with them

[Azide]

Like everybody else that answered I also weight everything. I use a scale that is quite precise and can weight in grams and ounces. I also realized that I was eating big portions before I started weighing everything. It's a good tool if you want to make sure you don't eat too much.

[nessa12690]

Well i'm officially investing in one today! thanks ladies

[robmad]

like everyone else, i weigh everything! even my protein poweders because those scoopers are never right. my scale is digital and also measures all my macros in foods as well. i can put a piece of chicken on it and it will tell me the amount of protein in that particiular piece. it is great and only about $60. i wish it was smaller so i could travel with it! although it fits nicely on my counter, i doubt it would fit in my purse!

[angimal]

like everyone else, i weigh everything! even my protein poweders because those scoopers are never right. my scale is digital and also measures all my macros in foods as well. i can put a piece of chicken on it and it will tell me the amount of protein in that particiular piece. it is great and only about $60. i wish it was smaller so i could travel with it! although it fits nicely on my counter, i doubt it would fit in my purse!

I weigh everything too and I also noticed my protein scoop was off. Your scale sounds awesome! I bought a digital from Walmart, about $20 and it weighs in grams & ounces. My husband is used to me weighing absolutely everything but if some of my friends or family saw me at meal time....I think they would seriously consider an intervention They already think I'm a little extreme.

[punxnotdead309]

I have a food scale. I measure almost everything. When I'm lazy, though, I'll just eyeball it, such as my soy milk. But I always measure my meats.
Mine was only 10 dollars at Wal Mart.

[BlackBarbieDoll]

I have a great food scale..its a kintrics (sp?) digital..super high tech thingie. Unfortunately it fuels my OCD ...so I dont use it much. But they are gold..if you use it wisely

[Amanda76]

I also use a digital scale for pretty much everything. Doesn't take any extra time. Just stick a plate on there, calibrate to zero, add protein, calibrate to zero, add carbs, calibrate to zero, add veggies, calibrate to zero and finally add your fats to the plate. You end up messing up less stuff than with measuring cups and spoons, too.

[ives]

I not only use a food scale... I've trained my boyfriend to use it when he packs my lunches or cooks dinner for us! He's lovely and patient about it, even when I've snatched food off his plate so I can put it back in the batch and measure the weight of the whole batch so I can calculate nutrition-per-serving

[IronCitGrl]

I use a food scale. It's a lot more accurate. You should buy one and then do a test..

eyeball an entire meal then use a scale to measure how "off" you really are. You will be surprised to find that you can be off hundreds of calories.

And for going out they say a 3 oz portion of meat is the size of a deck of cards but I am sure most of us eat more than 3 oz at a time since we have higher protein requirements than the average person.

If you buy a scale and always weigh things then you will get better at eyeballing so that when you do go out you will be able to judge just about how many grams your steak is or how many grams potato you have on your plate.

I don't really buy the whole "a tablespoon is the size of the tip of your thumb" I'm sorry but I have TINY hands. there is no way that the tip of my thumb is a tablespoon or that the tip of a 6'3" linebackers thumb is a tablespoon. I don't know why they would relate it to a body part and not an object that is a constant size.

[IronOrchid]

...use a food scale?
So far on my new plan I've been able to measure everything very exact, except for meats. So I'm thinking of purchasing a food scale. Would the cheap walmart one do (lol) or are those not as accurate as others?
&&
If anyone have some guidelines for eyeballing portion sizes when eating out/at someone's house, please share!

I bought mine at Target a year ago or so, it cost something like $20-30, very easy to use, works perfect.
I don't eat out very often so mistakes in eyeballing are not that important to my food intake. My advice - cook home and by yourself, then you'll know for sure.

[FarrahS723]

I have an Escali, and use it constantly. I think I got it at drugstore.com for about $25. And I have a smaller one in my desk drawer at work that my boyfriend got me because I was using the postage scale to measure! Definitely eye opening! Great investment.

[nessa12690]

Just wanted to add that I LOVE having a scale! It is so useful for meats...I was definatley not eyeballing correctly lol