Food Scale Help Pretty new
I've decided to buy a scale to begin weighing what I eat after reading some of the posts. This way I may be more accurate. Does anyone have a suggestion on where I can get a good one? Also those who do use one, how do you do it if you have to eat out? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Right now I am measureing with cups and spoons and guestimating in trying to stay at 1200-1300. I'm 43, 5'5". I started at 137 and am down to 132 but then nothing. My goal is 120. I get on my elliptical 5 days a week for 30 minutes. I have chosen light on the activity level when i log in what i do. I am pretty new at this and really would like to do it the right way and be successful and maybe not have to do it alone. Any help in what I may be doing wrong also.
if you are on light, do not log your elliptical.
most scales are okay enough-- i think i have a cheap walmart or meijers one and it is pretty close... would love to have a digital know its right type one but im WAY too cheap....
weighing, even if it is off a bit, is MUCH better for dry than measuring cups.
also-- you are VERY close to ideal weight (esp for age) so.... weightloss will be slower and more hard fought. you may find 120 is too low for you to get to. after the first quick loss, at your weight, expect about a .5 loss per week, hard won at that.
good luck!
I think you might be undereating for the amount you are exercising... Have you calculated your BMR at all? I'm just under 5'4" and can lose a pound a week if I eat 1350 and walk around 7,000-10,000steps.
In terms of foodscales, I got mine from Walmart and it only cost me about $15 or so, plus it's digital. You don't really need one of those fancyschmancy ones... Just one that works (keep your receipt just in case xD).
What kind of 'eating out' do you mean? An actual restaurant or some fast food place? Personally I'd recommend packing up your own food the night before so that you know 100% what is in it, and you aren't left with a last resort like McDonalds, Taco Bell ro whatever your poison might be ;D
If you ARE stuck in that boat, I'd use common sense to estimate at the portions in front of you.
WEIGH EVERYTHING.
Or at least do so until you have a good handle on eyeballing what 1/2 cup of ____ really looks like.
Most chain restaurants (fast food or not) have nutrition information online. If you're eating somewhere like Chili's, I find this is easiest.
What you'll find is that after a few weeks of measuring portions with a scale you quickly become adept at judging what the 'right size' portion looks like. When you go out to eat you can then judge what's on your plate by eye and be reasonably close. Since many restaurants will pile far too much food on the plate it's not a bad idea to ask for things like rice or chips/fries to be brought in a separate dish.... then you can serve yourself your normal portion and share what's left with everyone else. Same goes for sauces.... ask for them served separately.
Original Post by drea99:
if you are on light, do not log your elliptical.
why not???
You can go to a website like Amazon or WalMart and look at the reviews for scales there. There is one for 25 dollars that I have my eye on at Amazon (I have a dial/spring scale right now) - It is an Escali Primo. I would recommend a digital as opposed to a dial/spring scale. The springs react differently in different humidities and become even worse over time, and the dials are a pain to try to read accurately.
I paid about $20 for my current scale, and it is not reading anywhere close to accurate for small amounts (i.e an ounce of chips). Neither is the smaller scale I just bought at WalMart - it is a spring scale as well. They both seem to stick, and when I have it (finally) zeroed out, I will look back in a few minutes and they are no longer zeroed.
I have a digital scale that cost $30 or so. It works very well and I've had no problems with it.
As for the activity level -- I have mine set to light and I add in my weight lifting because sometimes I do it once a week, and sometimes I actually get 3 workouts in. Burns a lot of calories too.
I have myself set at light, because I also get in a lot of other movement throughout the day. Parking my car farther away, climbing stairs several times a day at work, bowling, coaching, swimming with grandkids, and playing on my Wii. I feel it's fair to say I'm at least lightly active with all of those things.
So it's up to you what you put as your activity level, and whether or not you add-on some activities.
I bought my food scale at bed bath and beyond. It was 16 bucks I think. It was the Biggest Loser Scale. No frills and is very easy to use; balance and store. Good Luck! You and I are fighting with those last 10-15 pounds!
Original Post by katecam:
Original Post by drea99:
if you are on light, do not log your elliptical.
why not???
Setting the activity level to 'light' means you're including about half an hour of exercise in your day as a standard average. So the OP wouldn't log the elliptical work because it's already counted. If they were to go for a two hour cycle ride, they could log the extra hour and a half because it would be over and above their normal amount of exercise.
ah, I get it now! Was confusing light with sedentary (which is what I am on). Makes more sense now!!
Wow thanks for all of the advice. I kind of thought that the last 10lbs or so were going to be pretty hard. I think I will go for purchasing a scale. I'll keep reading and learning and hopefully reach my goal weight then i'll have to learn how to maintain.
Eating out...for example today we went to a Chinese rest. for lunch (really didn't have a choice) ordered vegetable stir fry and brown rice and just guessed at the calories for the day. I don't like doing that because I really have no clue as to what it really was but at least I chose healthy.
I got my digital scale (Salter 1015) for about $20 at Bed Bath and Beyond, and I love it. Don't know how I functioned with other scales. Whatever scale you choose, I'd suggest you look for two things in it: that it has the ability to switch between grams and ounces and that it has a tare function (basically means you can zero the weight -- i.e. put your bowl on the scale, then click the tare button each time you add something to zero it so you're only counting the weight of that one item and don't have to deal with subtracting a bunch of numbers -- I really hope that made sense).
<rambling> On the subject of weighing foods, you might want to think about weighing in grams rather than in ounces or in volume. When I see a recipe call for these now, I measure it out once and then weigh it in grams and write it on the recipe to make sure I get the same amount next time unless it's something in really small amounts like spices. You are always given the option in the food log here to write out the amount in grams, and they are a more accurate measure than either ounces (there are just over 28 grams in an ounce) or the volumetric system (every different item measured this way weighs a different amount, not to mention the fact that things that can squish/compact -- e.g. flour, marshmallows,etc. -- can weigh a different amount each time you measure them depending on how compacted they are). </rambling> Apologize for that, but I think it would really be worth it. I converted to gram-measuring, and I find it a lot easier to estimate portion sizes now, even when eating out.
