Food Scale = My new best friend

Hey Everybody,

I just wanted to mention that I bought a food scale that measures the weight of food in grams.  This scale has made life SO MUCH EASIER for me.  Instead of 'guessing' portion sizes, I can weigh everything easily.  This lets me know *exactly* how many calories I am eating.  It only cost $30.00 for a very good scale. 

thats great.... i've been looking for one, where did you get yours? do you know any chain stores that carry them?

(edit: double post) 

I agree, scales are awesome. When I first got mine,only $10 at walmart,for fun I'd weight a portion that I'd normally eat and realized that I've been ripping myself off! Since I got me scale I'm eating more,no more guessing.

Only $10? I'm going to have to take a trip there sometime soon. 

I'm Canadian.  I was home from school (in NY state) this weekend, and I bought my scale at the local grocery store.  You could probably get a cheaper one at Wal Mart. 

I like my scale, though, because it has a digital reader.

*whistles* I wish I could get one. As it is, my mom already looks at me like I'm insane when ever I use a measuring cup.

I bet I'm ripping myself off, but I'd rather err on the side of caution and undereat a tad than overeat a tad. (by undereat, I don't mean <1200cal, since I'm maintaining, so undereating for me would be eating 1500 cal instead of 1700 cal)

Yeah mine is a manual one, I'd love to have a digital one but hey for $10 I'm not complaining hehe

I'm Canadian to eh!

hello all! *a special salute to the canucks*

i do not have a food scale, but i do use measuring cups when i can. some foods i sort of eyeball, and the rest i use CC. for some things, like cauliflower - i sort of make up the number. (i don't measure the diameter of the floweret i am eating), but the way i see it - cauliflower is a great-for-me food, so if i have it wrong by 5-10 cals, no biggie.

if i am out and about i'll consider the food scale... considering how inexpensive you say they all are! *looks in wallet for money  no money, but credit card will do* :)

magic,

I find the scale useful for foods that have a serving size that says "approximately 15 chips", or " approximately 16 fries".  When I would eat my Ruffles Fat Free chips, I would sit there counting chip by chip.  Now, I can just take a handful, put it on the scale, and it tells me exactly how much.  No more counting!

For things like veggies, I don't bother with the scale.  I figure, the more veggies the better!  I agree about the 5-10 calories errors...who cares?  I keep my calories intake low enough that I can afford to err  by a few calories here or there. 

But don't worry - I always stay above 1,200!

I have a food scale, too. It's my best friend when I am cooking. My boyfriend thinks I am crazy, but I don't care. I got mine at Target a few months back, and I LOVE it! It can convert everything into grams or ounces in weight and even has a database in it that can tell you a very close approxiamtion of the calorie, water, fat, and some other nutritional contents. Helps keep me from the snacks, since I can't look everything up at night or on the weekends because I don't have internet access. I once weighed some chocolate chips (because I just wanted one handful), and it was in the scale! That kept me from the (for a few days at least :-) )!

Ive been using the measuting cup for right now.. My parents have a food scale, maybe Ill jack theirs..hehe *is BROKE*

I REALLY need to make measuring and weighing my food a habit.  Last year, I lost 30 pounds, was so proud of myself!....went on Maintenance and relaxed tooo much...now I've gained back 10 pounds and I know it's because I'm not watching my portions close enough.  I've lost my "eyeball it" edge.  I need to use the scale so I will be more exact about my ounces.  I have always had one but today I dusted it off and began to use it and measure my portions more acurately.  Whatever it takes...

look on ebay everyone! I got my digital food scale that I apsolutely LOVE brand new for like $11 I think it was. So worth it.

I just a got food scale at Target and used it for my late night bowl of cereal.  It felt really good to stop guessing while using CC.  Accurate measurements are at my fingertips!  Looking forward to using it more :)

It's worth considering getting a digital scale with "tare" (pronounced, "tear" as in "tear a sheet of paper") capabilities. This allows you to put an empty container on the scale when you turn it on and then have the scale automatically deduct the weight of the container as you fill it with food.

Many scales come with this capability, including spring-operated scales, but you might need to make sure. It's a real convenience.

I wouldn't "cheap out" when buying a scale. You don't have to get the most expensive, but a good, versatile (digital) scale has really helped me. It may be my most used kitchen tool and has been a key in my weight loss regimen.

I agree with you wholeheartedly, franz.  I bought a good digital scale on eBay about three months ago, or so.  It does have tare and I find that very handy.  I measure or weigh EVERYTHING I eat, i.e., meat, fruit, dry pasta, slice of pizza, etc.  I use my scale almost every day.  It's one of the best investments I've ever made.

This scale I bought from Target is by Taylor.  It's digital and it has Tare.  It's only about 4 inches in diameter so it's easy to take to work.  I just used it at my desk to measure my morning Cheerios

Yay! I love my food scale too. I bought one off of Amazon.com awhile back (it was like, 27 dollars, including shipping to my door) and I've never been without it. It's so nice to know how much you're actually eating, though it completely feeds my OCD.

Hi,

I'm Canadian.  I bought my digital scale, a Starfrit, on sale at Zellers. It was originally $36 and I bought it for $14. It measures tare, lbs. ozs. grams and kilograms. I have it on my counter at all times. I just love it. I wouldn't be without it! It measures very accurately up to .01 of an ounce.