Do I need a food scale?

C

Calee

Cathlete
I am recovering from my second knee surgery in two years and unfortunately did not stop eating the way I did when I could exercise every day and have gained weight. In attempts to ease back into things (I'm going on the fourth week post-op), I'd like to tighten up my diet too.
One of my former running buddies suggested a food scale to measure everything out, right down to the gram. Good idea in theory, but I just wonder if when I get back to being fully active if it will really be necessary. (I've put on around 8-10 lbs)
Any thoughts?
 
Hi Calee,
My food scale ranks right up there in my kitchen with my George Foreman grill and my Vitamix - in the invaluable category! My food scale helps me measure and weigh my food for each meal. As I'm trying to lean out and will eventually compete in physique competitions again, I use my food scale at least 3x/day. I tend to follow a strict eating plan. I find that when I am more lax, that's when my portion sizes increase, and so does my waist line :).

Anyway, I hope this helps. I don't have a fancy scale. I had a plastic food scale that lasted me for 7 years, and it only cost $3. I recently replaced it because the tray had a crack in it from me washing it in the dishwasher too much, but the replacement was only about $7. I got it from bodybuilding.com, and it works just fine. Here is the link to the one that I currently have - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/vm/food.html. The tray is deep enough to handle meat and accurately weigh out fruits, grains, and pastas. I love this thing!

Hope this helps, and best of luck with your eating program!

Fitgirl-ATX
 
Hi Calee,

Well you don't NEED a food scale, but they are nice. ;) I personally only use mine for chicken/fish/poultry portions and sometimes nuts and cheese. Once a week I cook larger portions of my proteins and then weigh them and put them in individual servings.

I do use measuring cups for all other things though (fruits, grains, cottage cheese, etc). You won't have to weigh and measure forever, but knowledge is power and your eye probably needs to be re-trained on what a serving size is. I don't always weigh/measure, but when I find my weight going up a bit I start again and it always helps.

Personally I think "to the gram" for every little thing is excessive and would set me up for failure. Play around with it and see what works for you.
 
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I do better with using my hands as portion size recommendations. Protein=palm of hand, starchy carb/whole fruit= clenched fist, 2 hands cupped= veggies, fat=thumb etc. When i used my food scale i got too obsessive with numbers. This is just me though.
 
I think I might be the type to obsess too, and I want to ENJOY my food; but with this bit of extra weight I've put on it might be good to obsess for a while! I didn't realize you could find them so cheap, the ones I've looked at are $50+. Maybe I'll get one that's not digital and try it out for a while. Really what I want to do is just be able to hit the road again and run it off, gah!
 
Yes to the food scale!

I've had an inexpensive one for years, and I swear by it. Right now I use it for portioning chicken for salads, but I also use it for salad dressing portions, and other stuff. I think it's a must-have item for anyone who has to be careful about portions, etc.
 
I have one- nothing fancy or expensive. I use it when I am kicking my diet into higher gear and/or when the scale/inches won't budge. It's like recording your food and drink and being shocked! I ate HOW MANY CALORIES today?!?! :eek::eek: Equal shock when I measure out cheese especially (my biggest vice!).... I check and recheck - is that tiny amount REALLY an ounce?!? :p:eek:

So, I'm a yes vote for sure!

Pam
 
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