Do I need a food scale? Seems excessive
People on here keep recommending food scales and weighing everything. That seems like a lot of work. Do I really need one or is eyeballing portions good enough?
A food scale is the single best $15 investment for anyone tracking food. Here's why: humans are TERRIBLE at estimating portions. Studies show we underestimate by 30-50%.
A "tablespoon" of peanut butter? Most people scoop 2-3 tablespoons. A "cup" of rice? Usually 1.5-2 cups. These errors add up FAST.
You don't need to weigh everything forever — just for a few weeks until you can calibrate your eyeballs.
I resisted buying one for years thinking it was obsessive. Bought one, and within a day I realized my "serving" of cheese was like 3 servings. Explained a lot.
You don't NEED one if you're just eating healthier in general. But if you're tracking calories and not seeing results, a food scale will almost certainly reveal where the extra calories are hiding.
Use a food scale at home and a photo tracker (like PlateLens) when you're out. Covers both bases. At home you get precision, and the app handles everything else.
Here's a compromise: weigh calorie-dense foods (oils, nuts, cheese, PB) and eyeball low-calorie foods (vegetables, lettuce, etc). The dense stuff is where the big errors happen.
I always say: weigh your food for 2 weeks, then stop. You'll have learned what real portions look like and your eyeballing will be WAY more accurate going forward.
Ok fine, ordered one from Amazon for $12. Will use it for a couple weeks and see if my tracking gets more accurate. The peanut butter thing got me — I'm definitely scooping way more than a tablespoon.
If the idea of weighing food feels triggering or obsessive to you, skip it. The hand portion method (palm = protein, fist = carbs, thumb = fat) is good enough for most people's goals.