Food scales and weighing food are all the rage in the fitness world. It is a love hate relationship. The reason most people weigh their food is in order to count their macros. You weigh your food to be able to figure out the carbs, fats and proteins in the food that you are eating. You will find that people who are in prep for a “body” competition use this way to meal plan. It enables the person to eat a variety of foods not just broccoli, chicken breast, and sweet potato. Aka- bro food.
I think weighing food is a great tool for someone who does not know what a portion size is for the food they eat. Or for people who guess-Tamate portion sizes. Most likely you are way off. You would be surprised what the size of a chicken breast actually is, or what 2Tbsp of peanut butter is, or that even with a measuring cup you are are still adding a lot of cereal to your bowl. I know all of this because I did it! I either guessed way low and was under eating or way high and I was about 300-500 calories over what I thought I was eating. Once you’ve done it for a while. Your eye balling skills will improve drastically! I don’t do it all the time because I’m not in any type of “prep” for a competition. I do it for my own personal goals. I take my lunch to work almost everyday of the week. So that is when I measure my food as well as brrealfast and lunch, my work days are when I’m most on point with it.
I’m pretty free with my vegetables. The more the better. But when it comes to complex carbs, oils (fats), and proteins I measure them out. I also use the app my fitness pal to track my calorie intake as well as my macro nutrients which are carbs, fats, proteins and some people do fiber as well. Even though I eat a majority of “real food” whole grains, veggies, lean proteins, real butter, honey, and things to that nature. I am by nature heavy handed so this is just a tool to help me know the exact measurements of food. It’s great for cheese. Can you honestly tell me you know what a 1oz cube of cheese is just by sight? Because I definitely didn’t know. If you are ever curious about why you may not be where you want physically. See what you are actually consuming. Are you going cray on eating protein but not eating enough fay? There’s is a whole system of percentages that you can go to tweak what works best for you. Most people us the 70/30/30 ration which is carbs, fats, proteins. But again these numbers can be altered for personal goals.
Do you you “think” you know what a Tbsp of peanut butter really is…? Get yourself a scale and give it a try. How do you all eat healthy? Do you use an app, just eat real food, or a program like weight watchers? Or maybe a combination of some sort? 
The Trainer Life 
You’re gonna hate me for saying this. If you plant based, scales kinda go out the window. I use scales and cups baking etc, but everyday meals, salads etc, it’s all plants and I don’t think anyone got fat from eating a plant based diet. Care does have to be taken with snacks i.e. date bars, crisp, chocolate etc. Those calories add up (maybe not date bars, they do something else). After while on a plant based lifestyle, you get used to what works or not, how much energy you’ve expended to how you body feels and what it needs. Some days it wants more fruit, other days it wants a wholemeal PB sandwich! And I’ve no idea what a tbsp of peanut butter, I just eat the unsugared, added palm oil kind!
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Totally agree. But I did say with my vegetables I DON’T count. But proteins carbs and especially fats. I do. Also, if you’re someone looking for a certain body composition some changes need to be made. I eat more carbs because I lift heavy on some days. But on days I do cardio I don’t eat as much. So it depends on the persons individual fitness goals.
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Agree too! And I have a confession. When I read the post, it sounded like another blogger I follow and replied as I would to them. I realised later, my mistake! As you say, if you train with specific goals in mind changes have to be made. I just find it easier cutting out traditional protein sources and running clean so to speak. It makes the decisions easier. But that’s my personal opinion. Everybody’s different and plants only isn’t for everyone.
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Absolutely. I understand some people are crazy with the macro counting. I just find weighing is helpful for my clients who want to lose weight. They come back say”omg I didn’t realize how much I was eating of (insert food here)”. I just use it as a tool to help those who truly have no idea what they are doing. Wholesome foods are best!
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