My New Kitchen Scale and Why I Wanted One

I decided to add a kitchen scale to my arsenal of healthy eating and cooking tools. 

The last time I saw a kitchen scale, they were little plastic things with a needle, something like this.

 

When I looked for one online, I discovered that, like everything else, kitchen scales are now sleek-looking and digital. I bought one that looks like this.

Dietitians like to use everyday objects as visual reference points -- three ounces of meat is about the size of the palm of your hand, a medium-sized apple is the size of a tennis ball, and so on. You can find many good guides on the internet, such as this one.

But I am so not a visual person, and I actually find these guidelines difficult to use. I've been trying to keep my guestimates low, but I've been growing curious. How many ounces (or grams) is that chicken thigh, really? 

I also wanted to standardize some of my cooking. For example, my partner I love the energy bites that are featured all over the internet. My standard are these by the Minimalist Baker: dates, peanut butter, dark chocolate, oats, and flax or chia seeds. They're delicious, super nutritious, and give you an amazing energy boost. (They're also vegan and gluten-free if that is important to you.)

I normally just throw ingredients in the food processor without any measuring. But now I want to know how many calories are in one ball, so I can eat one without guilt. So this morning I measured each ingredient on the scale. I looked up the calories for each amount, added them up, and divided by the number of balls. I was so happy and amazed to learn mine had only 80 calories per ball! It's very helpful to know that.

For some people, the scale might help keep you honest, so you're not fooling yourself, eating more than you think. I'm more prone to estimating high -- not allowing myself to eat more. I don't think the kitchen scale is a necessity -- you could definitely succeed on a bariatric diet without one -- but it can be a useful tool.