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How to Read a Diet Scale

The way to read a diet scale depends a lot on the type of diet scale you have. There is a significant difference between a manual and digital diet scale. The type of features your scale offers also varies by models. Before reading your diet scale, you have to consider the kind of scale you have.

Things You'll Need

  • Pencil
  • Paper
  • Diet or nutritional scale
  • Food
  • Food container (optional)
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Instructions

  1. Choosing a Type of Diet Scale

    • 1

      Consider the maximum and minimum amounts you will need to weigh for your diet and what units of measurement your scale will need--grams, kilograms ounces, pounds? Would you like your scale to calculate conversions for you? Make a note of it.

    • 2

      Ask yourself how important accuracy is to you? Digital diet scales are much more accurate than manual diet scales.

    • 3

      Choose the features that will best meet your needs. Some diet scales have a removable platform to make cleaning up spills simpler. If you'll have a need to weigh food in containers you'll need a flat tray scale. The TARE feature on a digital diet scale allows you to reset the measurement reading to 0 so that it's easier to subtract the weight of a container you may be using to hold your food. If portability is important to you, then you'll want a design and size that caters to this convenience. For a digital scale, battery power may be a desired feature. Also some digital scales will provide you with estimated nutritional content information such as calorie, carb and fiber count. Some also have a memory recall feature. Make a note of your desired specifications.

    • 4

      Decide on a price limit. Then shop around for a diet scale that satisfies all your requirements.

    Reading Diet Scale

    • 5

      Familiarize yourself with the basic nutritional facts of the food you are about to weigh by reading the nutritional label. This will give you a general idea of the amount you're aiming for before you actually weigh your food.

    • 6

      Make certain your scale is clean before placing any food on it. If you don't have a diet scale with a removable tray, you may want to lay down some wax paper to keep the scale unsoiled or to prevent cross contamination of food.

    • 7

      Remove the food you want to weigh from its packaging. Some foods may need to be placed in a container in order to weigh them. If this is the case, if you have a digital scale place the empty container on the scale then press the TARE (reset) button to return the reading to 0. Then you may place your uncooked food in the container. If you have a manual scale, place the empty container on the scale. Make a note of the container weight before placing any food in the container as you will need to subtract this figure from the number you receive after placing your uncooked food in the container.

    • 8

      Read the display or dial to see the weight of your food. Be mindful of the unit of measurement your figure applies to (grams, kilograms ounces or pounds).

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