My Shred-Friendly Digital Food Scale!

My parents gave me this digital food scale for Christmas, and while it was neat, attracting the attention of my daughter who loves to bake especially well, it was used infrequently in the first weeks following the holidays. That all changed when I stumbled across a magazine highlighting Dr. Ian Smith's Super Shred diet. As I perused the magazine's explanation of the Shred concept, I took a chance and bought the digital version to read on Kindle - don't you love all the digital tie-ins? This diet sounded do-able, and food weights became an instant interest.

• As you browse through Shred and Super Shred meals and snacks, there are two ways in which the digital food scale can be a huge help. Many evening meals include a serving of a lean meat, 5 oz. in weight. While the general idea given is that your serving is slightly larger than a deck of cards, I like a more precise evaluation. Digital food scale, here I come! I discovered that I was cheating myself by an ounce or two at times, although less might seem like more on a diet. Nevertheless, I want every last gram of protein allotted, and my scale makes it possible to come closer.

• The second way my techie gadget for the kitchen helps is in computing calories. The Shred diets emphasize 100-calorie and 150-calorie snacks at various points, and when it comes to fruits and veggies, measuring can be a big help. For example, my morning fruit today was grapefruit...100 grams is equal to approximately 42 calories, and my serving weighed in at approximately 150 grams, equivalent to 63 calories. One of my favorite snacks has become fresh strawberries as they come back into season. 3 grams equals one calorie, and 300 grams takes me to a 100 calorie snack portion, nearly an entire bowl of strawberry halves. Pure bliss!

• As for the diet, I've completed 7 weeks of Super Shred and have lost 21 lbs. I've never had results like this on another eating plan. My husband has lost nearly the same amount on 6 weeks of the plan. Upon completing 8 weeks (2 complete 4-week cycles), I plan to transition to the primary Shred plan to change things up a bit as Super Shred isn't intended as a permanent way of eating. Rather, the more extreme of the two is great for a jump start on weight loss.

• The Sharper Image Model pictured here can be zeroed out easily so that your container isn't counted in the weight of your food. Just place the empty container on the scale before you turn it on. You'll also be pleased to know that there is an automatic off feature to conserve power if you forget to turn your scale off. It can switch from grams to ounces with the touch of a button, and registers ounces in 1/8 increments. Additionally, the stainless guard can be removed for easy washing.

If you are considering one of the Shred plans, it's nice to have a hard copy of the book so that you can quickly move back and forth between pages as you plan for a week's meals. I like having both digital and hard copies of Shred. In fact, my husband is doing this with me, so I bought two copies in order for him to keep one handy at work when he needs to make decisions about meal choices.

Two additional products that have helped in my initial experiences have been my Fitbit monitor and my grapefruit knife. While these might seem to be strange products to combine, they serve important purposes from my perspective. I ordered my Fitbit before I learned about Shred. It has helped me to get a perspective on my daily activity levels. It also enables me to evaluate my performance during any type of workout. Exercise is the tougher end of the plan for me, but I am gradually increasing my activity with the help of my Fitbit Zip. My grapefruit knife is a wonderful tool as I really love grapefruit. Some days provide room for a fruit to go with breakfast, and this knife is perfect for quickly sectioning my selection. On other days, I just squeeze a grapefruit and use the juice when the plan calls for a cup of juice at breakfast.

My food scale is great when I want to stir-fry veggies for my husband. It's nice to have a realistic view of what's in my wok! In fact, I was amazed at a 300 calorie conglomeration of veggies and seasonings that provided a more-than-ample lunch for the two of us one week. In fact, it was more than just the two of us could consume at the meal. It's nice to know so that implementing the Shred changes over time can become more intuitive. For now, my food scale is a true Shred buddy!