Review: KITRICS NUTRITIONAL SCALE

Good Morning everyone, and HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Since my last post was a bit "medical", I thought I would do a review of a wonderful product I highly recommend. I love Nutritional Scales, and have tried quite a few of them. I recently tried the Kitrics Nutritional Scale, and so far am really liking it. I deal with a lot of clients who are constantly wanting to know which products to buy, which are worth the cost, and most importantly, which will help them reach their goals.

The Kitrics Nutritional Scale is easy to use, sleek, programmable, small and looks nice on the counter. I love that it isn't bulky, and hardly takes up any room at all.

It does the following:

• Computes calories, calories from fat, carbohydrates, protein, fat, saturated fat, fiber, sugars, cholesterol, and sodium
• Includes information for 1999 foods; user can easily create and store up to 99 customizable food code entries
• Weighs in grams or ounces with accuracy of +/- 1 gram; weighs up to 72 ounces (2000 grams)
• Calculate your daily nutritional intake to help you achieve your health goals.

"Precision Scale

Weigh your food in grams or ounces, with a high-precision reading of +/- 1 gram (.05 oz.). The unit features a removable, washable stainless steel platform, and can weigh up to 72 ounces (2000 grams). Calibrate for whatever container you're using and you're all set.

 I love that you can use it directly out of the box. The programmable mode is easy to use once you get the hang of it. I love that you can customize your favorite foods, or meals, for an easy "one-touch" Nutritional read-out. This would be fantastic for any health-minded person; diabetic (it does exchanges and grams of sugar); athletes (protein, nutrients etc); anyone with Hypertension and Heart concerns (sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat); bakers (you can tare items); cooks (you can tare, program meals); dieters (reads out all macro nutrients, tallys your meal/daily Nutrition totals, and allows you to program meals and foods to track your Calorie needs). You enter your food code for a portion of food and it will compute the following: calories, calories from fat, carbohydrates, protein, fat, saturated fat, fiber, sugars, cholesterol, and sodium.

I do wish it had more "raw vegetable" program options. I have used other scales that had a lot more vegetables programmed in (cucumber with skin and without, etc). I also noticed that it only has buttered, microwave popcorn programmed in the miscellaneous section. I would have loved it to have the unpopped kernels programmed, as well as air-popped, non-buttered popcorn. However, with the programmable feature you can program this in quite easily. With foods such as CHIA seeds, Peanut Flour, Greek Yogurt, and protein powders being used regularly, this is great as you can program them right into the scale. Since more us us are moving away from more conventional junk food, towards a more whole-foods, healthier options type lifestyle, I think having a customizable readout is essential. For those of us who regularly use sugar-free products, or products made with Almond/coconut flout etc, this is a great tool to have. I tried programming GG SCANDINAVIAN BRAN CRISPBREAD, and it worked really well.

The Scale comes with a Nutritional Code book, which has the codes you enter to obtain the nutritional readout for the foods you weigh. You just enter the code, and it reads out all the information automatically. The book also has additional blank pages where you can write in your programmed custom foods/meals and their corresponding codes so you don't forget!

I was impressed with how sleek the KITRICS NUTRITIONAL scale looked on the counter. Some of the Nutritional Scales I have used cost $99 or more, and I was really impressed with the price of this product. It is accurate, works well, and has more features than most scales for half the price. This really is a great product to have in the kitchen and would make a fantastic gift as well.

The fallacy of Happy Weight.

Lately I've been really thinking about the term "happy weight", and how disordered that statement really is. Ever since Self magazine coined the term, I've heard so many women refer to their "happy weight", or more accurately, what their "happy weight" is, or will be. Again, reinforcing that a certain weight/ body size= happiness. I think it's become a convenient way to justify disordered eating habits, and dysmorphic body images. Why not "my happy self" or my "best version" or just "healthy-body mind spirit" all together? The fact that it's been assimilated into our society at such a rapid state just goes to emphasizes our unhealthy fixation on weight loss, diets, and being judged and ultimately, ONLY worthy when we reach that certain "magical" number (which never ends up being low enough, or good enough). And then,- only then, can we truly be happy. We need to realize that being/feeling "happy" isn't a something have to earn, or only have a right to feel if we've met some sort of ridiculous societal standard. We all have the right to be happy- regardless of size, and even more so because happiness is intrinsic to our well-being. It is not an alienable right that only certain people deserve to have. Think about it, what exactly does a "happy weight" really mean? They are two words that have nothing to do with one another. Without happiness, what is the point of life? To ascribe 'happiness' with weight is ludicrous.

I am in no way advocating obesity, or saying one should just let themselves go. That isn't healthy body mind spirit. But what about being happy with the person you are because of WHO you are? Not what the scale says? A little self-acceptance goes a long way, and leads to a healthy mind, which translates to a healthy body as well. A healthy mind leads to making healthy, sound decisions. You aren't prone to binge eat when you have a healthy mind. When you aren't emotionally binge- eating, you are usually at peace with yourself and life. You are in your HAPPY PLACE! You aren't trying to stuff down feelings, fill an emotional void and numb yourself to life. Your sense of self allows you to fill yourself with love.

 I recently was in the grocery store browsing isles when I saw a girl (about 17) talking on the phone. While I didn't hear her entire conversation, I noticed her definite frustration, and confusion while trying to decide what to buy. She looked overwhelmed and so unsure of herself. She kept picking up boxes, looking at them, hesitating and putting them back, while she listened to whomever was on the phone. She finally asked her friend in exasperation "I don't know what I should buy!!? I don't know what do get!". Her friend must have suggested something, as she replied immediately "I can't!!! I'm on a diet. I need to lose 5 lbs". Now this girl was a stick- the type that can fit into Aritzia size 0 pants. Her friend said something, and this poor girl threw out this rhetoric, "Well, not more than 10. But just 'tone up'". Her friend must have interjected with shock, saying she doesn't need to lose ANY weight, as the girl finally ended the conversation  by saying "Well I just want to get healthy. I'm not at my happy weight, Ok!!!? Just 5-10lbs and I'll be happy. I just want to get this roll of flab off my stomach before Christmas- then I'll be happy". She sounded defensive, frustrated and so naive. She could have gained a good 20lbs and still been skinny.

You would think with age comes maturity, but this is obviously not the case. I hear woman constantly discussing diets, fast weight loss, "does it really work", the "magic quick fix" and magazines with Diets and celebrity diet secrets are constantly the best selling. Unfortunately, it is the older of us who have sadly- unintentionally- given this message, perpetuated it and spread it like wild fire. I hate to blame media/TV- I think that ultimately, celebrity culture doesn't impact our mind-set all that much, unless the mind is already 'sick". Only then do we view these celebrities as 'perfect' and strive to fit into sample size 0s. If we have a healthy mind, attitude, sense of self and perception, we regard these TV shows and celebrities as just what they are- normal people working. We don't need to look for outside acceptance as a source of validation and joy. And our weight wouldn't dictate how much we like ourselves that particular day. We strive to be our best self, live, laugh, learn, and grow. We relish all that life throws at us, and can shake off the bad along with appreciating the good. We don't focus on the size of our jeans (it's just a number!), food, what we ate, how much etc. We would love food, look forward to it, eat what we want, and get on with our life. No fixation, not 'data mining' into dissecting what we ate, and what this means about who we are and how we should view ourselves.

 Self-love goes a long way. Instead of using terms like the fairly 'innocuous' happy weight, let's just focus on our 'happiest selves'. What makes us shine, and have a zest for life? When are we at our best, happiest and most confident selves? So I propose that today instead of the scale, our plates, foods, and body image dictating how much we can love ourselves, we just appreciate how wonderful and blessed we are and decide to be happy in spite of our 'flaws'. Our Self-Image and worth ISN'T reflected in the mirror! Let's focus on being our HAPPIEST selves, living our best lives.... Scale not included!



What makes you happy?

When do you feel the most at peace with yourself and life?

The most content and tranquil?

When are you the happiest?

How can one get out of the mind set that your weight dictates who you are or how you feel?
What are your thoughts on the term "Happy Weight"?