Kristi Eramo O’Connell Teaches How To Use a Food Scale for Tracking Macros
Former CrossFit Games competitor Kristi Eramo O’Connell is doubling down on online content since retiring from competitive CrossFit. Informing her fans about different tools and tips to achieve dream physiques, O’Connell is of the mind that one can’t out-train a bad diet. One way to ensure one’s diet remains as optimal as possible is to track macros.
On June 25, 2023, O’Connell published a video to her YouTube channel overviewing the benefits of a food scale when tracking macronutrients for body composition purposes. Check it out below:
[Related: Noah Ohlsen’s Full Day of Eating During 2023 CrossFit Games Prep]
Kristi Eramo O’Connell on Using a Scale to Count Macros
O’Connell believes digital food scales are best for tracking macros. She holds up the Arboleaf Rechargeable Food Scale, citing how valuable being rechargeable is. “There’s been so many times that I pull out my scale, and the battery goes low, and then it won’t work,” says O’Connell. “That is extremely frustrating when you’re sitting there trying to make your meal, and you’re like, ‘Well, guess I’m not counting for this meal.’”
Having a food scale readily available and charged will prevent consuming unaccounted calories, which could upend calorie maintenance to a surplus, preventing weight loss, or vice versa by not consuming sufficient calories.
Another food scale facet Kristi Eramo enjoys is counting in minuscule increments. She prefers her scale to count down to the gram and have a tare function, so she can “zero out” bowls, plates, or other containers to only count the weight of her food.
O’Connell’s Arboleaf scale has many measurement options, including grams, ounces, and fluid ounces. She shows how to turn on the scale, put her container onto the scale, and how to zero out the scale. Once prepped for food, she poured 140 grams of blueberries, for which she knows the macronutrient breakdown of protein, carbs, fats, and fiber.
O’Connell has a neat trick for food items like nut butters or other challenging foods to measure. She placed the entire jar on the scale and zeroes it out. Then, she subtracts the amount she wants as the scale shows that number.
Once the foods are weighed, O’Connell tracks macros via an app that can scan bar codes and pull nutritional information straight from food labels. Specifically, O’Connell uses the 1st Phorm app to create new food items by copy-pasting the nutrition facts.
Why Does O’Connell Track Macros?
A food scale is meant to enhance accuracy when logging food. O’Connell suggests that it’s okay to take a few days off, but claims it’s “super important for helping you understand portion control…and…help us change our body composition.”
When O’Connell has a body composition goal, she tracks her macros to the gram. O’Connell’s food scale is her number one tool in the kitchen, and she uses it daily.
O’Connell recommends to anyone trying to change their body composition, regardless of diet or nutritional plan, to grab an accurate, rechargeable food scale. It’s the difference between so-so results and effective transformations.
Featured image: @kristieramo on Instagram