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With so many diets on the market today, it can be frustrating to find one that makes sense and may work for you. Some diets claim that high protein, low carbs are the way to go and some say just the opposite. Some are based on single foods and some on certain combinations of foods.

But what most diets have in common is calorie reduction. Fewer calories going in to the body and burning off more calories through exercise mean a reduction in body fat. The best way to get a handle on how many calories are going into your body is by portion control. Portion control means that you eat a specified amount of each food per meal; for example, 4 ounces of chicken breast or 1 cup of carrots. Measuring the portions of the food you eat ensures that you can calculate your caloric intake correctly.

There are a wide variety of scales on the market today meant for home kitchen use. They run from cheap plastic mechanical models to stainless steel digital scales. While price is never a perfect indicator of quality, in general, the more expensive the scale, the more accurate it is likely to be. Accuracy is critical when doing portion control dieting because you are measuring small amounts of food. So, for example, if you are measuring 3 ounces of steak and your scale weighs light by an ounce, that is a large increase in calories that you will unknowingly take in.

The best quality scales will have an easy-to-see read out. Digital scales have the benefit of a number read out rather than having to interpret where the line ends up. They will also have a way to compensate for the weight of the container so that you don’t end up adding that weight to your food. Finally, a good scale will have measurements in both metric and Imperial. While most portion control diets will measure in ounces and cups, it is useful to have metric readings as well for other kitchen uses.

Learning to control your portions with a scale takes some practice. Dieters commonly underestimate the size of portions and it can take some time to trust what the scale is telling you.

Many people on a portion control diet break out many meals ahead of time based on the appropriate portions. For example, if you are allowed 4 ounces of lean meat, ½ cup of rice and 1 cup of cooked vegetables, you could cook up several servings of each and make up meal packages with those portions ahead of time and freeze for later use.

Another tip to use portion control to its fullest advantage is to portion out snacks ahead of time. One diet killer is the snack attack. Once you are already hungry, you are more likely to snack on whatever is quick and easy, which may not be the most healthy food. Weighing out allowed snacks like 1 ounce of cheese and keeping them handy will help you resist the urge to snack on chips or crackers.

Portion control dieting using your kitchen scale is a powerful weapon in your fight against being overweight.