POTLUCKS. How to count calories?

lorislosingit

What is the best way to account for potlucks in myfitnesspal? I encounter potlucks on a regular basis - I am considering eating ahead of time or just bringing my own food. If I try to eat sensibly, I'll do OK for the first hour or so. But if the food sits out for hours, I feel like I need to keep eating it. If I bring my own food, and the potluck food is still out there, I'll eat it. And I can never figure out how to enter in a little bit of this, a little bit of that, etc. etc., in mfp. Thanks in advance.

queenliz99

Do the best you can when logging. Enjoy the day, tomorrow is a new day. One day isn't going to make much of a difference.

epido

If I know I am going to one, I just try to eat sensible for the rest of my meals, log things the best I can, and try to make good choices when filling my plate. I also just assume it is a day that I am most likely going to go over on my calories for the day, and just move on.

ninayoungdog617

Potlucks are hard because you cannot know the calories unless you've seen what goes in. If I have to go I'd bring my own healthy potluck to eat and share. Definitely log every bit of food you consume.

CyberTone

I created two My Foods entries for potlucks and calculated how many grams of Carbs/Fat/Protein would contribute to 100 kcals by percentage.
I have a higher Carb (50%) My Foods item and a higher Fat (50%) My Foods item.
This gives me an estimate of macronutrients and some micronutrients per 100 Calories (kcals).
If I estimate that I ate 800 Cals, I might add 5 servings of higher Carb and 3 servings of higher Fat.
It is not very elegant, but it gives a better guess than just Quick Add Calories.

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lorislosingit

Thanks everyone! These are all great suggestions, and I like CyberTone's idea of creating separate 100 calorie packs.