Same food, different calories

honeylissabee

I'm learning that one of the things that really bugs me about tracking on here is that the same food item can be listed a hundred times with different calorie counts.

And what really baffles me is that this isn't just putting "pizza" in and getting information from different varieties of pizza. It happens if I put in 1 oz. of pistachios or 100 grams of brown rice or 1/2 a medium banana

I really don't think it should make a difference whether the nuts are Wonderful Brand or the generic Great Value brand from Walmart. Likewise, I really doubt there's something so different about whether the bananas are Dole or Chiquita.

So, how do you figure out what entry to use for these items, and why are the calorie counts so different at times? It just doesn't make sense.

RM10003

I try to match it with what's on the package, if it's a packaged product. If it's something like a banana, I'll look it up once on a government or some such website and then use the entry that matches that. And you can always look for the entries without stars, as those are the ones provided by MFP, rather than other users.

Just_Scott

MFP isn't perfect, but, at the same time it is a great tool for many. Log regularly, eat fat and protein MACROS at or above minimums, watch carbs, workout, drop weight, enjoy life. Make one of your goals to be accurate with intake (calories) and try to avoid brand labeling--it will drive you crazy--meaning stay consistent with amount and type of food and save it in your food diary.


Next....

Sycoholic

If I'm not sure, such as when I'm on the mobile app, I'll go with the one that has the higher calorie count. I'd rather be safe than sorry. If I'm that worried about it I'll sort it out when I get to my laptop..... but at least I have something logged in the meantime. I've not logged a food for that reason but forgot to when I got home. Caused me to overeat. One day is no biggie but I tend to think some people on here would cry themselves to sleep over it.

honeylissabee

I try to match it with what's on the package, if it's a packaged product. If it's something like a banana, I'll look it up once on a government or some such website and then use the entry that matches that. And you can always look for the entries without stars, as those are the ones provided by MFP, rather than other users.

Actually, what I try to do is look for the produce entries with the most options. Like the one for apples that has 1 cup, small, medium, large, and weight measurements in grams and ounces. The banana entry I used has options for weight, 1 cup mashed, and small/medium/large.

What's really bugging me is to save money (based on unit pricing), I bought a larger bag of pistachios. I knew the smaller bags of 2 different brands had 120 calories for 1.5 ounces and 80 calories per 1 ounce. Which makes sense, but there's no generic entry for in-shell pistachios by WEIGHT- and that information isn't on the package I bought (only weight for shelled, and I portion them out before cracking them open).

bethlaf

i use which one seems the most logistic, what drive me to irritation is when someone adds something, and theres no nutrition at all, other than calories, or protein... thats a big GRRR for me , even if you are only tracking a single nutrient.. input complete information, its better for EVERYONE!

prattiger65

Use the one with fewest calories.......always........seriously........no really.

khall86790

You need to be trying to select brands and/or bar code scanning wherever possible.
Also, if in doubt, use the one with the most calories. That way you can't go wrong. Unless it sounds ridiculous, in that case find ones where they seem to have similar calories and choose one of those.
E.g.
Pizza slice = 100 cals
Pizza slice = 30 cals
Pizza slice = 90 cals
Pizza slice = 300 cals
Pizza slice = 110 cals

Choose 100/110 cals in that instance as it seems the most correct.

Just_Scott

Honey do you have scale?

hazleyes81

In that case it will depend on what size the pizza is. A slice from an XL pizza is generally a lot bigger than a slice from a small one.

__Di__

I try to match it with what's on the package, if it's a packaged product. If it's something like a banana, I'll look it up once on a government or some such website and then use the entry that matches that. And you can always look for the entries without stars, as those are the ones provided by MFP, rather than other users.

Blimey RM, are you sure you didn't read my mind, you have put almost an identical posting to what I intended writing LOL!

Also to the OP, don't forget once you have logged something in your diary, you won't have to look up that particular food again as it will be under your "recent" tab.

AlyssaJoJo

What I hate is trying to put white onion and having to scroll through 40 subway sandwiches first. Or heaven forbid trying to do salt the few times I use it.

_Danno_

I always try to use the barcode scanner on my phone but if I'm out I always pick the highest calorie count just to be safe

froeschli

ever looked up the difference between homemade popcorn and movie popcorn? that's an extreme, but of course calories will vary on how a food item is prepared.
as for fruits and vegetables - they are averages. i doubt even two medium zucchini from the same plant would have the exact same count.
don't obsess over +-a few calories, you can always scratch your nose to make up the difference :-p

ok seriously, just be consistent, and adjust your calorie goal, if the results are different from what you are aiming at.

Andrea8985

As someone else already said, if in doubt I go with the higher calorie content. Usually once I'm home I'll google it (if it doesn't have the info on the package) and pick the entry which seems most reasonable from that.

jwdieter

Some entries are obvious mistakes, and off by a factor of 10. Those are the big ones you have to watch for.

melindasuefritz

google it = match it with live strong. then with mfp

meshashesha2012

i use which one seems the most logistic, what drive me to irritation is when someone adds something, and theres no nutrition at all, other than calories, or protein... thats a big GRRR for me , even if you are only tracking a single nutrient.. input complete information, its better for EVERYONE!

i do the same. i also spot check a few items. since i tend to eat the same things over and over, once the right thing is in my recent list, it's going to be easy to find the right one again

__Di__

What I hate is trying to put white onion and having to scroll through 40 subway sandwiches first. Or heaven forbid trying to do salt the few times I use it.

I usually stick into the search something like "onion generic" and it cuts through all the other stuff you mentioned.

cwolfman13

For the most part, I've found the data base to be fairly accurate...keep in mind that much of what goes in there is from members, so there is some user error in there. For the most part though, even when things aren't dead on, I find that they're really not substantially different in calories. A few calories here and there isn't going to break anything. Also remember that this is all estimates...even the numbers of the packaging, etc aren't 100% accurate.

ssdivot

Is there a way to filter the search results so that only the MFP entries without stars show up. Trying to find onion or carrots etc is a pain sometimes. I like to use the generic MFP entries for things like this because it always has the "per 100 gm" option. I get tired of having to scroll through, as someone else said 25 subway sandwhiches with onions on them to find the onion entry i'm looking for.