Do you bother eating foods etc that you can't find the calories for?

xstephnz

...?

for example, getting a sandwich when you go out, stopping for random sushi (seriously, what is in it these days? theres like 50 different kinds, and they've started adding sauces, deep fried meat etc), Chinese, Indian etc...? if something isn't from a chain restaurant it seems hard to know what to put down for your calorie count doesn't it?

mkakids

i try to avoid those items, but if i cant then i estimate the calories, double them, and record that.

xcalygrl

I usually will search for what I've eaten and take a guess based on the info presented in MFP. Is it error proof? NOPE! But for me, it is better to log something than nothing.

martyqueen52

Avoid it, or guesstimate.


I personally only do this on Friday nights when I take my wife out for our usual "Date Night". I don't track anything at all, but I also don't gorge myself.

AmyRhubarb

I just go for the closest match and move on. SWAG method as my old boss called it (scientific wild *kitten* guessing ) - it works for me, but might catch up to ya if you're eating at these places and guessing daily, or even several times a week. But once a week or just occasionally, guessing isn't going to hurt anything.

acheben

I just try to find the best match I can in the database and move on. I'm definitely not going to restrict myself to only eat at chain restaurants that show the calorie count (which may or may not be accurate compared to what I ate) for the rest of my life.

Lasmartchika

Find an entry that's close to what you ate and log it. Then move on.

honeybee_kisses

If I can't avoid it then I usually google it, look at 3 or 4 different answers and go with the one most similar or the highest

Daiako

Yes. Yes I do. I either find something similar, take a guess, or shrug it off but I never don't eat things because of uncertainty. That'd make it hard to eat at my family or friend's houses wouldn't it?

xstephnz

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot this example. I like other people cooking for me, because, duh food, but when my mum and sister cook for me, they don't use actual recipes, so I have a really hard time trying to figure out what was in the meal. My other sister said just to save 500 calories for those meals and hope for the best. I hate not knowing, it makes me lose control.

acheben

xstephnz wrote: »

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot this example. I like other people cooking for me, because, duh food, but when my mum and sister cook for me, they don't use actual recipes, so I have a really hard time trying to figure out what was in the meal. My other sister said just to save 500 calories for those meals and hope for the best. I hate not knowing, it makes me lose control.

You could either help them cook and then get estimates of the recipe there or ask them what is in it.

xstephnz

acheben wrote: »

You could either help them cook and then get estimates of the recipe there or ask them what is in it.

I have tried asking several times, and they snap at me. I guess I could try the other thing.

Plus, the way they make things is different everytime, so I have to always be in the kitchen with them. Might as well do the cooking myself!

acheben

xstephnz wrote: »

acheben wrote: »

You could either help them cook and then get estimates of the recipe there or ask them what is in it.

I have tried asking several times, and they snap at me. I guess I could try the other thing.

Plus, the way they make things is different everytime, so I have to always be in the kitchen with them. Might as well do the cooking myself!

Have you told them that you're trying to track your calorie intake?

Also, you could just treat it like an unknown restaurant meal and find a close entry in the database.

Lounmoun

You can look at info from different restaurants for similar items or similar recipes if it is homemade. Even if it is not exact it is better than not logging at all or avoiding eating anything but what you make yourself. At least in my life, I am not going to turn away a delicious meal someone else prepared just because I don't know everything that went into it exactly.
Still losing weight.

lizzocat

I do the 80/20 approach for these types of foods- most of the week, I eat food I've prepared, but on weekends or random times I've forgotten to buy my lunch, I'll get something. When that happens, I overestimate by at least 20% if not more

csteuter

One meal won't ruin you .. enjoy, eat in moderation, and just make an honest guess for tracking in MFP. It doesn't mean you're not in control ... next day just go back to doing what you do.

Francl27

I hate not knowing, but sometimes you have to guess.

foursirius

I just wing it to the best of my ability.

klkarlen

I will create a recipe entry for those items from restaurants or friends cooking, and log it that way.

lemurcat12

I don't do it all that often--for example, if I didn't have restaurants I liked that have calorie counts to buy lunch I'd always bring my lunch (I should always bring my lunch anyway, just because it's more financially sensible). However, I definitely make room in my week for a night or two out at a nice or interesting restaurant, and around here the restaurants that fit this category for me do not have calorie counts. So I estimate and accept that I don't really know.

I've done this from the beginning and lost weight.

I also have a friend who bakes for our book club and her baking is great and after the first couple of meetings I've stopped pretending I want the recipe for myself (which I might, someday) and just estimate and make room by skipping lunch those days.

And occasionally there's a cocktail party or potluck or some such where an accurate count is impossible and that's life.

If it was happening a lot in an unscheduled/unanticipated way and especially if I wasn't losing, I'd probably try to come up with a way to fix it, but I never want to feel like I can't just do life, which sometimes comes with unknown calories, or couldn't go out to a restaurant.

Ready2Rock206

Yuck. I can't imagine eating only packaged food you have the calories for - or chain restaurants or food I've made myself. I enjoy eating good food at good restaurants. Sometimes there's just some serious guessing involved. Life is too short to not eat good food occasionally.