Liquid-y foods!
Options
TigressPat
Posts: 722
so maybe this is a stupid question, but I'm a bit stumped as to how to gauge the calorie content for foods with a lot of liquid.
and no, I don't mean soups etc, I mean foods in which you do not consume the liquid.
for example, bean salad.
I don't eat or drink the liquid, so If i weigh it, should I weigh it after and subtract the liquid weight? Or is this already done in the calorie counters?
or even better, marinated cucumber salad.
I make my own, with a large cucumber, onions, vinegar, and sugar.
Now I'm sure someone will say "add it to the recipe counter"
but no, If you add it as a recipe you are counting the huge amount of calories for the 1/4 cup sugar that goes in.
sure, some of that you consume, so you cannot log the salad as a cucumber, but surely you don't consume the entire caloric value of the sugar if you throw out all the liquid after eating the cucumber.
does this make sense to anyone?
has anyone found a solution to it?
thanks!
and no, I don't mean soups etc, I mean foods in which you do not consume the liquid.
for example, bean salad.
I don't eat or drink the liquid, so If i weigh it, should I weigh it after and subtract the liquid weight? Or is this already done in the calorie counters?
or even better, marinated cucumber salad.
I make my own, with a large cucumber, onions, vinegar, and sugar.
Now I'm sure someone will say "add it to the recipe counter"
but no, If you add it as a recipe you are counting the huge amount of calories for the 1/4 cup sugar that goes in.
sure, some of that you consume, so you cannot log the salad as a cucumber, but surely you don't consume the entire caloric value of the sugar if you throw out all the liquid after eating the cucumber.
does this make sense to anyone?
has anyone found a solution to it?
thanks!
0
Replies
-
and i have not found any listing for cucumber salad that seems correct in the database either.0
-
bump0
-
and straight to the post graveyard!0
-
add the ingredients into your recipe option and break down into servings-its pretty simple0
-
I just weigh it. I figure in the end it won't make a huge difference.0
-
1. Why are you using sugar in a cucumber salad, and since you are, log it.
2. Bean salad and most vinegar based salads are not going to have significant calories in their dressings, but if you are using salt and/ or sugar and oils, you should log it as if you've eaten it. The vegetables are going to absorb some of that dressing and since there is no way to know how much, just assume you've eaten all of it.
But, leave that stuff out when possible. Cucumbers don't need sugar.0 -
add the ingredients into your recipe option and break down into servings-its pretty simple
did you read my post???0 -
so maybe this is a stupid question, but I'm a bit stumped as to how to gauge the calorie content for foods with a lot of liquid.
and no, I don't mean soups etc, I mean foods in which you do not consume the liquid.
for example, bean salad.
I don't eat or drink the liquid, so If i weigh it, should I weigh it after and subtract the liquid weight? Or is this already done in the calorie counters?
or even better, marinated cucumber salad.
I make my own, with a large cucumber, onions, vinegar, and sugar.
Now I'm sure someone will say "add it to the recipe counter"
but no, If you add it as a recipe you are counting the huge amount of calories for the 1/4 cup sugar that goes in.
sure, some of that you consume, so you cannot log the salad as a cucumber, but surely you don't consume the entire caloric value of the sugar if you throw out all the liquid after eating the cucumber.
does this make sense to anyone?
has anyone found a solution to it?
thanks!
This is why as a rule I log the ingredients and not the end product.
It is a lot more accurate imo to log 1 cucumber of so-and-so many grams, a certain amount of chopped onion, a spoonful or two of vinegar or lime juice, 1/4 cup of plain yogurt etc.
If I make a lot and eat tomorrow from the same batch I put down " left overs, calories already counted ", or if it is the kind of food I can accurately weight or measure then I do that. So far for me it works for me to just post the ingredient.0 -
Three possibilities come to mind:
1. Eat the liquid.
2. Guess.
3. Just enter the food as is and don't worry about it, as it probably isn't enough to mess up your whole day.0 -
1. Why are you using sugar in a cucumber salad, and since you are, log it.
2. Bean salad and most vinegar based salads are not going to have significant calories in their dressings, but if you are using salt and/ or sugar and oils, you should log it as if you've eaten it. The vegetables are going to absorb some of that dressing and since there is no way to know how much, just assume you've eaten all of it.
But, leave that stuff out when possible. Cucumbers don't need sugar.
I agree-sounds kinda gross! IMO0 -
1. Why are you using sugar in a cucumber salad, and since you are, log it.
2. Bean salad and most vinegar based salads are not going to have significant calories in their dressings, but if you are using salt and/ or sugar and oils, you should log it as if you've eaten it. The vegetables are going to absorb some of that dressing and since there is no way to know how much, just assume you've eaten all of it.
But, leave that stuff out when possible. Cucumbers don't need sugar.
perhaps i was not clear, or perhaps people are not aware of what a cucumber salad is supposed to be.
it's MARINATED.
it needs the sugar.
so does bean salad.
and salad nicoise (not the tuna kind- just the veggie kind)
they are nice, healthy salads, but they need the sugar in order to marinate properly, however you do nto consume the sugar water (or i don't)
it's not a lettuce and tomato type of salad, it's not dressing you pour on top.0 -
What I do when I marinate chicken is to put the marinade in the recipe builder and then weigh it before I put the chicken in, and again after. As far as the number of servings I go by 1 serving as 100 grams. So if it makes 153 grams I put in that it makes 1.53 servings. Then if I weigh it and discover that I only used 102 grams and threw out the other 51, I can just enter 1.02 servings.0
-
add the ingredients into your recipe option and break down into servings-its pretty simple
did you read my post???
umm yes I did-and I gave you MY answer. Its the BEST way of being as accurate as possible. Its not ROCKET SCIENCE!0 -
Three possibilities come to mind:
1. Eat the liquid.
2. Guess.
3. Just enter the food as is and don't worry about it, as it probably isn't enough to mess up your whole day.
in the summer, I can consume quite a lot of salads.
so it can really derail weightloss if you log it as a cucumber and it turns out it's far more calorie dense.
the liquid is gross. why would I want to eat it?
I;d call the sugar a catalyst of sorts, but it's not exactly, and as no one is understanding my original query, i doubt that comparison would help.0 -
add the ingredients into your recipe option and break down into servings-its pretty simple
did you read my post???
umm yes I did-and I gave you MY answer. Its the BEST way of being as accurate as possible. Its not ROCKET SCIENCE!
apparently it IS!0 -
add the ingredients into your recipe option and break down into servings-its pretty simple
did you read my post???
umm yes I did-and I gave you MY answer. Its the BEST way of being as accurate as possible. Its not ROCKET SCIENCE!
apparently it IS!
for you anyway-good luck!0 -
What I do when I marinate chicken is to put the marinade in the recipe builder and then weigh it before I put the chicken in, and again after. As far as the number of servings I go by 1 serving as 100 grams. So if it makes 153 grams I put in that it makes 1.53 servings. Then if I weigh it and discover that I only used 102 grams and threw out the other 51, I can just enter 1.02 servings.
better than most replies, but I still do not think that would be accurate, as what you are consuming is not an amalgamation of all the parts, which is what your method implies.
I just ignore the marinade when I make chicken breasts, but now you've added another variable to my list!0 -
add the ingredients into your recipe option and break down into servings-its pretty simple
did you read my post???
umm yes I did-and I gave you MY answer. Its the BEST way of being as accurate as possible. Its not ROCKET SCIENCE!
apparently it IS!
for you anyway-good luck!
whooosh!0 -
I guess you all think pickles are gross too!
0 -
I understand your concern... I used to work in the nutrition office at a hospital. There can be a huge difference between a recipe including a marinade or liquid and the "consumed portion" of that recipe. MFP assumes that if you are eating 1/4 of the recipe, you are also consuming 1/4 of the liquid, which may not always be the case. I'm not sure I have a solution, but what comes to mind is this:
Yes enter the recipe. However, you might want to list the liquid/marinade ingredients as a separate recipe - then you can control how much you think you may have consumed in your portion along with the other vegetables. For example 1/2 cup cucumbers & 2Tbsp marinade.
I find that guessing at someone else's recipe for something I've made homemade is a total crap-shoot. I have also looked up recipes at sites like Allrecipes.com to find one very similar to mine and I will use that if they have nutritional content listed. As time consuming as it is, I have started entering all my recipes, but not uploading them to MFP. The biggest problem is I don't do a ton of repeat recipes - I like a lot of variety.
I hope this helped!0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 402 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 998 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions