Check out my diary?

KateSimpson17

So I'm about 2 weeks into my weight loss journey and I FINALLY got a food scale, so just know that not everything is perfectly accurate. I know that my dietary habits aren't the best. My CICO is ok most of the time, but what I actually eat isn't always the best... I'm also REALLY low on potassium all the time and I'm wondering if I need to take a supplement or if there's specific things I could add.

MelodyandBarbells

Okay! If you finally just got a food scale I'm not gonna worry about that. When you do use it, just make sure that everything that isn't a freely pouring liquid with the consistency of water or milk gets weighed. Fruit, even cookies can be weighed. I see some items that look like recipes or cooked food - are you using recipes that you created using the recipe tool, or someone else's recipe from the database? If the latter, then I might worry a little bit about accuracy, since you don't know for sure what ingredients went into it

Potassium - don't worry about it! Many food labels do not include this info, so it could look like you're under when you're not. Unless your doctor has said and recommended something, I wouldn't worry about any supplements for potassium. Just take a multi, and at most, maybe research potassium rich foods and try to include them in your diet like you would any other food

Good luck!

Liftng4Lis

Do you have a medical reason to worry about potassium? It's not something I usually pay attention to.
Potatoes, white beans, squash, sweet potatoes, avocados are all potassium rich foods.

Kexessa

Compare the nutritional information on the cartons/packages to what you are logging and correct or make your own entries if necessary. Like eggs, 2 large for 120 calories may not be accurate. A baked potato with butter for 175 calories when a tablespoon of butter has approx. 100 calories may not be accurate either.

Potassium is a necessary mineral and it's best to have a blood test and talk to your doctor to find out if a supplement is appropriate.

3dogsrunning

Potassium is not required to be listed on labels and many entries do not have it even if the food includes potassium. You are likely eating much more than you think.

It is also not one of those things you should supplement unless you are sure you a deficient.

KateSimpson17

Thanks for the info about potassium, guys! I don't have a real reason to worry about it, but it's good to know that it's not required on lables.

JaneiR36 wrote: »

Okay! If you finally just got a food scale I'm not gonna worry about that. When you do use it, just make sure that everything that isn't a freely pouring liquid with the consistency of water or milk gets weighed. Fruit, even cookies can be weighed. I see some items that look like recipes or cooked food - are you using recipes that you created using the recipe tool, or someone else's recipe from the database? If the latter, then I might worry a little bit about accuracy, since you don't know for sure what ingredients went into it

Potassium - don't worry about it! Many food labels do not include this info, so it could look like you're under when you're not. Unless your doctor has said and recommended something, I wouldn't worry about any supplements for potassium. Just take a multi, and at most, maybe research potassium rich foods and try to include them in your diet like you would any other food

Good luck!

The only recipe I have on there (no bake cookies) is one I got off a website and then changed each of the ingredients to EXACTLY what I used, but I'm still not sure about the accuracy because I wasn't able to weigh them to make sure each one was equal, and I couldn't remember how many exactly it made so I had to estimate.

Kexessa wrote: »

Compare the nutritional information on the cartons/packages to what you are logging and correct or make your own entries if necessary. Like eggs, 2 large for 120 calories may not be accurate. A baked potato with butter for 175 calories when a tablespoon of butter has approx. 100 calories may not be accurate either.

Potassium is a necessary mineral and it's best to have a blood test and talk to your doctor to find out if a supplement is appropriate.

I try to make my own entries if they don't match up, but there's a few things (like produce) that I'm not sure about. I also didn't really think about them possibly not being accurate until a few days ago when I noticed something looked weird.

jkal1979

This thread does a good job of explaining how to find accurate food entries in the database.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

When it comes to produce and meats you can always use the USDA website to double check.

ffbrown25

Katey: Looks like you have a sweet tooth. Me too, girl!

I've been trying to replace candy and cookies and sweet tea with fruit. Peaches are, thank god, in season. Clementines are always wonderful, and I really like sweet cherry tomatoes, too. I've been making smoothies with bananas or frozen berries, creamy peanut butter, vanilla Greek yogurt, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, spinach, hemp protein powder, and a sprinkle of Stevia to make it taste like a milkshake.

You're welcome to check out my diary, Katey! I know these things won't ever quite satisfy my cravings, but they at least keep 'em at bay.