How do I chart nibbling and noshing?

NotPhyllis

Food samples at Costco, just a literal bite of the beef stew I made(1 piece of meat,1chunk of potato, etc.), pot luck and buffet dinners with just a bit of this or a taste of that, a single scallion pancake homemade by a friend, etc., etc., etc.

Any suggestions on how to chart these will be very much appreciated.

Friends' Christmas cookies are the next challenge looming.

DaddieCat

Personally, I don't. If it's too much of a pain for me to log or even estimate, I don't eat it. Other people might have better advice for you than that, but that's my method.

ki4eld

Once you're good at weighing and judging food portions, you can just quick add calories. If you have to estimate, over-estimate your calories. That "bite here and there" is exactly why people gain/don't lose weight.

Seriously, that's exactly why I eat before parties and don't do samples. I need to know exactly what I'm getting each day and nibbling doesn't fit into it.

For stuff from friends, I get the recipe, put it into MFP, and calculate that way. If I can't get a recipe for it, it doesn't go into my mouth.

booksandchocolate12

Don't nibble and nosh?

Not being snarky; that's my suggestion. You don't need to do it, so why do it? You'll have a much more accurate handle on what you're eating that way.

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm still a work in progress in that regard. But it is do-able.

Here's my tip for staying away from samples at Costco, supermarkets, etc: Just before you walked up to the table, a little kid picked his nose and then touched all the samples.

I haven't eaten a supermarket sample since I came up with that idea.

Suuzanne37

It exists in the database; search for Costco samples. It's an estimate but it is present.

amyk0202

I would also say not to nibble. I usually pre-plan my food for the day & that includes snacks. If you like to nibble, log everything beforehand & keep your snacks with you so you can do it whenever you want. All those extra bites here & there can really add up.

littleladie13

I know sometimes you just want to try the sample. I like the quick add option.

FGTisme

Do you have the app on your phone? If you do, scan barcode of the item you ate at Costco and approximate the portion size(1/8 to 1/4 usually). That's what I do at Sams club sample Saturday. (My family loves the sample carts!! It's the only reason my kids want to go! Sometimes, we don't even buy anything; just go for the samples. We are sad like that.)

As for other things, just do the best you can with an estimate/close equivalent or quick dad like others have said.

MarcyKirkton

I just estimate. If the nosh is chips, I guess at how many I ate. When in doubt, I overestimate the amount eaten. At this point, I can actually tell by my hunger pangs about where I'm really at with daily calories. For example, I overestimated some cake deal at work. By the evening, I was officially out of calories. However, I could tell by how I felt that probably wasn't right. I went ahead and fixed a low-cal meal and, sure enough, dropped weight the next day.

I think this gets easier. At first I really added in every ingredient. But I'm not watching macros except if I go over sodium. I already know that I have to eat protein to keep away from, "I'm starving. I don't care. " mode. So now I will take estimates, say from some frozen version of a nibble.

I don't want the diet to control my life. I'm dieting to feel back in control. And, for me, I don't worry so much about eating every calorie allowed. If I'm noshing, then I probably won't really want much lunch or supper or whatever.

mccindy72

NotPhyllis wrote: »

Food samples at Costco, just a literal bite of the beef stew I made(1 piece of meat,1chunk of potato, etc.), pot luck and buffet dinners with just a bit of this or a taste of that, a single scallion pancake homemade by a friend, etc., etc., etc.

Any suggestions on how to chart these will be very much appreciated.

Friends' Christmas cookies are the next challenge looming.

BLTs, as they are called, (Bites, Licks, and Tastes) are a big part of the great unknown calorie source of people trying to lose weight who can't figure out why they can't. If you're going to do it, (and I'd advice against the samples at the store - who knows if the sample people even wash their hands), then you need to log it. Tasting while cooking - that's a tough one. You almost need to quick add a guesstimate on the high side to be safe.
As far as your friend's cookies - that's not a small item to add in like a BLT. Actual whole cookies - you're going to have to look up the kind of cookie and add in something close.

Better to be close than not to add in anything at all. And in the long run, you need to stick to your calorie goal; that means saying no to some things that you used to say yes to.

Pawsforme

I log them by doing a mental estimate--and always, always, always erring on the side of guessing too high rather than too low--and using the "quick add" function. But I'm not one who is overly concerned about macros, and I've been food conscious for enough years that I think I make very close estimates.

Lourdesong

As has been said, better not to nibble and nosh. But behaving ideally isn't always in the cards, so...

A good deterrent to BLT's (as @mccindy72 referred to them, I never heard that before but I like it) is to set a calorie number for them, like 50 cals for every BLT. In my opinion if it's too complicated to figure out the correct calories for them then it's easier to just ignore these little nibbles and noshes and pretend they don't really count.

So, make them count so that you're deterred from getting at all comfortable with this behavior.

anewday23

FGTisme wrote: »

Do you have the app on your phone? If you do, scan barcode of the item you ate at Costco and approximate the portion size(1/8 to 1/4 usually). That's what I do at Sams club sample Saturday. (My family loves the sample carts!! It's the only reason my kids want to go! Sometimes, we don't even buy anything; just go for the samples. We are sad like that.)

As for other things, just do the best you can with an estimate/close equivalent or quick dad like others have said.

This exactly. They are selling the stuff, the package is right in front of you.

Homemade stuff is harder. I look it up on here and try to pick something comparable or I don't log it, but try to log everything else that day.

Frelise

ki4eld wrote: »

Once you're good at weighing and judging food portions, you can just quick add calories. If you have to estimate, over-estimate your calories. That "bite here and there" is exactly why people gain/don't lose weight.

This is what I do, otherwise it's a hassle having to log a million little bites. Just guess-timate reasonably. :-)

BigMama24mfp

I usually leave a couple hundred calories left at the end of my budget to accommodate such things. However, I agree with just trying to stay away in the first place. Too much of a hassle.

Queen_Celeste

For tasting while cooking, you can measure out your food then take a spoonful out before you eat. Then you are tracking the taste from earlier.

CoffeeNCardio

I tried the quick add in the beginning, but I got paranoid about what @mccindy72 said. I didn't want to screw myself out of my deficit for the sake of a few seconds of noms. I wanted to be accurate over indulgent. Just in that one area at least. I will eat whole cookies, once they've been weighed and logged. But I found BLT's way too much of a pain in the brain to bother with. It just didn't seem worth it for all the extra effort of trying to figure out how much and how many calories blah blah. I didn't want to have to think/stress about it so I just blow off the costco sample people now. The only BLT's I get now are to check my 2 yr old's food temperature (darn right I use my tongue, that forearm thing freaks me out, I don't trust it) and that is so little I don't worry about it.

Packerjohn

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

Don't nibble and nosh?

Not being snarky; that's my suggestion. You don't need to do it, so why do it? You'll have a much more accurate handle on what you're eating that way.

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm still a work in progress in that regard. But it is do-able.

Here's my tip for staying away from samples at Costco, supermarkets, etc: Just before you walked up to the table, a little kid picked his nose and then touched all the samples.

I haven't eaten a supermarket sample since I came up with that idea.

Yeah, it's funny how people go so ballistic if someone doesn't wipe off a gym bench but have no problem eating from every sample table at a store.

kristen6350

Great thing about MFP, it's so hard to log those kind of things it almost forces you to not eat it. Including "sampling" while you are cooking. Or eating some of your childs lunch. You just don't. I'd use this as a learning tool and don't eat it next time. It's much easier to say no than to have to figure out how to log it.

Therealobi1

for those of you worrying about hygiene, i guess you dont eat out at restaurants. If the chefs are anything like the ones on telly who like to touch everything with their bare hands, god help us all.
regarding samples at Costco are they supplying you a meals worth of food. Costco in london, i wouldnt even worry about it, other than at christmas time when i take a few handfuls of lindt chocolate balls. The other stuff half the time doesnt look edible.

snowflakesav

I sometimes quick add 300 calories in for a trip to Costco if I sample. Most the time I avoid it. There is so much stuff I don't really want to try.

WinoGelato

Lots of good suggestions including avoiding the Samples, entering the bar code of the sample in with a fraction of a serving, using quick add, etc.

On the beef stew and other things you are making, aren't you entering a recipe for when you eat the actual meal? Just either serve yourself less or add on another 20% when you do log it.

earlnabby

I learned to call them "Schnibbles and Bits". I try really hard not to do it. If I need to taste a dish I am making for dinner, when I serve it I weigh my portion, then remove one spoonful for each spoonful I ate for tasting.

mccindy72

Therealobi1 wrote: »

for those of you worrying about hygiene, i guess you dont eat out at restaurants. If the chefs are anything like the ones on telly who like to touch everything with their bare hands, god help us all.
regarding samples at Costco are they supplying you a meals worth of food. Costco in london, i wouldnt even worry about it, other than at christmas time when i take a few handfuls of lindt chocolate balls. The other stuff half the time doesnt look edible.

The chef at the restaurant has some health code laws to follow, at least. And is bound within the constraints of a kitchen where only he and other restaurant staff are allowed. The samples are handed out by people who are not under any health code laws, can touch any surface in the store touched by anyone and everyone else in the store, and is handing out product that could have been touched by anyone else, and could have been sitting for god knows how long. And who knows if it's even cooked properly.

MsJulesRenee

50 cal quick add for most and move on. Cookies I would do 100-150 calories for simple ones like sugar and chocolate chip- that's how much they usually are when I make them in my recipe builder. Add about 25-40 cals if they have frosting or nuts to be safe. Not saying I'm a professional or anything but that's how I would log them.

NotPhyllis

FGTisme wrote: »

Do you have the app on your phone? If you do, scan barcode of the item you ate at Costco and approximate the portion size(1/8 to 1/4 usually). That's what I do at Sams club sample Saturday. (My family loves the sample carts!! It's the only reason my kids want to go! Sometimes, we don't even buy anything; just go for the samples. We are sad like that.)

As for other things, just do the best you can with an estimate/close equivalent or quick dad like others have said.

Thanks. That never occurred to me

NotPhyllis

Thanks for all the support and information so far.

The bar code scan thing never occurred to me.

I haven't used the add cal function , but that is also a good one.

I need to adapt my diet to my eating pattern or I won't stick to a regimen, meaning foregoing nibbling and noshing (BLT's- I love that one!) is not realistic.

I have been strategizing ( is that a word?)- in a situation where people are bringing sweets, I brought in a pound of baby carrots and munched on those-mostly.

I drink water or coffee in the Costco parking lot so I am not hungry when I munch and can control whether I want to taste as opposed to reflexively grabbing, but the calorie count had me stumped. This has helped a lot.

irishdancer214

I like the quick add option..I do agree with some of the other comments about skipping the samples altogether...but sometimes I really want that taste of that new yogurt, or that piece of whatever...just be more picky. Christmas cookies aren't going to be fun...next time you're at the store, look at the packaged cookies and start getting a good feel for the number of calories in a cookie based on size. Just be very selective with what you eat, but enjoy yourself...maybe it will take a couple extra days to lose those last 5 pounds, but does it really matter? I do try to keep the nibbling to a minimum...those calories DO add up!!

Larissa_NY

You have to do what works for you, but at some point you might want to revisit this issue in the context of your relationship with food. I'm not sure what odds of success I'd give for a weight loss/maintenance plan that has to work around your unwillingness to stop putting unestimable numbers of calories in your mouth outside of mealtimes, whether you're hungry or not.

As an aside, the entire concept of Bites, Licks, and Nibbles genuinely makes me nauseated. It always puts me in mind of Ariana Grande in that donut shop licking a donut and then putting it back on the tray.

mccindy72

Larissa_NY wrote: »

You have to do what works for you, but at some point you might want to revisit this issue in the context of your relationship with food. I'm not sure what odds of success I'd give for a weight loss/maintenance plan that has to work around your unwillingness to stop putting unestimable numbers of calories in your mouth outside of mealtimes, whether you're hungry or not.

As an aside, the entire concept of Bites, Licks, and Nibbles genuinely makes me nauseated. It always puts me in mind of Ariana Grande in that donut shop licking a donut and then putting it back on the tray.

It's Bites, Licks, and Tastes. And if it's nauseating you, you aren't understanding what it means. It simply refers to anytime you taste something you're cooking, take a sample at the store, have a piece of cheese at a party.

crb426

I read somewhere that each little taste/small bite is about 25-50 calories (depending on what it is of course). So if I'm tasting something I consider the size of the bite and what it's made out of, then log either 25 or 50 calories for each bite using the quick add tool. Like others said, just keeping that number in mind is usually enough to make me not want to take the bite. For me, it's not about being difficult to add, it's thinking if I really want to waste those calories.