Counting every single calorie...

Roey1231

I have a serious question....when I am writing down my meals in the food diary do I need to write down every single thing that was used to cook the meal? For example, tonight I cooked a beef roast. I added a jar of home canned tomatoes, onion and several spices. Does all of that need to be listed separately? I usually don't measure that kind of stuff, but I do use a lot of herbs and spices when I cook. Most of my meals do not come with packaging that includes barcodes, we grow most of it ourselves. I just don't want to miss out on listing calories just to find out that I was not meeting my goal after all.

gamerbabe14

In my opinion, spices you don't have to worry about. Tomatos, onions you should count. I don't weigh garlic or ginger but I do count all vegetables.

ccsernica

There are small amounts of calories in spices, but for the most part they're well within the rounding error on more caloric foods mandated by labeling laws. (For anything over 50 calories/serving, they round calories to the nearest 10.) I'm sure it's OK to leave them out of your counts.

annacole94

Generally, I use the recipe builder because if I'm cooking something, I will probably eat it more than once this round and then cook it again in the future. Once it's in my recipes, it's easy to log it as one thing. I do include everything, but spices/herbs don't really matter.

Blitzia

If you're just starting out, I think you should log everything. If it has calories and it goes in your mouth, log it. For meals and things with lots of spices, I usually use the recipe builder because if I make it again, it's easy to log it the next time.

In the long run, if you miss 2 calories because you didn't log the cumin in your recipe, it won't be a big deal. However, if you start by logging everything, you'll actually learn things like "this spice has almost no calories so it isn't worth logging." If you start making assumptions right off the bat though, you may accidentally end up eating more calories than you think. Case in point, I made a recipe with a stevia sugar replacement. The first time I made it, I didn't add it to the recipe because I assumed it was 0 calories. The next time I made the recipe and decided to log the stevia - it turned out that the amount I was adding was actually a couple hundred calories! (Turns out the product was actually a "stevia plus sugar" mixture, which I never would have noticed until I went to log.)

So long story short, log everything. When you're a calorie tracking veteran you may decide it's not worth logging all your spices, but I wouldn't recommend that decision until you've been doing it a while and can confidently say how many calories you'll be leaving off by not logging things.

dfwesq

I don't generally log spices, but I would log anything that has more than a couple of calories, or anything that has one of the nutrients or macros you care about tracking. For example, if you're paying attention to sodium you'd definitely want to log any salt you add to food even though it has no calories. With seasonings that have a few calories, like garlic, I usually estimate.

CaitKilla

Just be careful... being so meticulous with calories can lead to disordered eating and/or an eating disorder. I know it because I'm there right now and trying to recover. If it's something that has so little calories like spices, don't count them. They won't matter.

ShannonMpls

I very rarely use food that

Roey1231 wrote: »

I usually don't measure that kind of stuff, but I do use a lot of herbs and spices when I cook. Most of my meals do not come with packaging that includes barcodes, we grow most of it ourselves. I just don't want to miss out on listing calories just to find out that I was not meeting my goal after all.

Like you, I do a ton of cooking and much of it doesn't have barcodes. I use the recipe builder nonstop (I've been on MFP for 6 years, so I have literally hundreds of recipes saved). For most foods, there are default entries and you can find them easily by searching "chicken breast meat only raw" or "onion raw". Then I typically weigh the ingredient in grams before adding it, but I'll eyeball low calorie foods like veggies. I always weigh proteins and fats.

I do add spices, garlic, ginger, etc in recipe builder but that's mostly because I use my recipe builder later as my actual recipe for a meal, and my shopping list. Also, some spices are actually kinda high calorie, like if you're making a hungarian goulash with a 1/2 cup of paprika

ndj1979

CaitKilla wrote: »

Just be careful... being so meticulous with calories can lead to disordered eating and/or an eating disorder. I know it because I'm there right now and trying to recover. If it's something that has so little calories like spices, don't count them. They won't matter.

Please just stop. Being accurate with logging is not in any way disordered and that is a ridiculous assertion.

tanis9699

Yes yes yes!

CharlieBeansmomTracey

CaitKilla wrote: »

Just be careful... being so meticulous with calories can lead to disordered eating and/or an eating disorder. I know it because I'm there right now and trying to recover. If it's something that has so little calories like spices, don't count them. They won't matter.

thats not going to happen with everyone. I try to be as meticulous as I can and I dont have an eating disorder,but then I never had one.

MelanieCN77

Yeah, gotta count all the big ingredients but give yourself a break on the herbs and spices. You get the hang of getting all your ingredients on the chopping board and weighing them off as you go. I have a little dry erase board on the counter that I jot it down on and then I'll stick it in the recipe builder when I am done.

breathless575

Yes, it's important to log every single thing. For example, I used to not log gum until I found out there were calories in it. At 5 calories per stick of gum, it can add up.

AngelaAlario

What everyone else said, log it all. The way I do it when I cook a family meal like you're describing is to enter everything as a recipe. Then I weigh it all and weigh my portion. It's not perfect but in that situation it's as close as you can get and you'll definitely be in the ballpark.

Goober1142

I just log mixed veggies for expedience. Also I stop at 50 cals under goal.

Momjogger

I never log vegetable calories if they were on the old Weight Watchers "free" list. I do not log celery, broccoli, cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers, lettuce, spinach, peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and tomoatoes. I DO log butternut squash, carrots, sweet and white potatoes, corn, beans, chickpeas, peas. I use cucumbers, celery, and salads as a volumetrics trick to keep me full. I also bulk up meat with peppers, mushrooms, and onions as it helps me stay fuller and gives flavor for less calories. I do not count them because they keep me on track, are very low calorie and it works for me! I DO count pasta sauce, sauces, and dressings. I am not sure where homemade canned tomatoes would fall - as a sauce type condiment or as a veggie, but I find that if I do not stress over every little thing I tend to do better overall, so I say - "free."

funnybun1

if you're really that worried about it - maybe add the 5 calories by quick add calories....
or...do some squats or something while you're cooking to burn it off

LonniJay

I think it's worth it too log everything and you'll discover what is and isn't worth logging over time. I used to never log spices until I decided to scan my cinnamon one day and found out it had way more calories than I expected.

I also like the recipe builder for things I make often. It makes things so much easier as others have mentioned. Good luck!

middlehaitch

The more data you have the easier it is to track problems if they arise.

Log all food and exercise it is important information for knowing your personal calorie burn and how many calories a day you need. Online estimators like MFP or TDEE calculators are only estimators. Same with exercise calorie burns. Web based or trackers are estimates.

Having your own numbers, though time consuming to gather when you start, will make weight loss and maintenance easier in the long term.

Over time, as you get use to what you need, you can become more lax, but to begin with accuracy is key.

Cheers, h.

estherdragonbat

When I'm using the recipe builder, I admit to using generic entries for fruits and vegetables (e.g. 1 large onion, 1 medium carrot) without weighing the actual ingredient. I figure that a carrot is about 20-40 calories. I'm making a stew that will yield 4 (sometimes 6) portions. If the carrot accounts for 5 calories or 10... it's really not a big deal. And since I'm the only one eating my vegetarian entree... let's just imagine that the recipe builder tells me it's going to be 400 calories per serving. I don't sweat it if one portion is 380 and another one is 420. It balances over the week.

That being said, I log all my ingredients, even water and spices. I accept that it may not be 100% accurate but at this point, I have slightly over 70 lbs to lose. As long as I'm reasonably on target, the weight is coming off. If/when I plateau, tightening up my logging will probably be the first thing I try.

Heather4448

Use the recipe builder. It's a great tool. I think most of us cook the same meals with a few variations and the recipe builder saves so much time. I don't bother logging spices, though.

dfwesq

ShannonMpls wrote: »

I do add spices, garlic, ginger, etc in recipe builder but that's mostly because I use my recipe builder later as my actual recipe for a meal, and my shopping list. Also, some spices are actually kinda high calorie, like if you're making a hungarian goulash with a 1/2 cup of paprika

Some spices also have significant amounts of vitamins or fiber in them, too - in case you're tracking that.

dfwesq

breathless575 wrote: »

Yes, it's important to log every single thing. For example, I used to not log gum until I found out there were calories in it. At 5 calories per stick of gum, it can add up.

I don't log calories from gum, or the calories I burn chewing it.

yskaldir

Once you've been tracking for a while you'd have a good idea what a serving of rice/beef/whatever looks like and that is usually good enough for maintaining a normal weight.

But if you want to be shredded you gonna have to track every single Calorie.

spiffychick85

I track everything but spices, this has worked for me...as far as your tomatoes go, can you weigh them and then search for the weight and log that? If not I'll google calories in X grams of canned tomatoes and use that as a last resort

ConnieT1030

Youll have to do what works for you, as you can see by the variety of responses.
I dont log spices, but then I dont use much of them. Even if I made a recipe that day, its likely not going to account for more than 5 calories. I nearly always have a good chunk of calories left over, so I dont really care about things under 5 calories, there's plenty of room for it. When I am at the last 10 pounds or so, and I have very little room to play with, I will tighten up if it needs it. Most items in general are going to be off by a small amount anyway.

cmtigger

I only count spices if they are a blend with sodium. I need to track that for health reasons.

If they don't have salt, I don't log them.

lemonychild

There's no way I'm obsessing over spices and some tomatoes.

TimothyFish

It won't hurt anything to be a little off (you're guaranteed to be a little off anyway), but be aware that vegetables have a significant number of calories.

Roey1231

Thanks everyone. I have not tried the recipe builder yet, I guess that is my next task.

ktekc

I put everything in the recipe builder even if its 0 calories because if my husband and i like a new recipe i print it out how i made it and it goes in a binder on my kitchen counter. I do this instead of printing the recipe where i got it from because i change stuff it sometimes ends up way different than it started and i dont like to have pen marks all over my recipes. I keep a post it note by my binder to note down any weight differences in ingredients and adjust those and the final weight as servings later.