Bulk buying of foods / how to track calories, etc

pfbuckeye83

So, I buy my almonds and cashews raw unsalted and organic. These are usually my snack. I can't find the nutrition information on them in order to track. I typically have 2ounces total per day. Anyone know where I can find nutrition information on this? I buy them in bulk from a self serve barrel, and there's no nutrition information on the bin. Help! I don't want to cheat!

Ready2Rock206

Almonds and cashews are both in the database. Same as your veggies and fruits without a nutrition lable. You'd look them up and log them the same way.

pfbuckeye83

Thank you, but being new to this app I don't know where to look? It only shows restaurants or scan the barcode! So, I'm still not finding it. Sorry

icemom011

Go to diary, click on add food ( for breakfast, lunch or whatever ), type raw cashews in the search section, then choose an item that's corresponds with that, make sure to pay attention to serving size when picking one out and entering in your log

amyepdx

When you click on "add food" there is a search bar at the top to the left of the restaurant location icon. Enter the food and hit search. You will get a lot of results. For something generic like nuts, you might want to enter also "USDA" to get the most accurate results. Also, you should weigh nuts in grams, not ounces so look for an entry in grams. Good luck!

lynn_glenmont

Search for

nuts, almonds

and

nuts, cashew nuts, raw.

I believe raw nuts are assumed to be unsalted, and organic doesn't matter for nutrition.

In general, use the USDA nutrient database to search for the item, then copy and paste the exact language used to describe the item into the MFP search field. Bonus: You now have the accurate USDA entry to compare to whatever MFP pulls up, so you can be sure you're using an accurate entry. After you've logged it one time, always log it in the future from your recent and frequent foods, or by copying it from an earlier diary entry, and you won't have to worry about locating the right entry in the MFP database.

If for any reason you can't or don't want to bother with comparing to the USDA database, good clues for accurate MFP entries that are based on the USDA database include

(1) not having 0 values for nutrients that commonsense tells you should not be zero (e.g., 0 protein for chicken) -- potassium is a good one to check, as pretty much all foods except pure fats and alcohol will have at least a little potassium;

(2) not having "round" figures for vitamins and minerals -- the USDA database doesn't round to the nearest 5 or 10 like food labels; and

(3) having serving sizes for volume and mass both, which the USDA database does, and which no MFP user-created entry can. USDA -based entries in MFP that were originally created by MFP itself might have serving sizes based on "piece" (bananas of different lengths, single eggs of different government-regulated sizes) as well as volume and mass. In practice, it's generally better to weigh your solid foods, but this is still a good hint for locating accurate entries in a pinch. I do log corn on the cob by the ear (using measured length) and eggs per egg of the appropriate government-regulated size (medium, large, extra large, jumbo) as it is much more convenient than weighing those foods. I weigh some liquids (milk, cooking oils, distilled alcohol) where there are USDA-based entries that have that option, because once you get used to weighing, it's actually easier than measuring by volume, and certainly more accurate.

middlehaitch

Just to add to the info above.
Most single food items that can be listed in grams come in 100g, or other serving sizes. If you hit the serving size a drop down will show and you can alter the serving size. I usually use 1g then for number of servings I put how many grams I have weighed out.

ie: 'almonds, roasted, salted, usda,'as my search.
I chose the correct entry, altered the serving size to 1g, and enter 34 servings because that is how many grams I have weighed out to eat.

Hope that helps.

Cheers, h.