Olive oil screws up my calorie data. Is it fair?

MrsTomato

Hi everyone. Newbie here. Newbie in calorie counting as well. All is good except one thing. MyFitnessPal counts the olive oil intake without taking in account that it's not 'bad fat' per se. Yeah, I get it that's 'a bit' healthier than other oils/butter but that makes the numbers change dramatically.
I'm Greek, and so 90% of Greek food is olive oil based, we put it in everything, loads of it, in fact we even have a meal category called "ladera" (which means roughly, "oiled"). Imagine my surprise when just 3 tablespoons of olive oil end up to be 358 cal. Even a light Greek salad has at least 6 tbsp in it.
I'm also breastfeeding my baby so I have to have a set goal of at least 1800 calories daily to have a healthy milk production but breastfeeding on it's own burns 500 calories. So, I'm pretty careful with my numbers and that's why I get puzzled with it. It's not as if I can eliminate oil or skip it altogether and be slightly hungry; I'm not supposed to be hungry or else that can potentially lead to problems.
Also, do you guys calculate naps and sleep? I know that you constantly burn some calories but since I'm suppose to count every spoonful of olive oil oh you bet I'll count every nap, breath and arm twitch I can!

mph323

Oil is oil. MFP doesn't distinguish between types of oils. If you eat 3 TBLS of any kind of oil you are eating a LOT of calories, and will need to account for them in your daily totals.

malibu927

It doesn't matter if it's a "good fat" or a "bad fat"...olive oil has calories. You can work the amount you use into your goal or cut back on it.

And the calories you burn while sleeping are already accounted for when MFP sets your calories.

livingleanlivingclean

If you're making your own food, you can easily get away with limiting the amount of oil you use. You don't need a lot to cook with, or drown your salad in.

Alatariel75

Calories don't care how 'good' or 'bad' their source is. Calories are calories, and oil has a lot of them.

Your calorie goal already includes allowance for sleeping, breathing, and generally living.

VintageFeline

Your Greek salad has 6 tablespoons of oil? Woah nelly. I mean, I LOVE good olive oil but you're just going to have to not have as much. Fat is fat, the calories are the same regardless of the form that fat takes. You don't need to cut it out but you're probably going to have to cut down so as not to sacrifice nutrition elsewhere.

Ready2Rock206

6 tablespoons of oil in one salad is excessive. You don't get to pick and choose what calories you count. Your body will keep track even if you want to pretend they don't count. And logging naps exercise isn't going to help your situation.

rheddmobile

The calories are what they are, unfortunately, but if you're concerned that MFP keeps telling you not to go over your fat macros, you can adjust them under settings to reflect a higher fat diet.

I eat a fairly large amount of Greek food, and also Indian food cooked in oil, and the key is to measure a modest amount of oil for cooking - the smallest amount you can use without changing the texture of the dish - and then divide the finished food into smaller portions. A big pan of food made with a large amount of oil may not turn out to be so much when divided. You may also find that some of the oil used in cooking remains in the pan instead of being consumed. Even so, while trying to lose weight you may have to avoid "ladera" type dishes!

goldthistime

Is any of that oil left in the empty bowl?

lemurcat12

You really don't need to use so much oil, but if you do and are counting calories, yeah, I'd definitely count it!

nutmegoreo

As said, your body is going to count everything accurately, whether you do or not. If you aren't counting oil calories, but do count napping calories, I'll be surprised if you lose anything at all, if not gain. You can game thd nets on your tracker, but not counting them doesn't erase them from your intake.

Be honest with your tracking. You're only cheating yourself.

MrsTomato

I never said I don't count olive oil calories so I don't see how I'm "cheating" myself, I just figured I should count siesta naps as well. I didn't know that the sleep is already counted but that's fine cause I haven't changed the data on that.

Also, I thought I was clear but I'll explain myself; I cook for my family and me, so there has to be some oil to have the cooking going, of course I have changed the amount of oil I cook but there is still enough oil that you would consider excessive, yet I can't eliminate it completely.
My plan is to loose half a kilo per week, that's the healthy amount I can for my situation (postpartum, breastfeeding etc). I don't want 'fast diets' if that's what you guys are thinking.

VintageFeline

No one is assuming "fast diets" just that a lot of your calories are being taken up by olive oil perhaps to the sacrifice of other nutrition.

So when you say you use 6 tablespoons of oil in a recipe is that the entirety of oil and therefore your own consumption would be less? Say 1.5 tablespoons assuming 4 servings? That's way easier to reduce but there's a point you're going to have to make some sacrifices somewhere. Not drastically but you obviously have always eaten a lot of oil and is likely a large part of the reason you are in a position to need to lose weight. All of us losing weight have to look at our food consumption and see where we've been tripping up unwittingly that has got us here. For some it's chocolate, for others fatty cuts of meat, some really really like bread usually slathered in butter and for you it would appear it's olive oil. Something has to give somewhere.

amtyrell

Hey logging everything is a challenge at the start. Nobody knew it all to begin.
Kudos for the lifestyle change.
Try olive oil spray in the pan instead of a pour of oil. It works as well.
Also on salads I love Greek salads try feta crumbled instead of cubes same amount goes further and for the dressing up the herbs and lemon juice and half the oil .
Hummus is amazing with veggies like pepper strips instead of pita.
Basically smart swaps plus saving room for the most delicious things in moderation

ladyhusker39

I apologize, but I'm not sure what your question is. Can you clarify what you need help/advice on? Or maybe it's just a rant about how many calories are in olive oil? Which is totally cool. I just want to make sure we didn't miss your question.

MrsTomato

Correct. It's the amount I use to make the salad. But I don't eat the whole salad myself, nor I soak bread in it. For me it's not the oil, I never had weight problems before. My problem is sugar (I had gestational diabetes in both pregnancies in fact, and family history) and nowadays I can't even leave the house as often as I used to. I normally walk absolutely everywhere and I guess all these years that alone helped so I didn't have weight issues.

MrsTomato

It's probably a half rant, half "do I need to extract calories because it's 'good fat' or is such a high calorie number normal for a diet"?

ladyhusker39

MrsTomato wrote: »

It's probably a half rant, half "do I need to extract calories because it's 'good fat' or is such a high calorie number normal for a diet"?

No, you don't want to take away any calories in your food log based on their source. You'll end up under counting your calorie intake. The number of calories you need to lose weight is based on a few factors. I kind of think you're already using MFP to track, so I'd recommend logging everything you eat and giving it a few weeks to see if you're losing the way it says you should. If so you're good. If not, you know you're eating more or less than your plan says.

I hope that's at least somewhat helpful.

PaulaWallaDingDong

Calories are calories are calories. Sugar calories, fat calories, protein calories. Oil in particular has a LOT of calories. They all count. You have the power to choose what stays and what goes.

MrsTomato

That's the way I think I should do it, basically write everything down, be moderate, see what my actual diet really is, see if it needs improvement. I was already shocked by how little water I drink and the amount of sodium even though I have pretty much banned it since there is plenty in meat etc. I'm thinking of keeping the diary entries as is, and I will be joining the gym in autumn once my toddler will start preschool. Maybe then I will get more strict with the diet with the help of my endocrinologist (I have to see her soon for postpartum checkup).
Thanks ladyhusker39!

rheddmobile

Have you looked into a low carb diet? That may be a good fit for you. If you cut back on carbs, you will have more calories to spend on oils, plus it's a diet which is good for blood glucose. I'm diabetic and while I don't eat a low carb diet, I do have to keep a careful eye on my carbs. I don't know anything about low carb diets and breastfeeding, but you could ask your doctor if there are any drawbacks.

If you want to eat many of your calories as olive oil, there's nothing wrong with that as long as you are under your calorie goal and getting enough of different nutrients.