Let's be honest
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I also dont measure fruit or veg because i think a guess will do with low calorie items?
I weigh meat and yoghurt, milk basically anything but fresh produce.1 -
I weigh and measure everything than I can weigh and measure. If you're losing weight without measuring right now, then continue doing what you are doing, but at one point (and this is very likely) your weight loss could stall. If it does, you know what you need to start doing. Salad dressing in particular can be very high in calories. If you do a simple oil and vinegar dressing (classically 3 parts oil 1 part vinegar) and you use more than 2 tablespoons you're talking about 200 extra calories, if not more. It can add up and wipe out your deficit completely. Ketchup is forgiving at roughly 1 calorie per gram, but mayo is not if you're using mayo.0
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sophie9492015 wrote: »I also dont measure fruit or veg because i think a guess will do with low calorie items?
Fruits, especially, can be surprisingly caloric because of the sugar content, though. A medium-sized banana, for example, is over a 100 calories.
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the serving size given doesn't have to be what you use; they just have to give the nutrition info for some amount. I know some people drown their salads in dressing - I question whether they actually like salad, or if they've made it tolerable with dressing. If you don't enjoy a lightly dressed salad, and you're looking for lower calorie options, perhaps salads aren't right for you. I don't enjoy a lightly dressed lettuce salad, so I eat a lot of salads made of a variety of raw veggies that I do like. I shred them up - kind of like cole slaw, but with beets, carrots, etc. and dress them with balsamic vingar-mustard dressing, salt and pepper. If you have room in your calorie allotment for lots of dressing, then go for it.3
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I weigh and measure just about everything. I estimate sugar free ketchup and sriracha, but they are low calorie condiments.
To compensate for my somewhat loose logging (I might pour an extra ml or two of creamer in my tea and not bother to change the entry I use every day), I leave extra exercise calories on the table.
I think everyone needs to do what works best for them. Not measuring and just trying to cut back never got me anywhere. Measuring and logging everything with painstaking precision was a bit too much for me, so I backed off from it into something a bit more relaxed with a fail safe to ensure that I was still in a deficit.
If not measuring and just eye balling is working for you OP, that's great. As long as you're getting the results you want, that's all that matters.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I weigh and measure just about everything. I estimate sugar free ketchup and sriracha, but they are low calorie condiments.
To compensate for my somewhat loose logging (I might pour an extra ml or two of creamer in my tea and not bother to change the entry I use every day), I leave extra exercise calories on the table.
Me, too. I only eat back @ 50% of my 'bonus' exercise calories to allow for inaccuracies in either my food logging or my exercise burn.
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snickerscharlie wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I weigh and measure just about everything. I estimate sugar free ketchup and sriracha, but they are low calorie condiments.
To compensate for my somewhat loose logging (I might pour an extra ml or two of creamer in my tea and not bother to change the entry I use every day), I leave extra exercise calories on the table.
Me, too. I only eat back @ 50% of my 'bonus' exercise calories to allow for inaccuracies in either my food logging or my exercise burn.
Honestly, I went through a spell where I was logging things like garlic powder and pepper and it was just doing my head in. Or... oh, I know! Tasting a soup for seasoning.
And they do have calories and it does add up.
Now I don't worry about those because of my exercise calorie buffer and I don't have that logging dread. I need to log. I had a very brief flirtation with not logging and didn't really like it. I like this method just fine.
I can trust my Fitbit, so I use 100-150 calorie buffer.0 -
I weigh or measure pretty much everything. However, every once in awhile I might have like 3 jellybeans out of the candy bowl at work. If that's all I have, I don't bother logging it. It's like 8 calories. I'm usually under my calories anyways and I've averaged a loss of 1.5 lbs a week for the last 16 weeks. I measure salad dressing and half n half and sugar and ketchup. I occasionally have a slice of cheese I don't bother to log, but, I'm using a cheese slicer and I know it's 0.1 ounces of cheese. If I have a second slice, I go ahead and log it all.
If you've been doing this for awhile, then you know what you can skip logging. But, if you're going to start a thread like "I'm not losing weight and I don't know why" then hopefully you've gone back to weighing and measuring every single thing for a few weeks before posting that.. lol0 -
I like this post, particularly the links at the end that show how greatly people tend to underestimate their calorie intake. But again, it's mostly an issue for those who aren't achieving their desired weight loss results.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p13 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »hey every one I want your honest thoughts about this. Am I the only one who doesn't measure their food. I mean really I'm not measuring out how much katchup I am putting ony eggs but it's not a table spoon. Just like salad dressing how do they expect salad to taist good with just 2 tablespoons of salad dressing. Honest opinions please.
Most condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise and salad dressings are very caloric. So if you're of the mindset that "how do they expect salad to taste good with just 2 tablespoons of salad dressing" you are definitely at risk of exceeding the calories you need to lose weight.
Just have a look at all of the threads here with titles like, "Why am I not losing weight?" to see that this is a very common issue.
You can log what you eat or not - your choice - but know that your body *does* log them even if you don't.
This.
I don't weigh everything now, several years into maintenance, but I will always measure out condiments and dressings because most of them are calorie bombs!2 -
I measure them all.
If I want more than two tablespoons of salad dressing, then I eat more than two tablespoons of salad dressing. But then I have account for those calories regardless of how many it is. Either make them fit my daily calorie limit one way or another or go for a hike with elevation gain and loss in it to burn off calories. One way or another, room has to be made for those dressing based calories to be accounted for.
If I choose to do neither - because that's what it is, a choice - I either stay fat for years and years on end, insidiously adding more fat every year -or- always yo-yo weight-wise when I do try to lose weight, never getting where I think I should be. BTDT, lost all but ~18 months of my 30s to it.
So it's either one or the either. Me? This time I choose Door 1, thanks.2 -
Let me guess, ranch dressing, right?6
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hey every one I want your honest thoughts about this. Am I the only one who doesn't measure their food. I mean really I'm not measuring out how much katchup I am putting ony eggs but it's not a table spoon. Just like salad dressing how do they expect salad to taist good with just 2 tablespoons of salad dressing. Honest opinions please.
I think 2 T of salad dressing is plenty, even for a big salad. But 2 T of full fat ranch has more calories than I want to spend (150), so I use 1 T plus 56 grams of much lower calorie cottage cheese. Also, I put my salad bowl on my scale and weigh out the equivalent of 1 T because it is much easier and accurate to do it this way, plus I don't have to wash the tablespoon.
If you're just not happy with a salad unless it is copiously dressed, try this recipe:
Homemade ranch dressing
Adapted from "Joy of Cooking"
2/3 C fat free yogurt thinned with about 1/3 C water (if using Greek yogurt, use more water and less yogurt)
2 T lime juice
1 garlic clove, crushed and minced
a few big pinches of salt
1/4 t pepper
1 T minced parsley
1 T minced chives or 1 T very finely minced onion
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I rarely log anymore, but I measured everything when losing, and I still will measure a higher cal dressing (I normally make my own, so I measure the olive oil I add, and use vinegar freely, because it's low cal). I don't measure mustard, because low cal, but sometimes use aioli, and sure thing I measure that!
It's probably worthwhile learning to enjoy foods without drowning them in sauces, but that's up to you, it's not required, but if you eat the calories they count, measured or not.1 -
I don't tend to weigh or measure, sometimes I will but I won't measure protein or veg, I don't see the point, so I guess most. Like I'm not weighing a chicken breast, because I don't mind being a few calories out. But I have a printout of portion sizes by the cooker so I feel like I can make good enough judgements. I'm on 1200 calories a day, as long as I'm within that by a couple hundred, I'm losing weight. If I started gaining or maintaining, I would weigh. I do a lot of basic cooking though so usually mfp has it all figured out for me0
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Honestly, I had to learn to measure because I was overestimating by more than I had ever thought. My 4oz of meat was more like 6oz and so on. Now I have gotten better at understanding portion sizes, but I just feel safer with measuring everything I can.
As for salad, I used to be one of those people that really poured on the dressing. The first few times I tried too tablespoons, I thought it was far too little, but now I'm used to it. Salad dressing is a bit of pain for me because I have a sensitivity to vinegar, which eliminates a lot of dressing.0 -
I don't measure or log 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time I don't bother measuring dressings and anything of that nature0
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I don't even use salad dressing and I love my salads. I put hot sauce on them which is "zero" calories but even then, when I"m serious, I account for some calories because nothing is zero calories.0
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"how do they expect salad to taste good with just 2 tablespoons of salad dressing" If you're buying commercial bottled dressing, maybe you can switch to the lighter version? Honestly, my favorite "dressing" is some olive oil, a little salt, and black pepper. It brings out the natural flavors and doesn't mask them.0
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amusedmonkey wrote: »I weigh and measure everything than I can weigh and measure. If you're losing weight without measuring right now, then continue doing what you are doing, but at one point (and this is very likely) your weight loss could stall. If it does, you know what you need to start doing. Salad dressing in particular can be very high in calories. If you do a simple oil and vinegar dressing (classically 3 parts oil 1 part vinegar) and you use more than 2 tablespoons you're talking about 200 extra calories, if not more. It can add up and wipe out your deficit completely. Ketchup is forgiving at roughly 1 calorie per gram, but mayo is not if you're using mayo.
I use a light mayo and I usually just spread I find with that if I do the full 1 Tbsp it over powers the wonderful flavers of the meat. Only exception I use way more when I am making tuna because I find fish disgusting.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »I weigh and measure everything than I can weigh and measure. If you're losing weight without measuring right now, then continue doing what you are doing, but at one point (and this is very likely) your weight loss could stall. If it does, you know what you need to start doing. Salad dressing in particular can be very high in calories. If you do a simple oil and vinegar dressing (classically 3 parts oil 1 part vinegar) and you use more than 2 tablespoons you're talking about 200 extra calories, if not more. It can add up and wipe out your deficit completely. Ketchup is forgiving at roughly 1 calorie per gram, but mayo is not if you're using mayo.
I use a light mayo and I usually just spread I find with that if I do the full 1 Tbsp it over powers the wonderful flavers of the meat. Only exception I use way more when I am making tuna because I find fish disgusting.
My answer would be not eat the fish... Not use more mayo! Life is too short to eat food you don't like.12 -
jenniferinfl wrote: »I weigh or measure pretty much everything. However, every once in awhile I might have like 3 jellybeans out of the candy bowl at work. If that's all I have, I don't bother logging it. It's like 8 calories. I'm usually under my calories anyways and I've averaged a loss of 1.5 lbs a week for the last 16 weeks.
I wish I was losing that every week I would be so much happier0 -
Why eat food you find disgusting? It's wasteful, on both counts.5
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jenniferinfl wrote: »I weigh or measure pretty much everything. However, every once in awhile I might have like 3 jellybeans out of the candy bowl at work. If that's all I have, I don't bother logging it. It's like 8 calories. I'm usually under my calories anyways and I've averaged a loss of 1.5 lbs a week for the last 16 weeks.
I wish I was losing that every week I would be so much happier
If you aren't getting the results you want, surely trying to weigh and measure more accurately would be a good start? At least you have a better idea about your intake that way?6 -
kshama2001 wrote: »hey every one I want your honest thoughts about this. Am I the only one who doesn't measure their food. I mean really I'm not measuring out how much katchup I am putting ony eggs but it's not a table spoon. Just like salad dressing how do they expect salad to taist good with just 2 tablespoons of salad dressing. Honest opinions please.
If you're just not happy with a salad unless it is copiously dressed, try this recipe:
Homemade ranch dressing
Adapted from "Joy of Cooking"
2/3 C fat free yogurt thinned with about 1/3 C water (if using Greek yogurt, use more water and less yogurt)
2 T lime juice
1 garlic clove, crushed and minced
a few big pinches of salt
1/4 t pepper
1 T minced parsley
1 T minced chives or 1 T very finely minced onion
Can you get the stuff in lactose free? I get sick with I have anything with milk in it.0 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I weigh and measure just about everything. I estimate sugar free ketchup and sriracha, but they are low calorie condiments.
To compensate for my somewhat loose logging (I might pour an extra ml or two of creamer in my tea and not bother to change the entry I use every day), I leave extra exercise calories on the table.
Me, too. I only eat back @ 50% of my 'bonus' exercise calories to allow for inaccuracies in either my food logging or my exercise burn.
I do the opposite - psychologically I find something extra gratifying about eating my exercise calories and it motivates me to do more, knowing I'll eat them all... So I purposely tend to over estimate my food logging to "make up" for it.
Funny how we're all different. Whatever works, I say.0 -
"how do they expect salad to taste good with just 2 tablespoons of salad dressing" If you're buying commercial bottled dressing, maybe you can switch to the lighter version? Honestly, my favorite "dressing" is some olive oil, a little salt, and black pepper. It brings out the natural flavors and doesn't mask them.
I use balsamic vinaigrette which is 20 cal, or cucumber dressing which is also 20 cal.0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »jenniferinfl wrote: »I weigh or measure pretty much everything. However, every once in awhile I might have like 3 jellybeans out of the candy bowl at work. If that's all I have, I don't bother logging it. It's like 8 calories. I'm usually under my calories anyways and I've averaged a loss of 1.5 lbs a week for the last 16 weeks.
I wish I was losing that every week I would be so much happier
If you aren't getting the results you want, surely trying to weigh and measure more accurately would be a good start? At least you have a better idea about your intake that way?
I agree I will try to start to do that. Measuring cups and spoons are only $2 for a set so I will start there1 -
MaddMaestro wrote: »Let me guess, ranch dressing, right?
Cucumber or Balsamic0 -
I agree on the two tbsp of dressing. That is hardly nothing. I also don't weigh out all my foods. I do some things, like peanut butter or when I am prepping my Greek yogurt for breakfast. But for the most part I eyeball it. I put ketchup and relish on a hamburger without weighing it. I usually weigh my cheese for a baked potato but rarely weigh the butter or sour cream. I don't weigh meats, but I generally know the overall weight of the cut and if I cut it in to two or four pieces, I just divide the total by that amount and that is what I count. Like a 16oz ribeye, if I grill it and split it with my wife, I count 8oz. I seem to be doing okay but I am still on a 750 calorie deficit per day and the higher your deficit the more forgiving everything will be. I am still losing 1.5lb or more a week. I know when I get closer to maintenance that I will probably have to tighten up the logging.0
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