Let's be honest

sak20011

Kind of off topic but long ago I learned to put a little oil and salt in the bottom of the salad bowl, crushed garlic or mustard whisked in optional, toss the lettuce (make sure it's dry) very very well. All the leaves get a very light film of oil but none of it is gloppy. Then add in the acid (lemon, vinegar, etc) and toss--use much less than you think... it clings nicely to the coated leaves but doesn't pool anywhere. In my humble opinion itsthe best dressing, as it's full if flavor but not a lot of oil is used. I find most restaurants now use far too much to get the same flavor....

SafioraLinnea

I measure everything 98% of the time. I do sometimes legitimately forget to measure because I'm human but the vast majority of the time I measure. It makes a difference to calorie intake and my deficit is a small one so if I don't measure I can lose my deficit very easily.

If the calories in the dressing don't work for me I just eat the salad without. Not everyone dislikes the flavour of veggies. I measure my dressing if I use it.

Also if you don't feel like putting a minute or two extra effort into calorie counting accurately, then you do that. But don't be that person later who comes on the forum and whines about not successfully losing weight. Measuring and being accurate in your logging matters a lot more the closer you get to your goal.

karahm78

Yes, I measure everything (weigh solids and measure liquids). The only thing I do not weigh is if eating out or some routine packaged items that I have weighed enough times in the past to verify.

I have tried to "not log" some items but then I get lazy and lackadaisical with my logging and progress will stall. So I log as accurately as possible always.

When I get to my goal I will loosen my logging, but if I go outside the 5-lb window I will allow, back to the logging I'll go. I know it works.

robertw486

I never even purchased a scale, and really only logged by labels and my best "guesstimates" on the weight. Once in a while I would use a measuring device to see just how much my drinking cups held, or maybe see just how (little!) a tablespoon of peanut butter or calorie dense stuff was.

But I was losing weight when I wanted before using this site, and did enough cooking that my weight estimates on foods were apparently close enough.

Do what works for you, stay mindful of calorie dense foods or foods you can readily eat too much of, and don't make it harder than it needs to be unless you want that exacting number.

rheddmobile

There are some high calorie things I don't measure every single time, because I have measured them before and can eyeball them accurately. I check myself every once in a while to be sure my eyeballed amount hasn't crept up - the other day I did this with peanut butter, and my eyeballed 28g was exactly 28g.

Then there are some things I don't measure because I don't need to be that accurate to stay in a deficit, such as individual slices of bread. Package says 60 cal per slice? Good enough. If it's 80 cal or 50 I don't really need to know. With exercise I stay well under my deficit, and I'm losing at the speed I want to lose. Most vegetables are low enough in calories that I could eat twice the amount and it wouldn't make much difference. If my 1/4 cup dry measure oatmeal is a little off from the amount in grams, I honestly don't care. It's close enough, and will average out with other things over time. If one large peach is a certain weight, I am going to write down the other visually similar peaches from the same batch as the same weight, unless one is obviously smaller or larger.

Bodies don't digest everything perfectly, and something as small as fidgeting or not fidgeting can increase calorie burn. It might be nice in theory to know your CICO exactly. But you can't, as long as you are a living creature, so there's no point in driving yourself crazy over less than a hundred calories. Not weighing is fine if you can manage to eat close to the correct amount without weighing.

HOWEVER - and this is a big however - this isn't really the answer to the question that you raised. You seem to be asking if anyone out there really eats that small an amount of salad dressing, or eats a larger amount and then logs it honestly. You want to eat more, and then have it miraculously not count towards your calories in because reality isn't fair. And sorry, that doesn't work that way. If you eat more than two tbsp you will need to account for that in your tracking, or you will gain weight. Dressing is calorie dense and adds up. If you must have it, try reduced calorie versions or lighter options.

And personally to me, the idea of eating more than that seems excessive anyway. I eat only about 1/2 to 1 tbsp of any kind of oil or oily dressing on a salad, plus vinegar, lemon, or lime juice. The idea of spending fully a quarter of my daily calorie allotment on dressing seems insane to me. I could eat a big meal for the calories in 4 tbsp of olive oil.

By the way, ketchup is one thing I do measure, because I'm diabetic and ketchup is full of sugar. Doubling the amount of ketchup can make a substantial difference in my glucose levels, while it looks to the untrained eye like the same amount of food.

kshama2001

Nexus902 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Nexus902 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 plain 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.

Yes, there is lactose-free yogurt. However, I mentioned that recipe because I assumed you were using a full fat salad dressing like mine, which is 150 calories per 2 T. You've since said the salad dressing you are using already low cal, 20 calories (per 2 T?).

But to answer the question, here are some brands of lactose free yogurt. For this recipe you'd want plain/not flavored.

http://greekyogurtparadise.com/lactose-free-greek-yogurt/

Nexus902

Yes, there is lactose-free yogurt. However, I mentioned that recipe because I assumed you were using a full fat salad dressing like mine, which is 150 calories per 2 T. You've since said the salad dressing you are using already low cal, 20 calories (per 2 T?).

But to answer the question, here are some brands of lactose free yogurt. For this recipe you'd want plain/not flavored.

http://greekyogurtparadise.com/lactose-free-greek-yogurt/[/quote]

Thanks i have such a hard time finding lactose free in stores

Nexus902

Balsamic is 2 Cucumber which i have now is 1

MegaMooseEsq

Apologies if someone else mentioned this, but I was getting really annoyed with trying to measure things like sauces and condiments and toppings until someone suggested this trick: take off the lid and put the container on your food scale before you start and zero out the scale. Then as you scoop out your shredded cheese/mayo/dressing, the scale will show in negative numbers the weight of what you've used. Much easier than fiddling with measuring spoons, and much more accurate than guesstimating.

texteach66

I measure most things and use my scale a lot. I don't measure mustard when I put it on a sandwich because I use very little and it doesn't have very many calories. I don't measure low calorie vegetables either, but I do measure starchy vegetables. I like measuring, so it's not much of a chore for me. I think as long as you've found what works for you, all is well. When something stops working, that's a good time to look for fixes.

kshama2001

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

Apologies if someone else mentioned this, but I was getting really annoyed with trying to measure things like sauces and condiments and toppings until someone suggested this trick: take off the lid and put the container on your food scale before you start and zero out the scale. Then as you scoop out your shredded cheese/mayo/dressing, the scale will show in negative numbers the weight of what you've used. Much easier than fiddling with measuring spoons, and much more accurate than guesstimating.

Totally agree. Thanks for typing this out.

estherdragonbat

If I'm nibbling on raw veggies, I may not weigh them. I'll use the generic log entries (e.g. '6 carrot sticks; 1 celery rib'), I mean, if it's 10 calories or 14, it's not going to break me. I don't measure out mustard, soy sauce, or sriracha. Other stuff gets weighed when I'm at home, guesstimated when I'm not.

LindaCan2

I have to weigh and/or measure everything and track every morsel that goes into my mouth. I recently went two months without tracking and I gained a few pounds, so yesterday was my new beginning and I'm tracking everything.

cindypb8757

I guesstimate everything but I like the bar scanner option; I use a lot of "store-bought" products right now. Still working on packing my lunch every day but I have a lot of weight to lose. Right now it's slow-but-sure weight loss.

ccruz985

Not only do I measure everything, I weigh what doesn't have a prepackaged measurement. I weigh the ham in my sandwiches, my veggies and meat before I cook them, etc. Some of us are lucky enough to not have to do that but I am not one of those people. If you are, fabulous! One less hassle for you!

RUNucbar

Honestly, I've never used salad dressing until recently.

Spinich, rocket, cucumber, sweetcorn, tomato, carrot, rasins and beetroot is my usual go-to and it tastes good without any dressing at all. If I put salad dressing on then that's all I can taste!!

I weight almost everything. I don't weigh the amount of marmite I use, or the amount of brown sauce but I know if I stop losing, I need to start weighing these things because that's where I'll be wiping out my deficit.

bruby28

As much as I love dressings ..they can add a lot of cals/fat to your diet . I usually do recommended serving sz and sometimes make it go further with salsa , fresh squeezed lemon or cottage cheese . But there are days when I cheat and have a giant salad covered in blue cheese dressing ..I'm human

LAMCDylan

Some condiments are really low that you could get away with not logging it a few times. But some stuff like some salad dressings can be a ton of calories, especially the creamy dressings.

KosmosKitten

Nope, I try to weigh everything. That means condiments that go on my sandwiches in grams and alcohol or drinks in ounces. I know I won't lose unless I measure everything and know exactly how many calories are in it. Helps me to eyeball certain things when I'm not near my food scale.

Besides something like mustard may be super low in calories, but if I put as much mayo on a sandwich as I did mustard, it would add up pretty quickly.

Now, there are whole days where I won't log anything because I know it's a wash and/or I'm away for a weekend camping with no way to track the food I eat. I try not to sweat those days and get back on track when I come home/the next day.

MakePeasNotWar

I only weigh calorie dense stuff like nuts, dried fruit or dry pasta. I measure any added sugars or fats (including dressings, mayo, and margarine), but everything else I eyeball. It seems to work for me. I don't have a problem with portion sizes generally, I just get a bit heavy handed with the fats and eat too many sweets if I'm not paying attention.

philyflyazz

I don't measure either I eye everything

Francl27

If you're still losing, it doesn't matter. If you're not, that might be your problem.

timtam163

I don't measure most things regularly, but every once in a while I'll go back to measuring stuff like peanut butter or pasta just to check my serving sizes. I mean, exercise calories are approximate; nutrition labels are approximate; and our bodies all vary in our ability to extract nutrients from different sources. Measuring and recording to the calorie seems silly given the margin of error.

inertiastrength

Sometimes I eyeball stuff mostly because I'm not that worried about a one off in condiments but I will say this I am not disillusioned if I fail to see the progress I expect. Sometimes it's in my favor and others it is not. You know what to do if you're unhappy with your progress.

kaygold

I say I measure 98% of the time. If I'm eating a whole container of something, for example, a protein bar, frozen meal, yogurt cup, halo top (heck yes I'm eating the whole pint!), etc I just go off the nutritional label, and don't weigh. If I'm portioning something out, I'll weigh it. I also don't weigh gum, salt, pepper, black coffee, mio and other water additives, olive oil spray or butter. Yes I know these items have some calories, but they in my opinion are negligible, and my personal rule of thumb is if the nutritional label says 0 cal, I'm gonna go with it, versus obsess over it (something I'm super prone to doing if I don't have the right mindset). Everything else, including salad fixings (yes, lettuce too), I weigh and/or measure.