Ima noob. How do I figure out the calories accuratly in homemade dishes?

Gordorino

I have a super heaping tablespoon each of several pot luck Thanksgiving dishes. 1. Ranch potatoes, 2. Green bean casserole. 3. Green (cilantro) rice with vegetarian ((soy?) fake chicken strips. 4) Mashed Potatoes (with something tasty mixed in) 5). Strawberry cheesecake fruit salad 6). Tomato, zucchini, yellow squash medley (this one I might can figure out). I don’t even know how much your average super heaping taplespoonfull of food weighs. Can I post a picture of the plates here? I will make it my profile pic for now. Thanks everyone in advance.

malibu927

Unless you made them yourself (in which case you would use the recipe builder), all you can do is guess at the calories.

But a tablespoon? That's what, one bite of each of those? That's not even worth Thanksgiving.

Gordorino

Check out my profile pic. One super big heaping tablespoon is more like two bites. That times six adds up to my Thanksgiving leftovers lunch today. What maybe 100 calories for each but less for the veggies? I did have moar for two Thanksgiving feasts, Thursday and Saturday.

Gillibean425

Look for entries that measure in tablespoons and try to give it the best guess on how close to a tablespoon you think it was. I use a little scale in my kitchen for many items and also a measuring cup for things like coffee creamer so I don't go overboard. I think it works well and is good idea for future measurements. It's really hard to guesstimate based on a picture though, I'd probably just go with a tablespoon, or even a 1 1/2 tablespoons. I prefer to round up and enter too many calories than under estimate my intake.

pogiguy05

If this was for Thanksgiving I did not log anything that day and just called it an OFF day. I know I ate more calories, but one day does not make any difference.

Gordorino

I will do that Gilli, thanks. Is yours a digital scale? I might have to invest in a new scale. The one I have measures pounds ok up tp around twenty I think but it is not digital and not good with ounces or grams...

Gordorino

I hear that Pogi but now I’m eating Thanksgiving leftovers for a week lol.

Gillibean425

No, just a cheap plain one. It works well, though a digital one would be nice.

ncfitbit

Fortunately most days are not Thanksgiving or potlucks! I know you are just starting out, but whatever you log is just going to be a pretty big guess so I wouldn't spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about it. Sometimes it is eye-opening to try to log those bites and that can be helpful going forward, but it is not likely to be very accurate so it's really up to you whether you think it will help or hurt your motivation at this early stage to enter something, even if it's not accurate. Personally, I would focus more of my energy on the days that follow instead!

After a while of logging you will get a sense of how much different types of foods will set you back in those types of situations. If I am tempted by a rich food at a buffet I think about how many calories are in a tablespoon of oil or mayonnaise and use that as a rough guide to guess at a max. calorie count for that item. That usually helps me put things into perspective and helps me decide if something is worth it.

ETA: I see that you're trying to figure out leftovers. Hmm, still going to be guessing so yeah, advice would still be to focus on non-Thanksgiving food.

lynn_glenmont

Gillibean425 wrote: »

Look for entries that measure in tablespoons and try to give it the best guess on how close to a tablespoon you think it was. I use a little scale in my kitchen for many items and also a measuring cup for things like coffee creamer so I don't go overboard. I think it works well and is good idea for future measurements. It's really hard to guesstimate based on a picture though, I'd probably just go with a tablespoon, or even a 1 1/2 tablespoons. I prefer to round up and enter too many calories than under estimate my intake.

Assuming those are soup bowls or cereal bowls, and not doll-house bowls in the profile pic, I'd say OP's "super heaping tablespoonful" is about a quarter of a cup (i.e., four tablespoons, not 1 or 1 1/2).

PAV8888

+1 lynn's comment. A tablespoon is a flat, knife/credit card edged ~15ml quantity that nestles in the inside of a tablespoon. These little piles in what looks like a 6" or 8" plastic plate, look closer to 4 tablespoons and my first reaction was 0.25 to 0.33 cups per pile.

The highest calorie items would be the cheesecake fruit salad followed by the potatoes and the rice items.

In any case... anything we come up with at this point and with this info is a wild guess (because the amount of fats in these items will play a big role as to their total calories--and those are neither visible or available from your description) and 100 Cal a pile is close enough. Though I do have a bit of a question as to whether it comes close to covering the cheesecake fruit salad depending on what exactly it was made with.

THAT SAID.

There is a reason why tablespoons and cups are NOT the preferred method and scales with grams are. And why so many people who calorie count gravitate towards simpler food combinations

Your idea of taking a picture for post-logging in an eating out/buffet/potluck situation is bang on, and just about the best that one can do.

Gordorino

Thanks everyone. They are medium sized paper plates and I would say each portion is indeed between 1/4 and 1/3 of a cup, dependent on squashibility.

JeromeBarry1

A properly done "tbsp" of water weight 15 grams. Since most of the stuff in your super heaping tablespoon is mostly water, call each of them 30g for super and 45g for super heaping. That's 15 grams for the tbsp and 15 grams for each of the adjectives.

Gillibean425

See this is why I use a scale. I can't guess to save my life.