Guessing at calories

witchaywoman81

So what do you do when you’re not sure of the calories you ate? I went to a church picnic today and tried to select healthy options, but I don’t know definitively how many calories everything was, without an ingredient list or scale on hand. What’s your go to strategy in this situation? I looked at the database and picked the highest calorie item for each.

Jackie9003

I try to pick the closest I can find in the database and, as you've done, go higher to try and be over rather than under.

fuzzylop72

I use a similar database entry, and hope for the best

fraukazi

I guesstimate generously and add quick add calories if I can't find anything similar

AnnPT77

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

So what do you do when you’re not sure of the calories you ate? I went to a church picnic today and tried to select healthy options, but I don’t know definitively how many calories everything was, without an ingredient list or scale on hand. What’s your go to strategy in this situation? I looked at the database and picked the highest calorie item for each.

That's a reasonable strategy IMO. It's pretty much what I did/do while losing and in maintenance. I'd pick one of the higher options, but if there's one that seems crazy high, I'd avoid that one. (More often, there are several that seem crazy low. After you've been food logging for a while, you start to get a better feel whether some rough estimate is likely to be in the ballpark or not . . . though varying amounts of oils/butter can throw that off some.

Regardless, if the rough estimates - especially those involving extreme guessing - are fairly rare, things should work out fine in the long haul.

I'm glad to see you're not picking the strategy of avoiding social events or other difficult-to-estimate scenarios. That strategy tends not to be sustainable permanently, and avoiding social events (or doing eccentric things like taking your own food to other people's homes) tends to put a crimp in friendships, and throw life balance out of whack. Estimating as accurately as you can, then going on with life without stressing about it, is a much better approach, IMO.

Leannep2201

It can be hard when eating out, because when someone else has prepared the food, you’re never sure what ingredients, and what quantities of that ingredient have gone into the food.

I pretty much do what you do. Also, if I know ahead of time that I’m likely going to be eating a meal that’s higher in calories, I eat lower for the rest of the day to give myself a bit of a buffer (that’s what I’m doing today actually, so hubby and I can have our favourite salmon for dinner!). Sometimes I do a little extra exercise that day, too, in order to earn some extra calories.

Also- don’t sweat it too much. It’s only one day, and having to guess at calories for one meal isn’t likely to affect your overall progress! We still have to live our lives, and learning how best to deal with situations like these is all part of the journey.

jennifer_417

Sometimes logging calories is as much art as it is science. Try to find a dish as similar as possible to what you ate, and slightly overestimate how much you think you ate.

Part of the process is learning how to integrate new eating habits into everyday activities. You can't stop your life to lose weight, we all have to accept that sometimes circumstances aren't ideal.

ahoy_m8

It’s all estimates. With a food scale and home cooking the estimates are more accurate, but it’s all estimates nonetheless. Just give it your best guess and enjoy the event.

NovusDies

If there are enough entries I look for numbers that seem to make up an average and pick the highest of that range. I think as long as you are not cheating by going too high so you can justify eating less or going too low so you can justify eating more you are fine.

maria6029

Do your best to Tally it up and move on. It’s only one day. For next time: honestly, whenever I am at a picnic like that, the food is not that earth-shatteringly good. There is very little that I *have* to try. There will be potato salad, fruit salad, hot dogs, casseroles, store-bought cookies, homemade pies, etc. Be strategic. I mostly just eat what is simply prepared and easy to estimate.