CALORIE ACCURACY

katnippers1
katnippers1 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am trying to find an ACCURATE site for calorie counting and I narrowed it down to MFP and LI. When I checked about accuracy this is what it said:

For the same 4.5-ounce portion of steak, MyFitnessPal listed 156 calories and Lose It listed 328. (According to the USDA, the correct amount is 310, but may vary according to how it is prepared.)

How can there be such a difference? I just want to make sure I am counting right so I don't overeat.

Replies

  • vaman
    vaman Posts: 253 Member
    When possible I would use the USDA numbers. MFP allows caloric and nutritional info to be entered by anyone, as a result there is a LOT of incorrect data.

  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I'm curious what entry you used to find that MFP steak portion. MFP has tons of entries for the same foods and many are inaccurate or slightly different because they are user entered. Early on, MFP did import the USDA database into the food database. The best thing to do here is to search for "FOOD usda" and weigh your portion in grams.
  • katnippers1
    katnippers1 Posts: 7 Member
    Is there a way to get rid of all the food in the database so I can just have my own?
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    No, you can not delete all the foods in the database. It's for everyone, not just you.

    That said, you could make your own entries to it, then those foods would come up in your "frequent" list when you do a search.
  • Kathryn247
    Kathryn247 Posts: 570 Member
    There's a "My Personal Foods" section/option on the desktop version. I'm not sure how to use it on the app version.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    katnippers1 wrote: »
    Is there a way to get rid of all the food in the database so I can just have my own?

    What I've done is checked every entry before I use it. Then if it's wrong (per the USDA nutrition database) I correct it. Once I correct it, it then is in my own personal MY FOODS, entered the way I want it. I do this with every new food. If I can't easily find a database entry that is correct, I enter a new entry and it is then in MY FOODS.

    Once I use it (eat it and log it) it will then be in my Recents list when I go to enter food the next time.

    If I check it first, do the above, I never have a "bad" entry and I have a personal MY FOOD list, so yes! That's how you do it. I rarely go to the main food database anymore.

  • katnippers1
    katnippers1 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks. It is just hard to go through tons of the same food with different calorie counts.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    katnippers1 wrote: »
    Thanks. It is just hard to go through tons of the same food with different calorie counts.

    Absolutely agree. It takes 30 seconds to enter a new one though, then you never have to search for it again and it will always be easy for you to find.
  • katnippers1
    katnippers1 Posts: 7 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    katnippers1 wrote: »
    Thanks. It is just hard to go through tons of the same food with different calorie counts.

    Absolutely agree. It takes 30 seconds to enter a new one though, then you never have to search for it again and it will always be easy for you to find.

    Thanks. Hopefully I will be able to do this and lose the weight I want too.
  • Pipsqueak1965
    Pipsqueak1965 Posts: 397 Member
    yeah - it just takes a bit of effort for the first few weeks, (by effort, I mean 7 minutes rather than 2!. Then it gradually gets quicker and quicker.
  • Pipsqueak1965
    Pipsqueak1965 Posts: 397 Member
    Also - massive variation between cooked and uncooked - I tend to always use the uncooked if possible.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited September 2019
    katnippers1 wrote: »
    I am trying to find an ACCURATE site for calorie counting and I narrowed it down to MFP and LI. When I checked about accuracy this is what it said:

    For the same 4.5-ounce portion of steak, MyFitnessPal listed 156 calories and Lose It listed 328. (According to the USDA, the correct amount is 310, but may vary according to how it is prepared.)

    How can there be such a difference? I just want to make sure I am counting right so I don't overeat.

    Most of the user entered calorie data is garbage. Almost always wrong. Even if "verified." MFP could fix this but they are too stupid to have the unused entries fall off like they do for your recent diary entries. So, just ignore them and rely on package declarations and USDA web site.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    Here's a good How To thread:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10621050/how-to-use-the-usda-food-database-mfp-food-database-for-accurate-logging/p1

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