Strategies for counting calories when you don't really know

avatiach
avatiach Posts: 298 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Say you're at a potluck dinner...or spend a weekend with some friends (my situation this weekend)...and you don't really know how things have been prepared in terms of caloric content. Plus there are a lot of nibbles (e.g., charcuterie plate, tapas). What are your strategies for estimating calories? Do you take the same items and add 20% on the calories? Do you just give up and round up (that is what I ended up doing)? Other ideas? I need a better strategy....

Replies

  • thomaskieransean106
    thomaskieransean106 Posts: 9 Member
    I estimate the quantity where I can then find a similar food item from a big chain restaurant and use that. I've also found some popular cook books have had their recipes loaded so that is always an easy way if you know what recipie they used.
  • alicehp39
    alicehp39 Posts: 5 Member
    I do not count calories. Am I a terrible person?
  • Hollis100
    Hollis100 Posts: 1,408 Member
    edited March 2022
    alicehp39 wrote: »
    I do not count calories. Am I a terrible person?

    Nope. When I eat out at my favorite local restaurant, which has Chinese-Japanese food cooked by a family (no chain, no website), I enter 5000 calories for the meal on MFP and then just enjoy the food.

    But seriously, taking a photo of your plate is a great idea. You can make a more accurate guesstimate later on, and round up.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    One of the great things about calorie counting, and especially with using a digital food scale is that it taught me portions and calories.

    I can go away for a week and be able to guesstimate in my head my approximate calorie intake. Not that I do that. I just don't worry about vacations and such. It is life and I can handle the fluctuations.

    I would NOT want the conversations that would follow me taking pics of my food while at someone's house. That's just too much for me.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    If you do this once in a while it probably won't matter much in the grander scheme of things. You might overeat, or not. You might eat more salt than you're used to and gain some more waterweight that shows up on the scale but isn't bodyfat. If you do that a few times per week I think this could be more difficult for you.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Plating is a really good idea. For all occasions, really.

    In addition, at a buffet or potluck, I would survey the offering and take decent servings of the 3 things that appeal to me most rather than tiny tastes of a multitude of things. I never feel like I have had a meal when it's "small bites" or tapas for dinner, even when I've had quite a large number of bites. It is just not satisfying to me. Hence, I would think about passing of the appetizers and saving the calories for an actual meal. If it's tapas for dinner, that is just hard to log. Focus on what you like most and do your best with the logging. Mostly, enjoy the weekend and the friends.
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
    For a one-and-done deal, I don’t stress too much. You can always bank some extra calories in the days leading up to and following the event, too. One day in a quarter won’t make or break a lifetime.

    If it’s a frequent occurrence, then I add in “overage calories” to account for variances in preparation, such as eating out at restaurants when traveling frequently for work, and you can’t order ala carte or special prep requests. If it’s something that I can count or weigh or estimate accurately (like they have calories listed in the menu, or eggs and a piece of toast), I add 20%. If it’s something that I’m all-out guesstimating, I add 33%.

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