Calculating calories in recipe that aren't consumed?
CeleryStalker
Posts: 665 Member
OK, so there is a character limitation for thread subject, so I apologize if that was a little vague. My question here is.....how do you account for stuff you use in a recipe, but don't necessarily consume?
Examples:
Marinade.... it doesn't all get soaked into the meat, and a lot of it drips out when you are grilling.
Sauces.....for instance, I made mussels today. I steamed them in a tablespoon of olive oil and half cup of white wine. I did not consume the broth in which they were steamed, but some did soak into the little slits in the mussel meat.
Those calories have to account for SOMETHING, but depending on how mega super accurate one wants to be in their logging, those are the items that can send you off the deep end trying to get exact.
For me, and I'm sure there is a better way, I always aim to hit slightly below my calories (within 100-150) to account for slight variations in the calories I'm able to account for. That way, I know I've eaten SOMETHING I can't accurately log, and leaving enough of a buffer to allow for these types of things. Again, I'm sure there's got to be a better way, so I'm asking!
And while I'm on the topic of trying to accurately log calories..... what about casserole/multi-ingredient one-pan dishes?..... I like to make a veggie/meat/pasta (or rice) bake. Sure, you can get the calories for the entire recipe and try to figure out what % of that was your serving, but if our bodies are truly so sensitive that I often see advice of 'try bumping up your calories 100 cals/week', it makes me think that multi-ingredient, one-pan dishes are a bad idea, even if they are filled with good, nutritious food, because you can't accurately log how much of that scoop was ground turkey, mixed veggies, how much of the olive oil you used for the entire dish ended up in your scoop, etc.
Am I over-complicating things?
Examples:
Marinade.... it doesn't all get soaked into the meat, and a lot of it drips out when you are grilling.
Sauces.....for instance, I made mussels today. I steamed them in a tablespoon of olive oil and half cup of white wine. I did not consume the broth in which they were steamed, but some did soak into the little slits in the mussel meat.
Those calories have to account for SOMETHING, but depending on how mega super accurate one wants to be in their logging, those are the items that can send you off the deep end trying to get exact.
For me, and I'm sure there is a better way, I always aim to hit slightly below my calories (within 100-150) to account for slight variations in the calories I'm able to account for. That way, I know I've eaten SOMETHING I can't accurately log, and leaving enough of a buffer to allow for these types of things. Again, I'm sure there's got to be a better way, so I'm asking!
And while I'm on the topic of trying to accurately log calories..... what about casserole/multi-ingredient one-pan dishes?..... I like to make a veggie/meat/pasta (or rice) bake. Sure, you can get the calories for the entire recipe and try to figure out what % of that was your serving, but if our bodies are truly so sensitive that I often see advice of 'try bumping up your calories 100 cals/week', it makes me think that multi-ingredient, one-pan dishes are a bad idea, even if they are filled with good, nutritious food, because you can't accurately log how much of that scoop was ground turkey, mixed veggies, how much of the olive oil you used for the entire dish ended up in your scoop, etc.
Am I over-complicating things?
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Replies
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Am I over-complicating things?
Probably. LOL
I think it depends on how accurate you want to be. For me, I probably wouldn't count that because like you, I usually hit a hundred or so under my calories, anyway. If I were going to count it, I would take a fraction of the total. You probably ate 1/10th of the marinade, so I might add those calories as "quick add" calories. I'm not sure there's a better way.
I'm becoming the casserole queen! I just enter it here with the recipe function and make sure I divide the casserole into pretty even servings. I use a rectangular pan and the ones I make are pretty "dry" (not runny), so I can usually cut them into equal pieces. Otherwise, I take a guess and don't worry about it. 0 -
Probably. LOL
LMAO! That was the response my inner voice said as I typed the question :laugh:
The reason I asked is because so often we see the advice to adjust calories 100 this way or that, so I'm like, well, if we need to be so accurate that 100 calorie adjustment would make that big of a deal, maybe I'm doing something wrong.I'm becoming the casserole queen!
Feel free to share your recipes 0 -
I enter recipes in the database with ingredients weighed, and estimate portions. I figure if I'm a bit over or a bit under, I'll make up for it somewhere.0
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To be honest, I include every ingredient in my recipes.
This is because I read this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
And I figure that, sure, all the marinade didn't enter my stomach, but maybe more than I think did! Plus a marinade will contain a small amount of calories anyways and I don't mind over-egging by 50 or so cals in order to more accurately keep account of what I have actually consumed!0 -
Feel free to share your recipes
I usually make them up as I go along... Depends on what I have in the house. But I do include every ingredient (in the MFP recipe function) and measure it out.0 -
To be honest, I include every ingredient in my recipes.
This is because I read this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
I've seen several people pointing to that thread and after reading it and watching the video, I did some testing to see how accurate I have been and I'm shocked! I've been unknowingly sabotaging myself. Not Good!
So, I've decided to be much more accurate in the future and over estimate calories, if anything.0
