College dilemma: Uncertain calorie counts

rainandwood93

Hello,

I am really in need of your advice on "calorie counting" by estimation, and other college weight loss problems.

I am a 20 year old college student that absolutely needs to lose about 110 pounds. This past summer I lost 25 pounds calorie counting (and two years before 50 pounds, though I put it back on when I was put in a two year situation in which I had no control over my food choice at boarding school), and counting calories using tools like MFP has always been the only way I know how to lose weight.

However, I've recently transferred schools, and am required to have a 16 meals a week meal plan, and have access only to a microwave. The dining halls here have no nutritional information because they are concerned about eating disorders, and they are all buffet style. I have zero idea how I can lose weight, given the only way I know how is to meticulously count calories and log my exercise. Unfortunately, I don't have the means to cook meals (except for breakfast which I replace with chia seed pudding or greek yogurt from my fridge) and due to my scholarship I won't get any money back from reducing my meal plan.

Does anyone have advice for how to use MFP or lose weight under such conditions? I cannot continue on as I am, and feel a little hopeless at the moment.


Thanks for your help and sorry for the long message.

hwoeltjen

Being able to accurately measure your food is obviously the most efficient way to go. However, there is an underlying idea that makes measurements work, healthy food choices.

When you are at the buffet you know what food is healthy and what food is packed with calories. They say the best way to lose weight is a lifestyle change for many reasons. First, you aren't going to spend the rest of your life counting calories. What you need to do is make healthy choices in general.

You need to be the guy that takes heaping portions of veggies and small portions of unhealthy carbs.

Don't expect to eat half a pizza, pasta, and white rice while still losing weight. Eat when you are hungry. Just choose healthy food.

Here are a few tips.

1. Try to see if the dining hall has a calendar showing the meals they will serve. Many dining halls plan their meals out at least a month in advance and should have no problem providing that information.

2. Create a meal plan. With the dining hall calendar and food you can prepare in your microwave, prepare a meal plan that includes healthy choices and estimated portion sizes. You may need to create your own kind of measurements. One scoop of X or a quarter of your plate of Y. Make sure the majority of your plate is filled with veggies and other healthy choices.

3. Stick to your meal plan for a couple weeks and track your progress. Not losing weight? Adjust your meal plan.

You can definitely make this work. My number one piece of advice is be aware of what you are eating. You know healthy foods from unhealthy foods.

Exercise is also going to be an important consideration. Get on a decent routine in the gym or walk a couple miles 5 days a week.

altarimage

Since you don't have access to the nutritional content you'll just have to estimate, which in my opinion is better than not counting anything at all. Start learning how to properly eyeball measurements (http://caloriecount.about.com/article/when_you_cant_measure_estimate_portions). Then when you go to log what you're eating on MFP you can search for what you ate, find the one that seems the most accurate, and go from there. Hope that helps! I know it's not the ideal situation to be counting calories and trying to lose weight in, but given the circumstances it seems like the best option for you

rainandwood93

Thanks for the advice! I guess I sort of have a block when it comes to not being able to know exactly what I'm eating. I do have a no pasta, rice, potatoes or pizza rule for the dining hall and followed that this past semester, and fortunately, for an obese person I'm actually fairly fit but between kickboxing class, elliptical and C25k ( 6 days a week of at least 30 mins of cardio a day) I gained about 5 pounds, which at my weight is really unacceptable.

I suppose it's the salad bar for me this semester until I get a better handle on what's really "healthy" in the dining hall.

I have a sort of related question. Do you think it would be helpful to try and "Estimate" the calories in what I'm eating and still log them to get approximate calorie counts using MFP? I'm a little torn on this, as I have a sneaking suspicion I'd be more likely to underestimate the calories than overestimate (who knows what they're sneaking in to things like oatmeal)

rainandwood93

Whoops, looks like I've gotten great advice from both of you. Thanks!

Koholint

Is it possible you could buy fresh fruit like apples, oranges, or bananas and take them with you to the dining hall? Eat one before your dining hall meal and down a glass of water or two before your meal... That way, even if you're uncertain about the calories in the pre-prepared food, you'll fill up your stomach a bit so you end up eating less of that food.

randomtai

Some of the dining hall style food is actually in the MFP database. Maybe try asking which company the food comes from?

Persipan

I've successfully lost weight in the past while eating in residence quite frequently (not 16 meals a week, but often enough to pick up some tricks). My advice would be, work out from the items available which ones it doesn't really matter about and load up on those; and then be cautious about the others. And the 'buffet-style' servery works in your favour, here! You have a lot of control over what you serve yourself, and can go for 'safe' options as the basis of your meal, with smaller amounts of the things that are a bit more of a gamble.

What I mean is this: the calories in some foods (particularly certain vegetables and salad items) are so insignificant that it doesn't make a huge amount of difference how accurate you are in measuring them. Things like lettuce, leafy green vegetables, cucumber, and so on you can eat in pretty much infinite quantities without having to worry. Most vegetables (excluding starchy things like potatoes) will be not too much to worry about, provided they aren't served drenched in butter or whatever. So, make those the foundation of your meal. Have plenty, and log them with your best estimate of how much you've had.

Relatively un-messed-around-with sources of protein are also your friends, here. Assuming you aren't vegetarian, then if there are choices that allow you to have a piece of meat or fish, then it's a good choice - it'll fill you up, and you'll be able to log it fairly accurately, too. So, a meal of something like a big bowl of salad plus a chicken breast and some vegetables, say, would be a good choice and you could estimate it reasonably well.

Things to be more cautious about are those that might or might not (or definitely will) contain a lot more calories - stuff where you have no idea what recipe they've used to make it so it could be anywhere on a spectrum from pretty OK to eyewateringly calorific, and you won't know which. Like, pies, pizza, pasta, cake, that kind of stuff. You don't need to completely avoid these items - have them when you want them, but go for a smallish portion; and it's worth erring on the side of assuming they're at the 'eek!' end of the spectrum, and logging them accordingly. Just search the database for similar foods, and pick something that sounds similar to log it as (but don't be tempted to go for the one that logs as really low in calories; assume it's the one that's higher!).

Do this for a couple of weeks, and then see how it's going. If you're losing about what MFP/your previous experience indicates would be about right, carry on. If you're losing more or less, adjust accordingly. But if you stick mainly to choices you know are likely to be healthy ones, and keep logging as best you can and exercising, you'll do fine. Good luck!

bwogilvie

In addition to the advice above, can you bring a food scale to the dining hall? That would let you do the following:

1. Put plate on the scale, tare, then add item #1. Note the weight.
2. Tare, then add item #2. Note the weight.
3. Repeat for each item.

Obviously that would be something of a pain. And it might not be feasible depending on the layout. However, if serving sizes are standard, you could do it once for each new food and keep a list.

You could also serve yourself, weight the plate plus food at the table, then weigh the plate + leftovers (if any) at the end, to get the total weight of the food you ate; that would at least allow you to double-check estimates.

rainandwood93

Thanks for the wonderful advice guys. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) our dining halls aren't contracted out so they won't be on MFP, but I think loading up on raw veggies (or steamed ones that they happen to not have drenched in butter... why do they keep doing that again?) and deli meat might be a great strategy.

Though I think it would be really unfeasible to bring a food scale and weigh everything (both because I'm generally coming from class or work to the dining hall, and because I have enough trouble making friends as a transfer without being the weirdo who weighs her plates) I might try bringing my measuring cup set to meals to get a better handle on things, even if it is less accurate (and less obvious)

GingerLolita

If you go at less busy times, you may be able to weigh or measure your food to make your estimations a bit more accurate. If you keep everything separate, you could even do this once you're sitting down at a table or in your dorm room.

I really don't understand why they won't include calorie counts. Sure, plenty of young adults struggle with eating disorders, but it's way too common for college students to gain weight!

Maybe you could ask how certain foods you like are prepared to assess their health value. Again, go at less busy times so you're not annoying to the cafeteria workers.

MeanderingMammal

Does anyone have advice for how to use MFP or lose weight under such conditions? I cannot continue on as I am, and feel a little hopeless at the moment.

I'd broadly agree with your first response here, given limited information about calories you need to be thinking about healthy/ appropriate choices. Given that you have been measuring you're reasonably empowered to make some judgements about portion sizes and food options. I appreciate that you may lack confidence though.

Relating this to my own experience, I stay in hotels two to three nights a week, previously it was four nights every week. What using MFP for logging has given me is a more thoughtful approach to what choices I make. The other point that I use is underscoring, that helps account for the lower level of accuracy around my intake. As you have quite a lot to lose you can afford to be a bit rougher around that underscoring. I didn't have a huge amount to lose so it's a bit crude for me. I have to work with what I've got.

An observation I'd make about your CV work is that it's not a huge amount, so if you're compensating for it and "eating back" you may be compounding things a little. I'd suggest either not eating back, eating back only a portion or ramping up your intensity/ duration. If you're gaining then the balance is wrong, you're consuming more energy than you're expending.

I'm assuming that you're not on any kind of special diet balance so you've got quite a bit of flexibility here. By thinking through my choices I'll make decisions around a lighter dinner, or smooth calories over a couple of days if I make a choice to eat over goal on one day, so go under afterwards.

Hope some of that is useful.

writergeek313

Aim for lean proteins (chicken breast, fish, turkey, for instance), complex carbs (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread for sandwiches, etc.) and lots of fruits and veggies. Eggs, yogurt, and oatmeal are great breakfast options, and

I also encourage you to write a letter to your school's dining services office. It's a real cop out on their part not to provide nutrition information. Making healthy choices at meal time shouldn't have to be stressful, which it sounds like it is for you. At the very least, they could have some kind of labeling system for options that are under a certain number of calories or are considered healthy choices. It sounds like their current system is encouraging students to be ignorant about their food choices instead of well informed. If you have friends who are unhappy about the lack of information, encourage them to do the same. It's a very reasonable request, and if enough students complain, they could make some changes.

I teach at a branch campus of a major state university, and though I don't eat on campus all that often, when I do, I'm able to go into the dining services menu website, access the nutrition information for that day's options, and make a healthy choice.

caffeinekandie

You've gotten some great advice. If you can get a list of what is being made, perhaps you can also look up how to make the recipes yourself and their calorie info so you have some idea.

Even if it's not posting the dining hall may still have calorie information. Can you email the company asking? And if they don't you can always request that they do-maybe even post a thing in the campus gym asking others to email and request this. Often contracts are often under renegotiation and the schools ask students what they want-if you see that happening put in you'd like the nutritional information.

albayin

my husband never uses a food scale. Every time when he feels need to cut after a period of bulking, he just cuts his meal to half. It has been working all the time...

rainandwood93

Thanks for all of the helpful responses, everybody. I'll take your recommendations into account this coming semester, and do some experimentation with how the weight loss is going. Unfortunately, my college has a unique system of being a consortium where dining halls are open to students from all 5 campuses, and there is an agreement across the dining systems to not display the nutritional information due to a stream of eating disorder issues at a few campuses, so I'm unlikely to get them to change their policy.

I did make an appointment with the school nutritionist though, so hopefully she might be able to buy me some info on basic calorie counts for common foods.

Thanks again!

Ke11er

You've been given lots of great advice here. My only other thought is to suggest you check in with the student health center. The nurses/doctors would have access to the apparently "top secret" nutrition information for situations like yours, students who are diabetic etc. They could be great partners in your efforts!

ssbbg

I think you've gotten a lot of great advice, but I particularly like the advice to eat items where the estimation error doesn't matter as a base. 4 cups of salad vs. 6 cups, no big deal. Obviously, you cannot eat on salad alone, but it does provide a start. I recommend estimating everything, even though it may not be accurate. But to improve the estimation process, I suggest the following.

Why don't you try to figure out what volume various dishes are in the canteen? By dishes, I mean the actual tableware. For example, if you can determine that the soup bowl holds 10 oz, that puts some limit on the quantity of food in the bowl. Since your campus is concerned about eating disorders, they probably won't tell you, so bring a bottle of water with a known quantity of water, and just fill bowls and mugs once to figure out what they hold. Yeah, you may look weird on "measuring day" and people may think you are odd(*) if you serve yourself pasta in a coffee cup, but it is less weird that using measuring cups or a food scale daily. I think there should be a selection of dishes... small plate or bowls for salad (which you should use for high calorie foods), small glasses or cups for coffee and tea (also useful for you for high calorie food), large cups for juice/soda/water (probably should be used only for water), large dinner plates (perfect for salad or steamed veggies). At my college, some of the plates and cups were HUGE. If you served yourself a full plate or glass of certain items, you'd probably consume 2,000 calories.

(*) I also think that anyone who does see you measuring things will realize that you are trying to be healthy, and won't be judge-y, though I do understand your concern about fitting in. As long as you aren't making a big deal of things, I think your classmates will roll with it.

Good luck!

rainandwood93

ssbg, that's absolutely brilliant. I'll make sure to bring my nalgene to the dining hall when I get back.

Alyssawinter1221

You've already gotten great advice. I'm also 20 years old and in college! However dorms have a mini kitchen and my apartment has a full size kitchen in it. When I ate at the dining hall freshman year, I would just estimate calories, and be aware not to eat bad stuff. I stuck mostly to salad, grilled chicken, deli counter, and fruit. You can do this! Plenty people lose weight in college. We can do this

elsyoommen

There is no way you do not have a right to know the ingredients in your food. I think if you pushed you would get that information, particularly since you have a health reason for doing so. As you and others have said this might be done through the health professionals on campus. But if not, you should push it with the student union or the administration - you probably do not want to draw attention to yourself, but it's your health. Perhaps they won't give the calorie count, but I don't see how they can avoid an ingredient list at least.

rainandwood93

Hi everyone. I just wanted to post an update and thank everyone for their advice. I'm doing better. Made an appointment with the dietician on campus and meet with her every two weeks. As suggested, I try to estimate my calories using MFP, though I think the counts are WILDLY off, as I lost 3 pounds the first week of class and only 1 this week, even though my calories consumed and burned were almost identical (by estimation, of course!). I've been consistently working out 6 days a week and have just started week 5 of couch to 5k, with a scheduled Warrior Dash one month after I finish the program. Even though it's difficult, I'm looking to have a MUCH healthier and happier semester than I have in the past, and hopefully shrink steadily (even if it's not as quickly as I'd like)