Anyone else shunning homemade food due to calorie confusion?

EmotionalEater84

Fresh tastes better. Sodium is ridiculous in packaged meals. I enjoy cooking. I spend less $$ on items I make myself.

All good enough reasons to me to weigh your own food and plug it into the database

To each their own!

nikkylyn

No way. Homemade better. You can use a smaller meat portion and load up on tons of veggies. I dont like frozen meals because of the small veggie portions. I love my veggies can you tell.

golfmonk

Ive found myself eating ready meals as I know exactly how many calories are in it, and when I have homemade food i am anxious about eating it as I cant tell how many calories are in it.

Yep, I know exactly how you are feeling!

And it is not even homemade meals for me, even eating out at restaurants usually forces me to really take wild assed guesses at the calories consumed for the day.

But, if I can limit this to a few days a week (on average) with the remaining days carefully measuring out food at home on my digital scale, I will still lose weight.

And you can too!

caellen518

Don't worry, you're not alone!! I am not the best cook, nor do I have time to shop/cook often. I do try my best, and I am getting better when it comes to dinner since my husband isn't very fond of pre-packaged meals, but with breakfast and lunch I'm a very "grab and go" kind of person. Granola bars, Slim Fast, Canned soup, etc.

I will say that I did at least ditch frozen meals and that trying to have "easy" fresh fruit around has been helpful in that I can easily grab a banana or apple on my way out the door.

Jruzer

I'm going to join the minority here: WHAT IF SOMEONE ELSE IS COOKING?

OP, I understand the issue. My wife is a great cook and she makes dinner for our large family every night. She has been very cooperative with me in sharing recipes and ingredients, BUT:
- We are often pressed for time at dinner with various kids' and adult activities
- She varies her recipes to match what ingredients she has on hand
- She doesn't always measure exactly
- Our portion sizes vary a lot because we're feeding teenagers and preschoolers together

So it's practically impossible for us to weigh and measure all of the food and portions. Just not going to happen. That's real life, at least in my family. How much butter was added to the green beans? Was that 1 or 2 T of oil used in stir frying? For the leftovers I'm having for lunch, how much of a portion is that?

So I do the best I can. I have many of our "regular" meals recorded and I use these as much as possible. I guesstimate. I err on the side of caution. This is a skill that I've had to develop. Stick with it.

I do agree with those (almost everyone) who say that homemade is better. That said, there's a lot of orthorexia and chemophobia on display in this thread, and that gives me a sad.

allicia99

I love homemade food! I like being in control of what goes in it, like sneaky fats or butter that some low calorie meals can put in. I use the recipe builder tool. Although the best recipe books I can recommend are the Hairy Biker's have two diet books. They list the calories per portion so if you don't want to add everything in you can just quick add the calories.

Hope everyone's day is going well! I'm looking for more friends on here for motivation so please feel free to add me

Thanks!!

MysteriousMerlin

More the opposite. Eating out less and cooking more meals at home.

Weigh and measure your foods, and enter recipes into the database to help calculate the nutrition.

Ang108

I make mostly all homemade meals. Use the recipe builder. It can take time to enter all the ingredients, but once it's in there, it's saved. The only thing I don't like about it, is you can't edit amounts. If you need to change something, you need to delete it, then re-enter it. Other then then that I love it,

That is why I never " build " a recipe. I just log all the ingredients one by one and that's it.

Ang108

I'm going to join the minority here: WHAT IF SOMEONE ELSE IS COOKING?

OP, I understand the issue. My wife is a great cook and she makes dinner for our large family every night. She has been very cooperative with me in sharing recipes and ingredients, BUT:
- We are often pressed for time at dinner with various kids' and adult activities
- She varies her recipes to match what ingredients she has on hand
- She doesn't always measure exactly
- Our portion sizes vary a lot because we're feeding teenagers and preschoolers together

So it's practically impossible for us to weigh and measure all of the food and portions. Just not going to happen. That's real life, at least in my family. How much butter was added to the green beans? Was that 1 or 2 T of oil used in stir frying? For the leftovers I'm having for lunch, how much of a portion is that?

So I do the best I can. I have many of our "regular" meals recorded and I use these as much as possible. I guesstimate. I err on the side of caution. This is a skill that I've had to develop. Stick with it.

I do agree with those (almost everyone) who say that homemade is better. That said, there's a lot of orthorexia and chemophobia on display in this thread, and that gives me a sad.

With all due respect, you have to step away from the " portion " or " serving " mind set.
I am a person who has problems with portion control and used all the very same excuses you do. It's not necessary.
For example I know that 100grs of fresh strawberries have 36 calories, which means that 250 grs = 90 cals. Once you weigh your food things get to be a lot more accurate. This gets to be pretty to to 100% accurate if you always add the same amount of butter to your beans, or like I the same amount of cream to my 250 grs of strawberries. If tomorrow I only want 100grs ( highly unlikely) I adjust down to 1 spoon of cream and I still know 100% how many calories I ate. It's a tiny amount of extra work but has saved me from making many big mistakes as far as portion size is concerned and also has nothing to do with how many teenagers or toddlers eat in my family and how much they eat.

susie3g

.

susie3g

I needed to know that I can make adjustments to my recipes, even if it is just on the app.
But why oh why can I not do that on the computer,

I hate using my phone,

I also recently found the multi-add on my phone and that option is not on my computer either.

Who to we talk to get that changed!!

For those saying to weigh the whole pot, my scale only goes up to 15 lbs, and my meals with pot are probably a lot more so that will not work for me.

Yes, you can edit the amounts in a recipe without having to delete it and re-enter it. I do it all the time. If you are using the computer, go to recipes, then click on whatever recipe you wanted to edit and edit it. If you are using the phone app, go to settings. Then, go to edit foods and exercises. Then edit recipes, and choose which one you want to edit. You can edit serving size, amounts, ingredients, anything.

Just tried on the computer, I can go to the recipe and 'edit' but you can change the ingredients without deleting and adding new ones. I have recipes for salads, stir fries, and nachos and I do not use the same amount or same types of ingredients every time. The only things you can edit on the computer are deleting ingredients and changing the title or serving size which does not help me.

I will have to check what the phone app can do for me later since I have no cell reception at work.
I refute your comment about editing serving size, amounts, ingredients, anything.

Ah, ok. I just tried it on the computer, too, to see what you were dealing with. You are right. From the computer, you can only add and delete ingredients, change the recipe name, and change the number of servings. You cannot change the amount listed in each ingredient from the computer. I'm very sorry. You CAN do it from your phone. I don't take my computer in the kitchen with me. I change the amounts of each ingredient with my phone while I'm right there at the scale. I do it almost every day.

Jruzer

I'm going to join the minority here: WHAT IF SOMEONE ELSE IS COOKING?

OP, I understand the issue. My wife is a great cook and she makes dinner for our large family every night. She has been very cooperative with me in sharing recipes and ingredients, BUT:
- We are often pressed for time at dinner with various kids' and adult activities
- She varies her recipes to match what ingredients she has on hand
- She doesn't always measure exactly
- Our portion sizes vary a lot because we're feeding teenagers and preschoolers together

So it's practically impossible for us to weigh and measure all of the food and portions. Just not going to happen. That's real life, at least in my family. How much butter was added to the green beans? Was that 1 or 2 T of oil used in stir frying? For the leftovers I'm having for lunch, how much of a portion is that?

So I do the best I can. I have many of our "regular" meals recorded and I use these as much as possible. I guesstimate. I err on the side of caution. This is a skill that I've had to develop. Stick with it.

I do agree with those (almost everyone) who say that homemade is better. That said, there's a lot of orthorexia and chemophobia on display in this thread, and that gives me a sad.

With all due respect, you have to step away from the " portion " or " serving " mind set.
I am a person who has problems with portion control and used all the very same excuses you do. It's not necessary.
For example I know that 100grs of fresh strawberries have 36 calories, which means that 250 grs = 90 cals. Once you weigh your food things get to be a lot more accurate. This gets to be pretty to to 100% accurate if you always add the same amount of butter to your beans, or like I the same amount of cream to my 250 grs of strawberries. If tomorrow I only want 100grs ( highly unlikely) I adjust down to 1 spoon of cream and I still know 100% how many calories I ate. It's a tiny amount of extra work but has saved me from making many big mistakes as far as portion size is concerned and also has nothing to do with how many teenagers or toddlers eat in my family and how much they eat.

Thank you for your reply. I apologize if my meaning was not clear.

I am not offering any excuses at all. I am offering strategies to deal with a situation which is not entirely inside my control. I have lost 50+ pounds and have maintained that for 2 years, more or less.

I think weighing and measuring is obviously the right way to go, when it is practical. For the food that I make and serve myself I always do this. But it is not always practical, or possible, and I think it's important to be able to deal with this reality.

Let me give a recent, detailed example. A few nights ago we had beef stroganoff for dinner. This dish consists of many ingredients. I have a recipe builder which I use, but I need to divide the recipe into an approximate number of portions. I can't get away from the portion "mind set" because that's how the recipe builder works. Today I have taken the leftovers for lunch. I have made an estimate of how much of a "portion" I am taking. But it is impractical for me to have done this exactly: dinner was rushed that evening, a bit of the food was spilled, and I guarantee that my teenagers took a larger than average share of the beef tenderloin. My lunch will be largely mushrooms and onions and sauce. How am I supposed to do this exactly? Weigh each component before and after cooking? How about the sauce in the pan that got discarded?

This is why I emphasize that estimating is an important skill for weight management.

ashenriver

I needed to know that I can make adjustments to my recipes, even if it is just on the app.
But why oh why can I not do that on the computer,

I hate using my phone,

I also recently found the multi-add on my phone and that option is not on my computer either.

Who to we talk to get that changed!!

For those saying to weigh the whole pot, my scale only goes up to 15 lbs, and my meals with pot are probably a lot more so that will not work for me.

Yes, you can edit the amounts in a recipe without having to delete it and re-enter it. I do it all the time. If you are using the computer, go to recipes, then click on whatever recipe you wanted to edit and edit it. If you are using the phone app, go to settings. Then, go to edit foods and exercises. Then edit recipes, and choose which one you want to edit. You can edit serving size, amounts, ingredients, anything.

Just tried on the computer, I can go to the recipe and 'edit' but you can change the ingredients without deleting and adding new ones. I have recipes for salads, stir fries, and nachos and I do not use the same amount or same types of ingredients every time. The only things you can edit on the computer are deleting ingredients and changing the title or serving size which does not help me.

I will have to check what the phone app can do for me later since I have no cell reception at work.
I refute your comment about editing serving size, amounts, ingredients, anything.

Ah, ok. I just tried it on the computer, too, to see what you were dealing with. You are right. From the computer, you can only add and delete ingredients, change the recipe name, and change the number of servings. You cannot change the amount listed in each ingredient from the computer. I'm very sorry. You CAN do it from your phone. I don't take my computer in the kitchen with me. I change the amounts of each ingredient with my phone while I'm right there at the scale. I do it almost every day.

Sigh, that's what I thought, I wish that the options would be the same on both computer and phone app. I guess I will just have to suck it up. :drinker:

laurelthistle

This is why I emphasize that estimating is an important skill for weight management.

I agree with this completely. It's great to be 100% accurate all the time with your scale, but you also need to learn what appropriate portion sizes are, so that when you are not in your kitchen with your scale you have the ability to determine approximately how much you should eat. A big part of losing weight/maintain weight/maintaining a healthy lifestyle is learning healthy habits and making those new habits sustainable in the long term.

Nice2BFitAgain

How do you figure out servings in one pot meals like that? and how can I make sure they are accurate on my plate? I can't weigh my food since I don't know how much one portion should weigh or how much the whole thing weighs?

A 2 ingredient meal should be simple to figure. A serving of beef is 3-4oz. - How many ounces of meat did you put into the entire recipe? then divide that by 4; 1.5lbs of steak tips = 24oz = 6 servings. then break down what was in the gravy.. and 1/2 c rice or whatever.

Bounce4

I'm going to join the minority here: WHAT IF SOMEONE ELSE IS COOKING?

OP, I understand the issue. My wife is a great cook and she makes dinner for our large family every night. She has been very cooperative with me in sharing recipes and ingredients, BUT:
- We are often pressed for time at dinner with various kids' and adult activities
- She varies her recipes to match what ingredients she has on hand
- She doesn't always measure exactly
- Our portion sizes vary a lot because we're feeding teenagers and preschoolers together

So it's practically impossible for us to weigh and measure all of the food and portions. Just not going to happen. That's real life, at least in my family. How much butter was added to the green beans? Was that 1 or 2 T of oil used in stir frying? For the leftovers I'm having for lunch, how much of a portion is that?

So I do the best I can. I have many of our "regular" meals recorded and I use these as much as possible. I guesstimate. I err on the side of caution. This is a skill that I've had to develop. Stick with it.

I do agree with those (almost everyone) who say that homemade is better. That said, there's a lot of orthorexia and chemophobia on display in this thread, and that gives me a sad.

Great post! It is just not reasonable for me to measure/weigh things at supper. The recipe builder generally does not work well for the way I cook (like your wife or many big families cook - not based on a recipe). Portions about do my head in. There is WAY to much going on, I have kids helping me, I'm super busy.

Would it be impossible to measure/weigh/be 100% accurate? No. Would it be unreasonable? Yes. Would I ever keep up with something so strict? Never.

Each person needs to learn strategies and skills to be independently successful based on their real world, not the ideal. People lose weight without counting calories at all so I'm sure those that need to on MFP can figure it out for one meal. If the ideal is not reasonably workable that is going to result in failure. Better to aim for what works and keep successfully moving towards the goal.