how accurate is your logging?

bbygrl5

I measure and/or weigh everything with my food scale. If I'm ever in doubt, I overestimate amounts. I'm probably a good 100-200 calories above what I actually consume in my food diary.

If I eat out, sometimes I will add another 100-200 calories to my calorie total because I don't trust the nutrional info always. The FDA is supposed to regulate and make sure that places have accurate testing performed, but there just isn't the funding for them to truly do so, so I don't trust it 100%.

gangstagirl625

mine is pretty accurate when it comes to TBSP or or cups i dont have a food scale but i do know that when it comes to meat a palm size is a serving

DivaStar2

I am pretty accurate. I do both eyeball and measure.

MeliciousMelis

I measure....kinda OCD-ish about it
lol

stormieweather

When I didn't measure and weigh every single dadgum thing, I was way off. Now I do and am much more accurate.

eleanoreb

I find it pretty easy to measure accurately when i'm at home or know exactly the brand/quantities of what im eating..but if i eat out..its anyones guess..

NYGoddess77

All the foods I consume are 90% homemade...so I would still enter what brand of chicken, fish beef etcc I would use but as far as quantity and weight...I would just create my one meal with this following recipe calculator fro Spark People...all you have to do to be acurate is to determine the amount of servings u will get out of that meal. Then it will give u the nutritional value of 1 serving of that meal :-)

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

Jain

I dont weigh or measure veggies (apart from spuds) or fruit, but everything else gets weighed out. Especially carbs.

PJilly

I am meticulous with my weighing and measuring, but I've done it so long, I can eyeball portions almost perfectly. Still, I'm not comfortable relying on that.

sarah44254

i love to measure, love it! I do need a new food scale though, mine only does ounces and it seems to never move! IE: I put a carrot on. I put 2 carrots on. Finally it moves a little. I put 5 carrots on. I put 8 carrots on, suddenly it goes from 1oz to 4oz.... No idea what this scale is doing!

(I get what I paid for, $7 wal-mart scale! haha!)

I always always log everything I eat. All I drink. If I go over, I want to see that! I want my friends to see that! I need their input and reassurance and I love their praises when I do well.

Oishii

I eat in the dining hall at school a lot, so there is a lot of guessing. The weight has just dropped off, so I do wonder if I'm rather too harsh with my guestimates!

robin52077

Everything to the gram!

Jaedynmoon

I measure and weigh EVERYTHING! Even my cereal I eat, I weigh instead of measuring because it's more accurate that way!

InMyJeans

Im still looking for the right scale but I've been eyeballing stuff and I measure my liquids/powders with my measuring cups. I think I overestimate everything else and as long as I have half of my plate with green stuff Im good.

rdy2begin

I measure ,count,weigh and then some ,,guessing got me here LOL ;0) Later on after I have more of an idea I will eyeball

robertf57

I measure precisely. If I didn't I would be tempted to cheat.

maureak

I used to eyeball everything because I thought I was pretty good at estimating. Then I started measuring most things to make sure my estimates are good (some were, some were not).

I'm back to eyeballing the stuff I eat regularly and will measure anything new.

I also try to estimate on the high side to insure I'm not underestimating what I eat.

dwarfer22

pretty accurate. I use the recipe builder ALOT, and I measure pretty much everything but veggies. But I use the same bowls as always so I know how they should look.

singer201

I'm trying to be as accurate as possible. I weigh everything I can't measure with measuring cups or spoons or count (like almonds, jelly beans, etc). I also use the scale to determinie what size fruits to log.

I have one of these <http://www.etsy.com/listing/59910407/vintage-pelouze-ice-cream-scale>. It's accurate enough and very sensitive.

stephanielynn76

I measure liquids in a measuring cup but I eyeball the rest. I overestimate calories and under report my exercise so I figure I'm good. I have seen steady loses since I started so it's working for me.

kacarter1017

I measured a lot when I started my weight loss journey (months prior to joining MFP) now I measure things every few times I eat them. So I'll measure my brown rice once, then eye ball for a few times, then measure again. My step son is diabetic and portions are very important to have correct for him. I learned a long time ago that my 1/2 cup slowly gets bigger til it's closer to a cup. So, to keep the time and effort reasonable, I've come up with my "measure every few times" guideline. I think I'm staying pretty true to correct portions doing it this way.

bizco

I have to measure everything! If I try to guess, I'm usually way under.

MeredithLee11

I'm guilty of eyeballing. A food scale is something I've been meaning to invest in, but I'm just lacking the funds now.

Ely82010

I also measure everything in grams and ounces because I don't know what the database will show. I also weight pasta, meats, cheeses, and anything else that falls in that category.

Since I cook for my husband and for myself, I enter all the meals with several ingredients as a recipe, with the proper number of portions. If I like something, I can go back to My recipes and get the information again.

But as another member said, it is very hard when eating out unless the restaurant has nutritional values in the menu or website. In that case, I over estimate or add 'quick calories." and hope for the best.

ebgbjo

Insanely accurate. I measure in GRAMS!

Same here.. and it irritates me to now end when I come here to log food and I don't have option of grams (grams should be in EVERY food) and only have things like cups, teaspoons, ect

BlkOnyx488

I am really good when I eat at home, but when i eat at a friends or some resturants, I don't know what to do.
as far as logging.

I have gotten use to what an 8oz portion of food looks like
so I try to at the very least maintain a healthy portion when I do eat out
But I don't always log it.

Nigel99

I'm pretty accurate about my logging. I log everything I eat/drink, and everything I'm using in my meals that contribute to the cals/sodium/fat/etc. Everything gets measured well, though I've had to estimate a couple of things once in a while. I make sure I don't underestimate everything, so I'm pretty much right on target.

katschi

I have a digital food scale, measuring cups and spoons and I use them for all my food.
I'm enjoying it and the novelty hasn't worn off yet after 6 weeks.

kwardklinck

Measuring out your food is the best way. It's not what you eat so much as it is sticking to the appropriate portions of what you eat. I don't think all of my entries are completely accurate, but I usually go under about 50 or 100 calories in my logging just to make adjustments for any errors.

toots99

Measure everything.