Estimating Calories

slimdownspicey

I feel like I've become dependent on entering exactly what I'm eating into my food diary and I've lost the confidence to know that I've made the right choices when I can't. I tend to go to lunch to these fancy "buffet" to-go places in Manhattan near my office...and example of what I'll get -

-1"x2" piece of veggie frittata with Moroccan stewed tomato on top
-2 tbsp chicken shwarma with a little herb cream sauce
-1-2 tbsp Brazilian chicken salad
-steamed veggies with a little yogurt sauce
-3 roasted plum tomato 1/2s with less than 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
-1/3 cup of roasted sweet potato

This totaled about 1 lb. To me it was the right amount for lunch and I took a tiny bit of the more "indulgent" things I would want to try. But when it comes to entering in the calories, I'm at a loss.

Wondering if anyone else has some experience with this or advice. Thanks!

hillendahl

I love to eat at alot of independently owned restaurants...Typically what I do is look at what I'm being served and mentally compare it to an entre at a "chain" restaurant....where the nutritional value is known.

For example....I love fajitas. So, I use the nutritional value for one fajita at taco cabana as a guide. With fajitas usually comes mexican rice. So, I search the mfp data base for mexican rice. There are alot of entries...because it can sometimes vary. I try to pick a middle of the road entree....maybe not the highest caloried one in the database...and not the lowest caloried one....something in between.

In essence, it is only a guess....but I'm thinking it's probably a better to guess than to not even try..

chuisle

Eating at my work is similar...its difficult to tell how many calories are in a prepared dish! I generally will look it up on recipe sites that include nutritional information, compare them to one another, check the MFP database and if there is nothing there then I will add the recipe myself.

A note on calories: in studies even registered dietitians underestimated their caloric intake on a regular basis. Make it a policy to leave a little extra room.