How to track calories at a party?

kid320

I went to a party this weekend for the first time since I've started tracking my calories.

In most situations where I don't have a barcode to scan, I can come up with a good estimate of how many calories I've eaten,

A party is a bit of a different story. There were some pretzels, chips and other finger foods available before the food was served. Once the food was served, there was ham, roast beef, pasta, meatballs, green beans, etc.

I was proud of myself in that I stuck to water all night instead of the soda selections that were offered and I didn't pig out as I would have done in the past. However, I did eat a small portion of just about everything.

I got home and I had no idea how many calories I had eaten nor did I have a good way of calculating it. I remembered approximately how many little pretzels I had before the meal and I remembered everything that was on my plate. I quick-added about 1500 calories for the entire party and I think that is a pretty good estimate.

What I am getting at is: how does everyone here handle a party situation as far as MFP is concerned? Do you kind of give yourself a break from tracking everything on the app but still watch you eat?

This is a great question to have answered with the holidays coming up!

bslic

I haven't done this since I thought of it, but I thought I would/could take a pic of my plate(s) in a buffet/party situation. That may help me remember portions and items a bit better....and I could track it after the party. Definitely serve yourself on a plate and try not to graze in an attempt to keep more control.

Skeith5

I normally select a few things to eat and then just take one serving. So for pretzels I would have grabbed as many as I would have eaten for the night and made a guess from that. If you take a few here and there then you will never really know how many you will be eating and will probably underestimate when the night is over.

Scott

kid320

bslic: Taking a picture of your plate is a great idea... even if I look a little insane while doing it. It would allow me to get on with the party without feeling like I need to take 15 minutes out of great conversation with family in order to track calories.

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Skeith5: Yep, my concern is underestimating what I ate. The other concern is that I don't know how certain items were cooked (how much salt/butter/etc) was added.

chrisdavey

I try and be as accurate as possible but it is difficult. And we have to remember to have fun as well Stressing about how many pretzels you had a party will probably hinder weight loss more than the actual eating of the pretzels.

Otherwise, if you plan for these days in advance they can fit into a good nutritional plan ie. spike day.

Lyadeia

What I am getting at is: how does everyone here handle a party situation as far as MFP is concerned? Do you kind of give yourself a break from tracking everything on the app but still watch you eat?

When I am at a party, I don't worry about tracking anything on MFP. I eat great all week and let that day be a planned cheat day, and I don't worry about it.

Life is too short to not go to the party, or to go there and worry about calories.

kid320

chrisdavey and Lyadeia: I agree with both of you, but I don't want to start using that as an excuse to pig out at parties. However, I guess I can lay off the MFP thing a little bit every once in a while.

tjradd73

I agree...exercise should not be used just so you can eat more...that is an unhealthy habit yto get into...IMO!!!

take pics of the food that you are eating, try to eat easy to eye portion sizes (ie...2 egg rolls or 1/2 cup), and don't over do it!!

you have been doing this for a lil bit now...you know that the veggie tray is better than the fried zucchini, and that the fruit try is better than the brownies...just do the best you can from what you know!

and THEN if you happen to go over still...maybe add in some extra water, and a lil extra workout to help even it out a bit

Tyler4846

I like the notes feature right next to the water tally/icon I'll use that to jot down stuff that I'm not sure about. Recording
everything for the day is still new to me, so for parties I'm not really worried about logging everything but I'll put food
into the notes section. Just to stay in the habit of logging.

chrisdavey

I still log it. Good & bad days just because I like to keep accurate records for analysis later. Most people probably wouldn't bother going to that extent though. (I'm an accountant & love my numbers though )

But if you aren't going to log it, then just make healthy choices and eat until you are full not just eating because it's there.

CharlieBarleyMom

I try to stick to foods that I know what the portion size / calories would be... but that doesn't always work. When it comes to something like a deviled egg for instance, I really love them so I'm going to have one, I then log it and use the highest calorie rating that is already stored in MFP or search google to see average from other sites like LiveStrong and SparkPeople and there are a few others... then maybe take the average... so I know that my calories will be higher than I would like and higher than if I made it myself, but then, it doesn't really matter because I'm enjoying myself and I worked out enough to balance it out... (and, one day is not going to kill you!)

taeliesyn

I make notes on what I ate on my phone and then tally it all up later.
If it's a party/social situation where the box is still available for me to try and barcode scan then I do that for 1 serving and then adjust later.