Can you help? x

mf0u1098

Hi All, I just joined mfp a couple of days ago and absolutely love it but I am a little confused, I am checking my totals for the day in my food diary and for example: penne pasta is 156 calories: 31 carbs, 1 fat, 5 protein, 2 fibre, 1 sugar which equals 40. So where is the other 116? Sorry if I am being really dense but I can't seem to work it out? xxx

DeanLite

make sure you clicked the correct serving amount when you chose it.

mf0u1098

Sorry, I've just re-read my post and it makes no sense! Basically I've picked the right food and the right serving amount but when each item is then listed in my food diary for the day the total calories don't make sense when split out into the categories of carbs, fat etc. I'm really not explaining this very well! I wish you could see what I'm seeing... Thank you anyway adriennesw x

moran1917

the calories are not the same as the carbs, protiens, etc. so they will never add up. the carbs, protein, fats are in grams per day. so that is how many grams you consumed not how many calories.

Alexagetsfit

This would be because the numbers for everything in your diary are in grams, not calories.

Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories
Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 calories

vickie28

the 156 is calories - the other numbers pertain to the amount of fat, carbs , protien in the food--- they will not total the calories-- on the food pryramid a person is suppose to have like 40 grams of protein a day ( example ) so all the label on the pasta is saying is it has 5 grams of what your daily intake should be--- hope that helps-- ect... hope that helps

TrainingWithTonya

This would be because the numbers for everything in your diary are in grams, not calories.

Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories
Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 calories

This! And the fiber and sugar are generally accounted for in the total carbohydrates, so just take the total carbs and multiply by 4, then the total protein and multiply by 4, and then the total fat (which is also broken down into sub categories of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans fats) by 9. Add those 3 together and you get the total calories. If done for your pasta, it looks like this:

Carbs--31 x 4 = 124 Calories from carbs
Protein--5 x 4 = 20 Calories from protein
Fat--1 x 9 = 9 Calories from fat

124 + 20 + 9 = 153 Total Calories

They are allowed a certain percentage of being off because of rounding. For example, they won't list 31.3 grams of carbs but that 1/3 of a gram of carbs is still adding over a calorie. Same with fat and protein. Anyway, hope that makes more sense to you.

mf0u1098

Wow, thank you all so much. I feel so silly now for not realising! Cheers everyone xxx

jeckyb

dont feel silly,i just read everyones answers to try and figure it out for myself too