Negative Food

agthorn

No, I'm not talking about the "negative calorie food" bunk. Did you know that you can log negative QUANTITIES of food in your food log?

So if, for example, you order a sandwich at a restaurant and you get it without cheese...you can log "-1 cheese slice" and it will subtract all the relevant calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc from your macros. You don't have to create a whole different entry in the database for "sandwich, no cheese"!

OMG I'm so STUPID, I've been logging negative quick add calories and lamenting that it doesn't remove the macros (like when Idon't eat all of the bun on a burger) and it never even occured to me to log negative .5 hamburger buns. *bangs head on the desk*

I've been on here for 8 months and it only occurred to me today to try this and see what happened!

rainunrefined

OP! You just won the MFP Nobel Prize.. just saying.

JaimeBrown5

What am I not understanding here?


If I look up "Big Mac" and find that... and it adds the calories. It adds the whole beast for calories. Putting in negative amounts would negative out the portion I told it to deduct. To find the calories in the bun alone, for example, I would have to search "Big Mac bun" and add it as a negative 1.

KarmaxKitty

OP! You just won the MFP Nobel Prize.. just saying.

AGREED

AnitaMcKenna

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

Well done you for figuring this out and many,many thanks for sharing!!!! :happy:

KimmehL

Way cool tip--thanks for figuring that out!!:flowerforyou:

SavCal71

too. uber. cool.

mamagooskie

isn't it cool! I've done that before and its so handy!

sarah44254

OP! You just won the MFP Nobel Prize.. just saying.

SO MUCH YES

anyonebutmehaha

oh cool beans. very helpful when i see something in database already that has all the ingredients i used... plus one extra. now i know how to fix. thank you!

Ali_TSO

mind. blown.

ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reasie26

WAY helpful since I'm vegan and often order things off the menu "minus the cheese"!!!! THANKS!!!!!

Ambr

I had no idea about it, Thanks for sharing

agthorn

What am I not understanding here?


If I look up "Big Mac" and find that... and it adds the calories. It adds the whole beast for calories. Putting in negative amounts would negative out the portion I told it to deduct. To find the calories in the bun alone, for example, I would have to search "Big Mac bun" and add it as a negative 1.

You're not misunderstanding anything, that's exactly what you would do. You would have two lines in your meal log - one for 1 full big mac that has X amount of calories, fat, carbs and protein, and one for -1 bun that would subtract X amount of calories, fat, carbs and protein (a "big mac bun" might not be an exact entry in the database but you would certainly be able to find a comparable one). You enjoy your bunless burger and your macros are more or less perfectly recorded. Got your big mac without mayo? -1 serving of mayo. And so on. So you don't have a dozen entries in the database that are "big mac - no bun", "big mac - no cheese", "big mac - no mayo" etc. Just subtract whatever you left off.

bslic

WOW you should win MFPer of the year for that!!! Brilliant idea!!!

Reasie26

Yeah, pretty sure that's right. Of course, "Big Mac Bun" may not be in the database. Probably more helpful for when you leave off a slice of cheese or mayo or something of that sort that would actually be in the database. I haven't checked though - it's possible that the bun is in there!!! If not, you could add it to the database, and then you (and everyone else) would have it in there to use!!

QueenStromba

I've been using this for a while to subtract the fibre from my carb total when I have to use a non UK entry for something (carbs on the nutritional info are net carbs here so mixing US and UK entries messes with your carb count). I just made an entry in the database where the only nutritional information is -1g of carbs and if I eat something with 7g of fibre that's a US entry I add 7 servings to that meal to give me the net carbs.

agthorn

WOW you should win MFPer of the year for that!!! Brilliant idea!!!

Wow, MFPer of the year and it's only January 6th... :blushing:

Thanks guys! Happy subtracting :bigsmile:

Ambr

I had no idea about it, Thanks for sharing

tuffytuffy1

Absolutely BRILLIANT.

parys1

That is great! Thank you for sharing.

JaimeBrown5

Ohhhhhhh! I was thinking it was from within the entry itself, not as a separate entry! faaabulous!

thatsnumberwang

This is awesome. I just ate a bunch of cheese I didn't especially want from a Starbucks Bistro Box because I had logged it anyway. Hooray for clever discoveries!

MrsGreenTea703

SCORE! I love learning new things!

jules1984

Negative Food is the BEST THING EVER!!! I can't believe I just figured this out! I am dairy free and every time I eat out or cook I leave out the cheese. I hated piecing together things like papa murphey's pizza or any entree anywhere. Now all I have to do is add the food and subtract the cheese!

YAAAAAY!!!

kimmymayhall

Thank you for reviving this post becuase I had no idea you could do this.
It's coming up to the end of 2012 and I still think agthorn is the MFPer of the Year!

Slove009

:noway: That is awesome! Thank you!

agthorn

Thank you for reviving this post becuase I had no idea you could do this.
It's coming up to the end of 2012 and I still think agthorn is the MFPer of the Year!

Well, thanks! I hope there's like a crown or something.

bluedevil005

That's so good to know! Thanks for sharing... I've totally been annoyed by trying to re-enter a food without a few ingredients.

vlleonardi29

Thank you for reviving this post becuase I had no idea you could do this.
It's coming up to the end of 2012 and I still think agthorn is the MFPer of the Year!

^^^^^This!