Stop lying about nutritional info or supporting the lie
marcnee
Posts: 7
While trying to log in a "Five guys cheeseburger and fries" I was once again reminded about how many people lie about the actual calories of the food they post and how often I find confirmations of these lies. Its bad enough that people don't take the time to research and post their foods accurately, but it is a real dis-service to the whole community when 4 or 5 or 10 people buy into the lie and confirm the nutritional value which is obviously B.S. Really people a bacon ,egg and cheese sandwich for 200 calories!? wake up! The whole idea of the confirmation system is to prove reliability of fact not wishful thinking. Lying to ourselves got us on this to begin with -stop sharing your self-deception with others. BTW most of the nutritional info posted for five guys is accurate and painful!
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Replies
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My favorite so far has been fettucini alfredo 1 cup - 180 calories, seriously?! I wish! (and it wasn't tagged as some diet fat free version)
I think a lot of people may not realize that the info may not be accurate - it may be more about being unaware and trusting that the info is correct. I know for a long time I just looked up my food and put it in without ever looking to see what was listed for nutritional information - I was just focused on my total calories etc. Now I know when I put in chicken breast or tuna etc, there is a whole range of calories attributed to it by lots of different people so I have to pick the one that reflects something reasonably accurate rather than the one I wish it was....0 -
I thought I noticed some things didn't seem correct....too good to be true. That is disappointing0
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If you see something where the nutritional info is not right, fix it. Otherwise aren't you kind of "supporting the lie" too?0
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These are probably the people who may be saying they measure everything then can't lose any weight.
A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Five Guys isn't even that good... I bet I could make a better tasting burger and fry for less calories. If you think something is too good to be true, look it up on google or the restaurant's website. Change MFP database entries when you discover they aren't correct and move on in life.0
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Some things have different calorie counts in different countries. Maybe you're stumbling on some of those ?0
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I ALWAYS go to the website of the restaurant in another tab and compare to the MFP. Thank you for making others aware of this - I've made many corrections and saved to "My Food".
For raw foods, you want to check the USDA Nutrient Database or nutritiondata.self.com.0 -
I also saw 8 oz of new York strip as 68 calories or something crazy like that on there. I've seen things too high too though, like 4 oz of plain chicken breast as 330 calories? Hmm0
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That is why I sit down and check everything. If I eat fast food.. I check the website or bring home the nutritional info from the item I ate. If I can't find anything for what I ate.. and it doesn't come with nutritional information.. I always pick the highest calorie, fat, and sodium amount I can find with something similar. I get annoyed when I know the info for my food and when I search for it I find that they only record the calories.. and not the sodium or fat or anything else that needs to be recorded.... or that it's off. As much as it's a pain in the butt to make sure everything is correct... it pays off in the long run!0
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These are probably the people who may be saying they measure everything then can't lose any weight.
A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I try to go straight to the nutritional website of that particular restaurant myself to verify,0 -
I've only seen times when people add more calories to a product than what's actually in it. I always wonder why people add almost 50 or so more calories to the serving than what's on the nutritional info, but I just correct it and go on about my day. It does seem counter-productive for someone to log the food as way less than what it actually is, though. Kind of a stupid way to make yourself feel better for consuming something of that nature.0
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I noticed that a fav. Italian restaurant of ours (Avantis) posts just the calories of the pasta on the nutrition info. You have to add the sauce, cheese and meat to the total! That could be what's up witht the low cal. amt.My favorite so far has been fettucini alfredo 1 cup - 180 calories, seriously?! I wish! (and it wasn't tagged as some diet fat free version)
I think a lot of people may not realize that the info may not be accurate - it may be more about being unaware and trusting that the info is correct. I know for a long time I just looked up my food and put it in without ever looking to see what was listed for nutritional information - I was just focused on my total calories etc. Now I know when I put in chicken breast or tuna etc, there is a whole range of calories attributed to it by lots of different people so I have to pick the one that reflects something reasonably accurate rather than the one I wish it was....0 -
I ALWAYS go to the website of the restaurant in another tab and compare to the MFP. Thank you for making others aware of this - I've made many corrections and saved to "My Food".
For raw foods, you want to check the USDA Nutrient Database or nutritiondata.self.com.
Basically if an entry has an * beside it in the database, I check it out to verify it. Those ones are entered by users, and can be notoriously wrong.0 -
Well if you have a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich at home, you can make a reduced calorie version. I make a homemade Egg Mc Muffin with a poached egg and 100 calorie English muffin. That's under 200 calories. Occasionally I add 1/2 slice of cheese, so it's a little more. If I added a 1/2 piece of bacon, it wouldn't get too crazy calorie-wise either.
I make smoothies that are very low calorie, but again I make them at home, and am not buying them in a smoothie place where I don't control the ingredients.0 -
Really people a bacon ,egg and cheese sandwich for 200 calories!? wake up!
I'm going to go kind of off topic, but I regularly make a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel that is 200 calories.
Butterball "Everyday" - Turkey Bacon (Thin & Crispy), 2 slices (30 calories)
Giant - Egg Substitutes, 1/4 cup (30 calories)
America's Choice - Fat Free American Cheese Singles, 1 slice (30 calories)
Thomas' - Bagel Thin Plain, 1 bagel (110 calories)
But yeah, you're right on spreading poor information. If something looks too good to be true I always double check or look for another entry. I never go back and correct the information though, I guess I should probably start.0 -
I find it annoying that some items are entered with ONLY the calorie count. No Protein, Carbs, Sugars or Sodium??? REALLY? Come on... ig you're going to add something to the MFP list pleeeeeese put in ALL the info. I've gotten to where I carry the pkd or box or label with me, until I can get to the computer & CHECK the Macros b4 I enter it to my MFP Diary. I WANT TO KNOW all the other stuff too, and if you fudge on what goes into your body (& the diary) then how can you tell what is orking or what isn't working? Yeah, imho, of course...
J 0 -
I ALWAYS go to the website of the restaurant in another tab and compare to the MFP.
This is me too. Or I try to use MFP version of foods (like Onion, Raw, Egg Whites Only etc...they usually have no * next to them).
One thing that was pointed out to me a while back, was since this site is international (USA, UK, Canada etc...) the nutritional facts can be different for different foods. Even popular cereals or restaurants. Just because each country has a different way of measuring them I guess (I've never been quite sure why)....but if someone don't label the food they enter as *Canada or *USA etc sometimes you can get conflicting nutritional facts.0 -
I guess I'm guilty. I never double check. I just accept it. I assume people don't lie.0
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love themobile app to enter right from the bar code on the package. I too keep the packing until I can scan it with my phone. My hubby no longer rolls his eyes over this behavior, it's that normal now. BTW, Just when I thought DH wasn't supportive of my workouts, he just bought me an insulated water bottle "for the trail"! Awwww....sweet!0
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love themobile app to enter right from the bar code on the package. I too keep the packing until I can scan it with my phone. My hubby no longer rolls his eyes over this behavior, it's that normal now. BTW, Just when I thought DH wasn't supportive of my workouts, he just bought me an insulated water bottle "for the trail"! Awwww....sweet!
That's adorable!0 -
I think the issue isn't really how many calories is in a cup of pasta as much as how much is a cup of pasta. Let's face it, even if you are eating the most decadent pasta dish, but you stick to 1 cup, you are not taking in an ergregious amount of calories. The problem is - no one sticks to one cup. They eat 3 or 4 and log 1 cup.
I don't even know if people realize they are doing this. i think they really believe that a bowl is a cup.
I try very hard to measure everything. And I use both a scale and measuring cups.
But sometimes it is really difficult, esp when you are eating things like nuts and fruit - where it isn't premeasured and there is a lot of space/variability in size.0 -
Oh that drives me batty too. A lot of the time it turns out it was the same product in another country. If I make and entry for Canada I label it as Canada. One thing I have noticed when I go to "fix" items that have "errors" is MFP rounds up or down. So when I find an item saying 2g Total Fat and go to fix it suddenly it says 1.7g Total Fat on the fixing screen. So a lot of times it is the site, not the people.
Another would be more detail in entries. Fettucini noodles doesn't help me unless it has the brand. And really if it's a recipe you use and don't want to detail don't choose to share it with the community.0 -
...don't concern myself with other people's logs unless they are my friends and ask for help/suggestions. btw, i think there are (or at least claim to be) some fast food bfast sandwiches that are around 200 cals.0
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If you see something where the nutritional info is not right, fix it. Otherwise aren't you kind of "supporting the lie" too?
How do you fix it? I would love to, but I have only been able to create yet another entry.
I hate pulling up the info only to find that it was entered incorrectly, makes me paranoid specially when I can't find something in writing, like at a restaurant. :-) Sometimes I go back to the basics and add in individual ingredients then add it as my own meal just to avoid inaccuracies. Sad, I know, but I want it to be right... lol0 -
I think the issue isn't really how many calories is in a cup of pasta as much as how much is a cup of pasta. Let's face it, even if you are eating the most decadent pasta dish, but you stick to 1 cup, you are not taking in an ergregious amount of calories. The problem is - no one sticks to one cup. They eat 3 or 4 and log 1 cup.
I don't even know if people realize they are doing this. i think they really believe that a bowl is a cup.
I try very hard to measure everything. And I use both a scale and measuring cups.
But sometimes it is really difficult, esp when you are eating things like nuts and fruit - where it isn't premeasured and there is a lot of space/variability in size.
I wish I understood all this better and that portion sizes match up with real life. A cup of pasta? Really? What does that even look like? I just guess most of the time.
About a year ago, I decided to portion out a few thing I eat often to see if I was guessing right. To my surprise, I was overestimating by a lot. So, I was counting rice, for example, as a cup, when it was closer to 1/2 cup...things like that. I was pretty far off, but in the other direction.
I think I'm pretty good at estimating now. Once you see how a cup of rice looks on you plate, it's easy recognize how much it is. I use my hands too. Like an amount about the size of my fist is about a cup. A serving of protein is generally the size and thickness of your palm, minus the fingers. Etc.0 -
If you see something where the nutritional info is not right, fix it. Otherwise aren't you kind of "supporting the lie" too?
True ^-^
I'm constantly correcting nutrition information if it is not correct...Yup, there is a LOT of incorrect information out there...0 -
I generally check my packages and post according to the calories on my package which might mean adjusting the serving. I'm newer here and didn't even realize you could correct that information. I certainly will do better, I bet my one slice of papa murphy's chicago stuffed pizza was wrong last night... geesh... now I'll have to check.0
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love themobile app to enter right from the bar code on the package. I too keep the packing until I can scan it with my phone. My hubby no longer rolls his eyes over this behavior, it's that normal now. BTW, Just when I thought DH wasn't supportive of my workouts, he just bought me an insulated water bottle "for the trail"! Awwww....sweet!
LOL, same here!!0 -
I was just lookin at "homemade" tuna salad. It had no recipe nor ingredients listed and yet 90 people confirmed the accuracy of it?1? Are members of MFP psychic? Cause if so I want some help with lottery numbers :-)0
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I think the issue isn't really how many calories is in a cup of pasta as much as how much is a cup of pasta. Let's face it, even if you are eating the most decadent pasta dish, but you stick to 1 cup, you are not taking in an ergregious amount of calories. The problem is - no one sticks to one cup. They eat 3 or 4 and log 1 cup.
I don't even know if people realize they are doing this. i think they really believe that a bowl is a cup.
I try very hard to measure everything. And I use both a scale and measuring cups.
But sometimes it is really difficult, esp when you are eating things like nuts and fruit - where it isn't premeasured and there is a lot of space/variability in size.
Soo true. Cereal was a biggie for me, measuring my cereal was a HUGE eye-opener in serving sizes for me. I learned that my "bowl" was definitely NOT one serving, more like 4! People that don't weigh and meshed their food in the beginning are definitely doing a huge disservice to themselves IMO. Coffee creamer was another big one for me. Even to this day I never "eyeball" my creamer. I have my handy tablespoon ready right next to the coffee maker. I think before I measured/weighed my food, I wondered why I had such a hard time losing weight. Now that I have the hang of it, I can fairy accurately estimate a lot of things... But every newbie should invest in a food scale IMO.0
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