Don't trust MFP food values
elmarko123
Posts: 89
Just some friendly advice,
I decided to manually check everything on my usual days food diary (as I record everything - going by the most popular items on the food list) - by taking the values directly off the package & creating a private food recipes list (so it can't be changed) - it turns out that the total sugar, carb's & calories were around 20% higher than MFP's food list stated.
As I'm aiming for around 1800 on off days & 2200 on exercise days - the 200 variance was enough to wipe off most of my deficit.
Check the values against what's on back of the packaging, each time you do create a new private food & use that - you should notice an improvement.
I decided to manually check everything on my usual days food diary (as I record everything - going by the most popular items on the food list) - by taking the values directly off the package & creating a private food recipes list (so it can't be changed) - it turns out that the total sugar, carb's & calories were around 20% higher than MFP's food list stated.
As I'm aiming for around 1800 on off days & 2200 on exercise days - the 200 variance was enough to wipe off most of my deficit.
Check the values against what's on back of the packaging, each time you do create a new private food & use that - you should notice an improvement.
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Replies
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thanks for the tip... anyway my food is different here so I have to create a new food almost everyday!0
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most of the values for food when I input in my diary have verifications from other mfp users...if you find an item that isn't accurate, then you should feed that back.0
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I always check off the package of anything I eat unless it's not processed and there is no package.0
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Check the values against what's on back of the packaging, each time you do create a new private food & use that - you should notice an improvement.
Why create a new one... why not just edit the one that's there to contain the proper values? That's what I usually do...0 -
this is very true. a lot of the times the data is inaccurate, which is why I usually take it as a grain of salt and check food labels (which are said to be somewhat inaccurate as well).0
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this is very true. a lot of the times the data is inaccurate, which is why I usually take it as a grain of salt and check food labels (which are said to be somewhat inaccurate as well).
I hope you're logging that grain of salt....0 -
Food companies do change their recipes from time to time as well, some of them more often than others. I've also seen the serving size change, possibly to make the product appear healthier by having fewer calories? I'm not sure. So yes, I do a spot check on the foods I eat from time to time, but don't see the benefit of everyone creating their own private food entries.0
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Well, one point being that I'd wager that in different country's, the same foods have different nutritional values (due to the different EU/US food regulation).
If you change it, you may be changing it from EU to US - with different foods getting switched back & forth - I'd also assume that in the rest of the world they have a different set of food regulations (which could result in even more differences).
The logic behind creating your own, is so that nobody can change it (to a different regions values)0 -
I really have not had a problem with that. What I have a problem with is the calories burned from exercise. I find MFP say I burned more than the machines that I worked out at, Some times by a couple hundred or more. So I go to www.fitclick.com/calories_burned . It gives me a much more accurate reading of calories burned.0
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this is very true. a lot of the times the data is inaccurate, which is why I usually take it as a grain of salt and check food labels (which are said to be somewhat inaccurate as well).
I hope you're logging that grain of salt....
of course!0 -
I really have not had a problem with that. What I have a problem with is the calories burned from exercise. I find MFP say I burned more than the machines that I worked out at, Some times by a couple hundred or more. So I go to www.fitclick.com/calories_burned . It gives me a much more accurate reading of calories burned.
I know what you mean, which is why I got myself a decent HRM! Much more accurate! :happy:0 -
most of the values for food when I input in my diary have verifications from other mfp users...if you find an item that isn't accurate, then you should feed that back.0
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I really have not had a problem with that. What I have a problem with is the calories burned from exercise. I find MFP say I burned more than the machines that I worked out at, Some times by a couple hundred or more. So I go to www.fitclick.com/calories_burned . It gives me a much more accurate reading of calories burned.
Thanks for the info!0 -
Well, one point being that I'd wager that in different country's, the same foods have different nutritional values (due to the different EU/US food regulation).
If you change it, you may be changing it from EU to US - with different foods getting switched back & forth - I'd also assume that in the rest of the world they have a different set of food regulations (which could result in even more differences).
The logic behind creating your own, is so that nobody can change it (to a different regions values)0 -
I do all my own food because I am anal and obsessive. But it's private so it's not cluttering up the database0
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I always use the packaging. Never just what people have put in the database.
1 cup of something? How is that an accurate measure? I hate cups. So glad we don't use them in UK recipes.0 -
1 cup of something? How is that an accurate measure?
Because it's a standard sized, uniform unit of measurement, perhaps?0 -
I really have not had a problem with that. What I have a problem with is the calories burned from exercise. I find MFP say I burned more than the machines that I worked out at, Some times by a couple hundred or more. So I go to www.fitclick.com/calories_burned . It gives me a much more accurate reading of calories burned.
Thanks FitClick actually says I'm burning more calories than MFP0 -
I always use the packaging. Never just what people have put in the database.
1 cup of something? How is that an accurate measure? I hate cups. So glad we don't use them in UK recipes.
I want it per 100g, so I can do it manually (weigh the food).
I also have an inkling that some people are deliberately putting them lower (thinking off, it's 17 so ill put 15 (always rounding down) - as every single item I changed ended up being higher than the MFP data-base stated.0 -
thank you!0
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