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I have no idea how many calories this is...

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Replies

  • Catlady87
    Catlady87 Posts: 302 Member
    Nini at least you asked! There no shame in wanting to learn more. You just need a bit of practice with the food diary. Even I struggle a bit sometimes. I still haven't found "tomato". Sometimes things are under different names. It just takes a bit of practice, and paying around.
    Yes it's a bit of a pain and takes time but how good do you feel knowing your dinner is 500 calories, not 1000? And how many calories have you it left? Enough for a treat or a glass of wine? It's great isn't it?
    Any questions you can always PM me if you want and ill try and help.
  • MrsBikiniBound
    MrsBikiniBound Posts: 120
    You're only going to be successful with this if you take a few minutes to measure and log your meals. Try preplanning. Invest in a food scale. Use your resources. The mobile app even has a nifty barcode reader that is idiot proof for people (like me!) who want it done quickly. If you see blueberries in te database and theres a cup measurement or weight measurement then purchase some measuring cups or weigh it. If you let it overwhelm you and use the forums as a way to complain that being healthy isn't easy, you're not going to get many sympathizers. This is hard work- buck up buttercup and find things to keep you motivated.
  • Momiofour
    Momiofour Posts: 155 Member
    You could also use the scan barcode option on your smart phone. I do that a lot and it helps when I am trying to do a thousand different things with 4 kids freaking out around me. Yes, there are four and the oldest is 6. If I can do this, you can do this!!! :)
  • MissJanet55
    MissJanet55 Posts: 457 Member
    When I'm calculating something like a homemade kale salad I just figure out the kale, berries and olive oil. The calories in cilantro and green onion is negligible, so I don't worry about it (although I know there are people here who count every last calorie. Personally, I don't worry about anything less than 25 calories).

    it can be tricky to figure out calories on purchased food. Today I picked up some chicken, a quinoa salad and a beet salad for lunch. I could guess at all the calories, but figure I had to add a certain amount of fat calories to allow for oil that wasn't obvious. And if I was counting sodium it would have been impossible to know.

    Just do your best, and learn all you can. I don't think it is a 100% precise process.
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