Quick Calorie "Padding"

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Mindarin
Mindarin Posts: 93 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So throughout the day, whenever I eat something I can't find in the database, or I have to take an equivalent from the database, I add 50-100 calories to my diary, just to make sure I'm not overeating. I'm eating about 1900 calories a day, so it's not like I'll starve doing this. I just wondered if anyone else does this. If so, why? If not, what are your reasons?

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  • imtrinat
    imtrinat Posts: 153 Member
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    I do the same thing. I just assume that I probably underestimate my portions in other places, which seems much more likely than overestimating.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    I very rarely struggle to find something on the database, and it it s not there already I enter the info. If I'm eating at a restaurant then I look for the nearest similar item in the database which sometimes may be an overestimate, sometimes under so it all balances out in the long run.
  • Mindarin
    Mindarin Posts: 93 Member
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    I do the same thing. I just assume that I probably underestimate my portions in other places, which seems much more likely than overestimating.

    Exactly. I know my track record with food. Thinking things like, "Oh, this ice cream is 150 a serving? I'm SURE this HUGE, HEAPING bowl of ice cream must be about 150 then." :P
  • hilldiggity
    hilldiggity Posts: 166 Member
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    I often check CalorieKing.com. They have a great database.
  • ThatCatholicGirl
    ThatCatholicGirl Posts: 209 Member
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    Heh - I do that too! :smile:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I do the same thing. I just assume that I probably underestimate my portions in other places, which seems much more likely than overestimating.

    Why not actually weigh and/or measure your portions?

    OP...no, I do not add random calories; I just eat my food. There isn't much I can't find on the data base...if I can't find something I just find something that is as close as possible. I'd personally rather over eat a little than under eat...I've got muscles underneath this fat that need preserving.
  • imtrinat
    imtrinat Posts: 153 Member
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    I do the same thing. I just assume that I probably underestimate my portions in other places, which seems much more likely than overestimating.

    Why not actually weigh and/or measure your portions?

    OP...no, I do not add random calories; I just eat my food. There isn't much I can't find on the data base...if I can't find something I just find something that is as close as possible. I'd personally rather over eat a little than under eat...I've got muscles underneath this fat that need preserving.


    Well... The short answer is that I don't want to measure my portions.

    Edit to note I don't quick add them, I just pad my serving sizes if Im not sure. Maybe that's not the "MFP preferred method"? lol! We all use this for different reasons and in different ways. I prefer to use it to get a general idea of what and how much I'm eating, rather than get an exact calorie amount.
  • Mindarin
    Mindarin Posts: 93 Member
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    I do weigh and measure, but I eat a lot of foreign/generic food that doesn't exist on this database and doesn't have nutritional info. I'm set at maintenance (w/out eating exercise calories), so I think that in my case being a few hundred calories below won't hurt me as much as eating a few hundred over and not realizing it.

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