What do you do when you don't know the calories?

hmg90
hmg90 Posts: 314 Member
in Food and Nutrition
If you've eaten something you don't know the calories of, what do you do? Just search for the closest possible in the database?

I had breakfast, salad for lunch but due to having eaten 1200 calories the past few days I was simply still hungry. My boss had gotten this DELICIOUS sandwich for lunch and she split it in two and could only finish half. She gave the rest to me, and I was so starving. I looked up sandwich with tomato, avocado and mozzarella (not much) in the database, they had one ciabatta with those ingredients, but half of it was only 199 cals and I felt like it was a large half, so I registered it as 3/4 a sandwich. Then I walked home from work (50 minutes fast walk) to make up for it (and didn't put it down as exercise).

I'm now home from work and it's 7pm here. I haven't even had dinner and only have 200 cals left for the day :( It bothers me not knowing how much the sandwich was! Now I have no idea whether my estimate is accurate, whether I can put down a bit exercise so I have more allowed for my day or not. I don't see how I can survive on 200 for the rest of the day.

What do people do when they simply don't know?

Replies

  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    I just try to find something similar. A sandwich like that is probably at least 500 cal for the whole thing if not more. You can have a pretty good dinner for 200 cal especially since its late you don't need to eat heavy. Salad? Fruit? Eggs?
  • hmg90
    hmg90 Posts: 314 Member
    I just try to find something similar. A sandwich like that is probably at least 500 cal for the whole thing if not more. You can have a pretty good dinner for 200 cal especially since its late you don't need to eat heavy. Salad? Fruit? Eggs?

    I registered the half sandwich as 300 kcal, I think that should be allright. There was no mayo or anything like that on it.
    I also put down "brisk walk" in exercise, so I am allowed more food but I'll try not to eat it all back :)
  • Bucky884
    Bucky884 Posts: 2
    Sometimes I dissect the sandwich or salad (if nothing too crazy & no extra dressing or sauce) and enter it that way...1 oz. fresh Mozz; 2 slices tomato; 1/4 avocado; bread. If it's a Panini or something like that, then it's a bit harder to do that.

    I am with you though, I hate not knowing the true amount. I try to eat a places that show calorie count or have it posted on their website.
  • jogirlruns
    jogirlruns Posts: 45 Member
    My suggestion? Just make your best guess and don't worry about it. If you go over your calories for the day, because you are hungry or made an error in counting - don't sweat it. A few extra calories on one day are not going to derail your weight loss. Think of the long game. It's all just estimates, anyway...
  • Buddhasmiracle
    Buddhasmiracle Posts: 925 Member
    I think what some of other posters said -- estimate, "build" the calories of, for example, a sandwich are excellent. Additionally, some of the recipe web sites have nutritional data for food. As an example, awhile ago I had dinner out and ordered salmon wellington. I found a recipe for it on allrecipes.com. The entree was prepared more or less like the recipe, and I added more cals to accomodate the difference.,
  • Mmmmona
    Mmmmona Posts: 328 Member
    I just list the ingredients one by one. (DOnt forget the sauce).

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