Calories on MFP seem too low

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01rascal01
01rascal01 Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Greetings, Fellow Losers! I am really enjoying MFP - my skinny sister introduced me to it. I love the way you can enter food and it counts the caloires for you, but I am finidng the amounts it lists is lower than the package amounts.

Does anyone know why?

Is there a way to enter your own calores which you think might be more correct?

THANKS!

Replies

  • Treesy72
    Treesy72 Posts: 230
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    I noticed this too, now I double check and add calories when needed using quick tools.
  • xunleashed
    xunleashed Posts: 82 Member
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    You could always add your own food, or add what MFP calls "Quick Calories"

    AND

    make sure you check the serving size is correct with what you are eating.
  • Luciabella07
    Luciabella07 Posts: 205 Member
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    I always add my own calories in and if I am in a rush or I dont have the packaging with me I will add but then always double check it.
  • Snooozie
    Snooozie Posts: 3,447 Member
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    I'm relatively new at this as well, and I've discovered you have to be a little careful choosing from the data base.. I searched "bonesless chicken breast roasted" one day, and there were about 20 matching choices.. one showed a 4oz serving at 500 calories.. and one 4oz at 120 lol.... as everyone can add a food to the database anytime.. but that's a huge difference for the same item... so I"ve learned to search different ways and using less words to get more choices and then I check the nutritional values given against my own food label (if it has one.. chicken breasts dont lol) and when I find the one that I believe matches my choice, I use it and save it .... you can also create your own foods if you don't find zackly what you're looking for.. and for those substantially better at puter stuff, I get the impression you can scan your phone over labels and add them in too? (but don't ask me how to to do that lol). Anyway, it takes a little playing around to make it work for you, and as the others have said, I've used the "quick calories" a few times when I'm short on time and know the calorie count of a certain food..... and I'm just learning how to use the build a recipe feature.. it's great for foods you make often (i used it for my home made chili) .. and there's lots of great help and advice offered on this site so don't be afraid to ask :o)
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
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    Greetings, Fellow Losers! I am really enjoying MFP - my skinny sister introduced me to it. I love the way you can enter food and it counts the caloires for you, but I am finidng the amounts it lists is lower than the package amounts.

    Does anyone know why?

    Is there a way to enter your own calores which you think might be more correct?

    THANKS!

    Don't use readily listed "cooked, roasted, baked" items. You don't know how people cooked them, how much oil they used, at what temperature the food was good hence how much water weight was lost. Make your own recipe with your own ingredient list and choose your own serving side. One person may slice a cake in 12 whereas the other can make 15 slices. Calculate your grilled, steamed, boiled food based on the raw weight of the meat/vegetable/grain/legume. Even for packaged foods and their labelled servings, you may notice a difference when you weigh them. That bagel may not be 57 grams but 45 grams or the other weight around (in baked goods moisture and storage matters, though).

    For any value, if it's an item listed with an asterisk (*) it means it was manually added in. Double check them online from USDA or w/e.

    All of it is a bit of work but if you want accurate numbers, you need to do that. It gets fast and easy once you get used to it.
  • dandaninc
    dandaninc Posts: 392
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    All of it is a bit of work but if you want accurate numbers, you need to do that. It gets fast and easy once you get used to it.

    It definitely gets easier over time and with trial and error.

    If you find yourself not loosing the weight you think you should be definitely go back and check your calories.

    The exercise calories in MFP have been known to be high as well.

    I remcomend getting an HRM.

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