Quick Add Calories - Cheating?

What does it matter?

Sometimes if I am trying to add something to my diary and it is not in the database I just quick add it if I know I am not going to be eating it frequently. Or I use it if I am trying to estimate a meal's calories that I may not know.

Do you think using Quick Add calories as cheating or is it just convenient? I think it's a way to bypass adding fat and carbs. I don't know why people use these instead of taking 2 minutes to log correctly.

You'd be only cheating yourself so why would anyone bother? We aren't here to impress others.

Exactly. A dishonest food log is not going to help!

I tend to add 200 quick add calories to make up for bites of my kids food or a few bites when I make food to taste it. sometimes its because its not listed and i know how many calories are in it.

I only use it when I'm logging something I don't have the info on and want to pad what I found in the database. If the calories seem low I'll throw in some quick adds.

exactly

I tend to add 200 quick add calories to make up for bites of my kids food or a few bites when I make food to taste it. sometimes its because its not listed and i know how many calories are in it.

Reminded me - I also use it when I shop at Costco - all those samples! Have to throw in a few hundred quick adds because I wouldn't even know how to track that!

I used to use it all the time.....because I was not tracking (and did not care about) and of the macros. All I was focused on was my calories. I dropped a lot of weight back then. That was a few years back.

I had gastric bypass surgery 9 weeks ago. So now I am in reverse. I could care less about total calories. I can't get in more than 600 a day anyway....so it doesnt matter. What does matter is my protein, and every number other than the calories.

I think a person can make it work either way, it just depends on the plan they are following and what their goals are.

I dont use it because I truely need a big picture view of what I am putting into my body at this point. But I was thankfull for it back when it was usefull to me.

never used it. I think its important to have a clear micro nutrient breakdown.

I used to use it all the time.....because I was not tracking (and did not care about) and of the macros. All I was focused on was my calories. I dropped a lot of weight back then. That was a few years back.

I had gastric bypass surgery 9 weeks ago. So now I am in reverse. I could care less about total calories. I can't get in more than 600 a day anyway....so it doesnt matter. What does matter is my protein, and every number other than the calories.

the defence rests.

Trying to understand why exactly you quoted me on this and what your response meant. Can you please clear that up for me. Curious to know if it is because you agreed with something I said...or because you were using me as some sort of example.

I use it when I'm eating out and the restaurant gives the calorie count, but not the macro information. Or, if they do give it, but I can't find the info online later, at least I remember what the calorie count was.

never used it. I think its important to have a clear micro nutrient breakdown.

I used to use it all the time.....because I was not tracking (and did not care about) and of the macros. All I was focused on was my calories. I dropped a lot of weight back then. That was a few years back.

I had gastric bypass surgery 9 weeks ago. So now I am in reverse. I could care less about total calories. I can't get in more than 600 a day anyway....so it doesnt matter. What does matter is my protein, and every number other than the calories.

the defence rests.

Trying to understand why exactly you quoted me on this and what your response meant. Can you please clear that up for me. Curious to know if it is because you agreed with something I said...or because you were using me as some sort of example.

you have learnt that micronutrient balance is of vital importance over just counting calories alone.

Not at all. For ME as a post weight loss surgery patient it IS vitally important. I can no longer absorb a good percentage of what I eat....because my surgery bypassed nearly 2 feet of my intestines. So for me the micronutrients are important...and are the difference between me being healthy, or me being deathly ill in a hospital bed. The micronutrients focus for me has nothing to do with weight loss. With my surgery I will lose weight regardless. I think for the general population of people who still have normal digestive tracts counting calories alone can and does work just fine. I lost 70 pounds last time I was counting calories alone. That diet didnt fail. I failed when I stopped following it.

I have used this a few times at lunch. If I am buying a sandwich from a well known store, I will take the time to search for it on the database and log it properly. However, there have been times when I had to rush my lunch and grab something from the canteen and the pack does not always have all the nutritional information.

never used it. I think its important to have a clear micro nutrient breakdown.

I used to use it all the time.....because I was not tracking (and did not care about) and of the macros. All I was focused on was my calories. I dropped a lot of weight back then. That was a few years back.

I had gastric bypass surgery 9 weeks ago. So now I am in reverse. I could care less about total calories. I can't get in more than 600 a day anyway....so it doesnt matter. What does matter is my protein, and every number other than the calories.

the defence rests.

Trying to understand why exactly you quoted me on this and what your response meant. Can you please clear that up for me. Curious to know if it is because you agreed with something I said...or because you were using me as some sort of example.

you have learnt that micronutrient balance is of vital importance over just counting calories alone.

Not at all. For ME as a post weight loss surgery patient it IS vitally important. I can no longer absorb a good percentage of what I eat....because my surgery bypassed nearly 2 feet of my intestines. So for me the micronutrients are important...and are the difference between me being healthy, or me being deathly ill in a hospital bed. The micronutrients focus for me has nothing to do with weight loss. With my surgery I will lose weight regardless. I think for the general population of people who still have normal digestive tracts counting calories alone can and does work just fine. I lost 70 pounds last time I was counting calories alone. That diet didnt fail. I failed when I stopped following it.

you might want to read this again:

you have learnt that micronutrient balance is of vital importance over just counting calories alone.

"So for me the micronutrients are important...and are the difference between me being healthy, or me being deathly ill in a hospital bed."

so once again you have learnt that micronutrient balance is of vital importance over just counting calories alone - or else you would be "deathly ill in a hospital bed"

I guess that would make it pretty important.

the reason people benefit from understanding micronutrient balance, is thats the core of a balanced diet. once you learn about what your body needs in this way it can give you a better understanding of food as you know what it means when you read the back of a packet. there is a lot of nutritionally empty food out there and a lot of stuff that is just flat out bad for you, and understanding the micronutrient side of things really showed me that, and made it easy to cut things like chocolate or potato chips or candy out of my diet completely. if I hadn't gained that understanding, I would have struggled to stay away from those foods forever and probably gone back to my old eating habits eventually out of laziness.

in the end of the day its pretty simple, if you asked any doctor, or any nutritionist, or health professional weather its important to track your micronutrients, they would all say a resounding yes. you can guarantee that. if you asked them if you could just track calories they would probably answer "if you are eating a balanced diet" which again means keeping an eye on your micronutrients. I think you would struggle to find a doctor that would say a balanced diet is not important and infact you are proof of that as for you now, a balanced and carefully managed diet is vitally important to your health and well being, like you said.

in terms of every day life, yep, sure you can add some quick calories for whatever reason, thats not going to hurt. but ignoring it all together you will miss out on some important information and also miss out on learning about a how to have a balanced diet.

because the truth is, you have to eat every day. if you do it wrong it literally will kill you.

I use it sometimes when I have a recipe that I need to enter but haven't done it yet. I always figure the recipe calories and then just put those in until I can input the entire recipe. I wouldn't say I rely on it/ use it a ton but it is helpful sometimes.

never used it. I think its important to have a clear micro nutrient breakdown.

I used to use it all the time.....because I was not tracking (and did not care about) and of the macros. All I was focused on was my calories. I dropped a lot of weight back then. That was a few years back.

I had gastric bypass surgery 9 weeks ago. So now I am in reverse. I could care less about total calories. I can't get in more than 600 a day anyway....so it doesnt matter. What does matter is my protein, and every number other than the calories.

the defence rests.

Trying to understand why exactly you quoted me on this and what your response meant. Can you please clear that up for me. Curious to know if it is because you agreed with something I said...or because you were using me as some sort of example.

you have learnt that micronutrient balance is of vital importance over just counting calories alone.

Not at all. For ME as a post weight loss surgery patient it IS vitally important. I can no longer absorb a good percentage of what I eat....because my surgery bypassed nearly 2 feet of my intestines. So for me the micronutrients are important...and are the difference between me being healthy, or me being deathly ill in a hospital bed. The micronutrients focus for me has nothing to do with weight loss. With my surgery I will lose weight regardless. I think for the general population of people who still have normal digestive tracts counting calories alone can and does work just fine. I lost 70 pounds last time I was counting calories alone. That diet didnt fail. I failed when I stopped following it.

you might want to read this again:

you have learnt that micronutrient balance is of vital importance over just counting calories alone.

"So for me the micronutrients are important...and are the difference between me being healthy, or me being deathly ill in a hospital bed."

so once again you have learnt that micronutrient balance is of vital importance over just counting calories alone - or else you would be "deathly ill in a hospital bed"

I guess that would make it pretty important.

the reason people benefit from understanding micronutrient balance, is thats the core of a balanced diet. once you learn about what your body needs in this way it can give you a better understanding of food as you know what it means when you read the back of a packet. there is a lot of nutritionally empty food out there and a lot of stuff that is just flat out bad for you, and understanding the micronutrient side of things really showed me that, and made it easy to cut things like chocolate or potato chips or candy out of my diet completely. if I hadn't gained that understanding, I would have struggled to stay away from those foods forever and probably gone back to my old eating habits eventually out of laziness.

in the end of the day its pretty simple, if you asked any doctor, or any nutritionist, or health professional weather its important to track your micronutrients, they would all say a resounding yes. you can guarantee that. if you asked them if you could just track calories they would probably answer "if you are eating a balanced diet" which again means keeping an eye on your micronutrients. I think you would struggle to find a doctor that would say a balanced diet is not important and infact you are proof of that as for you now, a balanced and carefully managed diet is vitally important to your health and well being, like you said.

in terms of every day life, yep, sure you can add some quick calories for whatever reason, thats not going to hurt. but ignoring it all together you will miss out on some important information and also miss out on learning about a how to have a balanced diet.

because the truth is, you have to eat every day. if you do it wrong it literally will kill you.

No. You still are choosing NOT to read the important part of what I wrote. I HAD GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY. I do NOT have a normal digestive tract anymore. I can not absorb many of my nutrients. What is dangerous for ME, is not the same thing as what is dangerous for a normal person with a normal digestive tract. Sure.....its nice if you have all your ducks in a row and your micronutrients are in order. But for someone who is morbidly obese it is FAR more important to worry about getting the calories down to the point where they can lose weight, regardless of what the micronutrients say. What is important for ME and other weight loss surgery patients are not the same things that are important to the general population.

I know you had a gastric bypass. you said it like 5 times. ill simplify.

this isn't about you. don't know if you understand that yet.

you would find it very difficult to find a doctor, nutritionist or healthcare professional what would agree with only counting calories. that would apply to everyone.

i dont think you are qualified to tell people to go against doctors advice.

weather YOU had a bypass or not it doesn't change the fact that calorie counting alone is not supported by medical professionals.

"Counting calories only tells one side of a multi-sided story, explains Pritikin registered dietitian Tracy Wilczek. Sure, you could easily count out – and only eat – 1,500 calories a day, but you’re not taking into consideration where those calories came from. If you’re eating an Egg McMuffin and a couple of slices of pizza, you’re probably coming in under 1,500 calories, but you’re going WAY OVERBOARD on artery-clogging saturated fat and stroke-inducing sodium. As one of our dietitians Dr. Jay Kenney likes to say: "You’ll die young, but you’ll look nice and thin in your coffin."

source: http://www.pritikin.com/your-health/health-benefits/healthy-weight-loss/1318-why-not-just-count-calories.html

but yeh... sure, keep recommending something that "worked" for you over the factual statements of medical professionals.

Not everyone cares to monitor fat or carbs though.

its cool if you or anyone doesn't want to, whats not cool is saying that you dont need to, especially to people who are looking for truthful information because medicine says otherwise.

what people do is up to them. recommending to someone else / saying something that is wrong and could make someone unwell over time is another thing.