Help with logging a salad

bellanoelle
bellanoelle Posts: 105 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello...I need help. Every day I get a salad frtom work with the following: spinach leaves, mixed greens, peas, tomatoes, green & red peppers, little bit of shredded cheese, tuna for protein and fat free french dressing. Is it best to pick a salad from a generic source or would you create a food, or just log each item seperately?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Replies

  • terra32903
    terra32903 Posts: 185 Member
    Depends on how accurate you want to be. I log all the ingredients separate.
  • crazyellybean
    crazyellybean Posts: 999 Member
    I would log everything separate...


    But keep in mind these are mostly items that you burn more eating them then you do taking them in... so don't go obsessive over logging it... just measure the best you can by guesstimate and be satisfied with that.
  • kellis155
    kellis155 Posts: 25
    I log everything separately. Yeah, it's a pain but at least you know you've got accurate calorie counts.
  • t_rog
    t_rog Posts: 363 Member
    Picking one that's already made is usually a shot in the dark. I generally log everything separately.
  • PennStateChick
    PennStateChick Posts: 327 Member
    I usually list all items separately in cases like this when I know everything that goes into what I'm eating.

    The only time I do the "pick a meal from another source" is when I'm eating a local restaurant without nutirion info available and I think "Hmm, this is very close to an item I got at Applebees." At that point, I'd use Applebees numbers.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    I log them separate. Since they tend to not be all that many calories, I am not too worried about being 100% accurate.
  • risenonlytofall
    risenonlytofall Posts: 74
    I log salad ingredients separate, but create recipes for my dressings since I make them myself. If you're being consistent about ingredients and amounts you could just create a recipe for all of it, and that would save you time logging.
  • sandobr1
    sandobr1 Posts: 319 Member
    I do this with some meals and log seperately for a salad I would think things like the peas or tuna would be more important to get right for calorie logging, lettuce I would not worry as much. And of course the dressing is the one that adds up fast. I would create a meal and try to get close to that daily or however often you need to use it.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    If I'm making a salad at home, I just list ingredients individually, but when I go out, if its not in the food database, I create a recipe, estimating the amount of all the ingredients and then add 10% as a cushion. Fortunately, the place where I get this particular salad, you watch them make it, so you can kinda get an idea of how much they are using.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    If you eat the same thing every day - make it into a recipe. Log everything separate into the recipe. Then in all future days enter your recipe. If you change things up you can easily modify your recipe.
  • bellanoelle
    bellanoelle Posts: 105 Member
    Thank you so much....off to log it all in. Have a good day!
  • Laoch_Cailin
    Laoch_Cailin Posts: 414 Member
    Hello...I need help. Every day I get a salad frtom work with the following: spinach leaves, mixed greens, peas, tomatoes, green & red peppers, little bit of shredded cheese, tuna for protein and fat free french dressing. Is it best to pick a salad from a generic source or would you create a food, or just log each item seperately?

    Thanks in advance for the help!

    Log everything seperately as best you can. Then use the quick tool to make it into one of your meals, then you can just click this everyday :-)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    If it's the same thing everyday, then you can just use "copy yesterday" quick tool. So, take the 10 minutes or so to record it all once, and then you're good!

    To make it a bit quicker, the tomatoes, cucumber, peppers etc will have very few cals so you could ignore them Recording the cheese, tuna, and dressing will get you close.
  • sherisse69
    sherisse69 Posts: 795 Member
    If you are confident it is the same ingredients and same proportions each time, you could log it seperately, then go to quick tools right under that meal, and save it as a meal. Then you can enter 'your salad' in one shot each time. I do that if I now I consistently make it the same. But then you may want to make sure it is noted on the higher end to compensate for those days that the proportions are off. Just my thoughts :)
  • lisamariepickering
    lisamariepickering Posts: 110
    If you eat the same thing every day - make it into a recipe. Log everything separate into the recipe. Then in all future days enter your recipe. If you change things up you can easily modify your recipe.

    ^^^This.
  • framingthewheels
    framingthewheels Posts: 23 Member
    If it's something you're eating every day and you portion it out at home, you could just "Create Food" under the Recipe Maker and create your lunch salads. I do this with items that I make and eat for a week, like egg white frittatas. You log the items separately but when you make a recipe, it saves you the step of doing it every day. :)

    You can also create a salad base and then log the ingredients that are different every day, if you ever mix it up. I have an overnight oatmeal base and then just add whatever fruit I'm doing that day.
  • stephdeeable
    stephdeeable Posts: 1,407 Member
    I have 2 or 3 salads I eat regularly, I just entered them all as recipes. So much easier than logging 7-10 things everyday for lunch.
  • slimoney
    slimoney Posts: 4 Member
    ditto on steph. Create a recipe if you eat it frequently.
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    Add it as a recipe, then just add the recipe. Or, as a meal, and then you can see each element in your tracker and, say, subtract something one day.

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