counting calories

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momofpoophead
momofpoophead Posts: 12 Member
in Introduce Yourself
One rule I have for myself in order to lose weight is to not eat anything that I don't know the calorie info of. No guessing, if I don't know how many calories are in something, then I don't want to eat it. However, this is a hard thing to do because how are you supposed to know how many calories are in things like chicken, turkey, meatloaf, pork chops, and other meats? I work in a residential home and I eat whatever they make for dinner, 4 nights a week and it's hard to know how many calories are in a prepared meal. I don't want to guess and put too little calories if it's actually more and I then consume too many, but also I don't want to guess too high and cut off too many calories so I'm not getting enough and feel hungry

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  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    Yeah to some extent you do have to guess. I try and never go with the lowest and I don't go with the highest. The phone app allows you to see the calorie content of all the search results in the MFP database (which is way handier than the web dbase) so you can get a general sense of the calories for what you're eating.

    It's pretty wise to mostly eat what you know, though... most meats are there. Can you carry a food scale with you? That would take out some of the guess work.
  • momofpoophead
    momofpoophead Posts: 12 Member
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    I've been wanting to get a food scale. How exactly does that work? I assume you weigh whatever meat or whatever you want to eat and you look up calorie content based on how many ounces it is?
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    Yep. Exactly. The MFP food database is HUGE. I find it quite easy... and once your "regular" stuff is in there, it shows up in your "frequent" or "recent" list to easily add again. The phone app is still better though... because if you've entered something before it will autofill the list as you're searching with stuff you've already entered. Play with your diary a bit. Try adding different things you eat...
  • momofpoophead
    momofpoophead Posts: 12 Member
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    I used to have the phone app but I deleted it because I stopped using it. I think I like the web version better though because I can talk to other people on the message boards and write blogs and add more stuff to my profile, which you really can't so with the mobile app. The only downfall with not using it is not being able to add the foods you eat when you eat them. I think it should be easy for me though because another one of my goals is to basically eat only chicken and turkey and mostly fruits and vegetables and light foods like cereal, soup, and yogurt.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    The phone app talks to the web site, so if you log from your phone, you can then come online on your computer and use the boards and see the feed more easily and stuff. I use both. I love the barcode scanner on the phone app.

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