Do I just guess how many calories are in that?

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jamiezum
jamiezum Posts: 7
in Food and Nutrition
I'm wondering how everyone else tracks how many calories are in certain foods. I try to input my own recipes so I know for sure when I cook my own meals, but for example, I just had lunch at a Chinese place. How do I know how many calories are in everything that I put on my plate? (I realize that a Chinese Buffet isn't the best place to be when you're trying to lose weight, but try to ignore the obvious here!) I hate throwing out a random guess on stuff like this! Any tips?

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  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    Use your best guess: 1 cup of Cashew chicken, 1/2 cup of pork fried rice, etc. The database will have most popular Chinese dishes.
  • nyujay2013
    nyujay2013 Posts: 17 Member
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    At home I have a scale and measuring cup. I then look up the food and weight/volume either here on Myfitnesspal or other websites for nutritional values. I also make notes on my iPhone every time I go out to eat and list the foods, approximate weights, ingredients, etc., followed by looking them up on the internet when I get home. Also, many restaurants will even tell me the weight/volume of foods when asked.

    My attitude is if I am within range of the actual nutritional values of foods I am happy.
  • salcha76
    salcha76 Posts: 287 Member
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    learn sizes....a piece of meat the size of a deck of cards is 4oz...a serving the size of your fist is aprox a cup....when you make stuff yourself tally up the calories, etc...log everything under a meal & save it on mfp....otherwise the database on this here for food is great...it has info on practically everything....
  • sofielein
    sofielein Posts: 539 Member
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    I learnt excellent eye judgement by measuring everything on a kitchen scale when cooking.

    If I go to a restaurant I can judge (from size and even taste) what and how much is in the food.

    Took about 2 months of cooking with scale.
  • Luvs_Chocolate
    Luvs_Chocolate Posts: 34 Member
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    To be honest, If you knew the caloric intake in Can/Americanized Chinese food you'd probably never eat it again. Just one cup of fried rice has about 400 cals and don't even get me started on the sodium. When one plate of Chinese food has over 1200 calories why even bother entering it, that's probably over your entire days worth . One google search will give you the approx amount for whatever dish you're having and most restaurants have a list online. Be warned though!! doing this will make you never want to eat out again which can be a good thing.
  • jamiezum
    jamiezum Posts: 7
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    Thanks guys! I did do a generic entry for Chinese food... and I won't be eating that again anytime soon!!! There goes my goal for the day. :(

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