dont trust entries for calories

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Replies

  • lbewley3
    lbewley3 Posts: 96 Member
    It would be nice if you could add a food to your diary from the database search page. I will look for and find the accurate food in the database but when I go back to add to diary, I might not remember exactly which one was the one I found to be most correct. I also wish everyone would add the entire nutritional content from the food label, not just the calories. I hate when I add a food and it has 0 for carbs,fat,etc.
  • teelow22
    teelow22 Posts: 13 Member
    When there are multiple entries for the same food, I usually pick the one that has the most confirmations. I also check most of the calories on the packaging against what is listed on MFP. I have found a few mistakes but usually the right one is there. It just takes some searching.

    For exercise, I go on the treadmill everyday. The calories list on my treadmill are usually higher than what is on MFP. But I figure MFP doesn't take into account incline levels plus I vary the pace and use handwieghts. So for calories burned I take an average of what is listed on MFP and my treadmill and try to stay somewhere around that. It seems to be working so far.

    I agree!! I also choose the most confirmations. If any of you find something and it is the same as what you have found - confim the entry!
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    How much of a discrepancy are you talking about? Most things I double-check are close enough - within 15 calories plus/minus. Only once did I get a ridiculously low value. A slice of bread showed up as 17 calories when it said 90 on the label. But there was another choice in the data base that matched the label.
  • trishmce
    trishmce Posts: 59
    Pretty much everything is an estimate, food or exercise. I played with the numbers until I found an intake that allowed me to loose while I didn't eat my exercise calories--1570 is working for me now. I have that everyday, regardless of exercise. If I do something big like 2 or 3 hours of spin for a charity I go higher because I can feel I need it but it is usually the next day I have the hungry horrors.
    use them as guidelines not absolute truths.
  • loumaag
    loumaag Posts: 118
    The right way to do this for food items is to first search and see if the correct entry is there, if so use it. If not, find the one that seems to be closest or the one without the "*" and if you are at the site (as opposed to the mobile app), then fix the entry. You are helping others when you do that. I would guess that I have corrected at least 100 different entries in the database since I started here last June. Fix rather than add; yesterday I tried to use the bar code scan to enter a Lean Cuisine meal I was having for lunch, the entry was wrong. I then searched for a named one (same meal) and found over 20 entries for the same meal and only one was matching the back of the package.

    Now as for the exercise entires, well that is a completely different matter. You cannot compare yourself to anyone else. The calories burned by me doing 20 minutes of this or that will not match anyone else. Your calorie burn is based on all your body entries (weight, age, sex, etc.) Personally I just let my FitBit take care of that anyway (unless I am doing something it cannot record correctly) so I don't enter exercise at all.

    ETA: Oh, and also, if you are referring to food items that don't have a label, then the place to look for the accurate information is here ==> http://ndb.nal.usda.gov
  • Puggles04
    Puggles04 Posts: 37
    Use a heart rate monitor(HRM) for an accurate calories burned count.
  • CharlieOverby
    CharlieOverby Posts: 82 Member
    This site list food, calories and all of their nutrients. The info is compiled by the uSDA

    http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    I just wrote this exact sentiment in my food journal. I had 1 slice of Pepperidge Farm's Cinnamon Raisin Swirl bread (80 cals). Someone had marked 2 slices as 40.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I have double checked ( when possible) the calorie content of many of the foods on here. Either people want to fool themselves or they are getting misinformation! Also the other way around... the exercise totals on here tend to say higher than an independent search , or the # on the machine when I am done. Find a site to double check against.

    Or get a HRM. Any database with exercise calories is just going to be an estimate of what the average Joe might burn. I think that would be a given considering calorie burn from exercise is a very person to person kind of thing given there are so many variable involved.

    I find the calories for food goods to be pretty accurate unless you're using someone's generic "Homemade Chicken Soup" or whatever...if it's an actual brand food product/ingredient, etc I find the numbers to be pretty accurate...I come across something now and then that is off, but rare.
  • IslandRider
    IslandRider Posts: 244
    When there are multiple entries for the same food, I usually pick the one that has the most confirmations. I also check most of the calories on the packaging against what is listed on MFP. I have found a few mistakes but usually the right one is there. It just takes some searching.

    For exercise, I go on the treadmill everyday. The calories list on my treadmill are usually higher than what is on MFP. But I figure MFP doesn't take into account incline levels plus I vary the pace and use handwieghts. So for calories burned I take an average of what is listed on MFP and my treadmill and try to stay somewhere around that. It seems to be working so far.

    I agree!! I also choose the most confirmations. If any of you find something and it is the same as what you have found - confim the entry!

    ^^This. I also use the edit button and update the values to match the package if they are off. I figure the more people do this, the more accurate the database will get.
  • raiderlifer53
    raiderlifer53 Posts: 23 Member
    I agree totally, I find about 50 % are correct. When in doubt go with your own research. A recent sudy I saw on a documentary channel showed machines indicating calories burned were on average about 25% overstated.
  • kristanb05
    kristanb05 Posts: 44
    I've found the same thing. Now I scan in my own food as much as possible, and double check compared to the containers if I have to.

    The calories burned are always off for me too, but like someone else said, I bust my butt and use a 15% incline on the treadmill so I'm burning more than if it were set to 0. I always use the HR monitor from the treadmill after entering my weight and age for how many calories I've burned. I need to get a good HR monitor for myself.

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