Logging - how do you know what you ate?

twinkiemon
twinkiemon Posts: 216 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you know with non-prepackaged foods exactly what you ate and how do you log that in? Like tonight we had steak with red potatoes cooked in the microwave. So I go to log it in and I put 'Steak-grilled-3oz' - I took a small-ish piece - I'm guessing it was about 3 oz, but I'm not sure. Same with the potato - I had one on the smaller side but was it really a 70 calorie potato? Same with things like a piece of chicken or fish. The reason being I still live with my parents and I don't do the cooking (I get home so late and mom doesn't work so it doesn't make sense for me to cook dinner - I take care of the dishes after).

The reason I ask is I've hit a plateau - I've been logging EVERYTHING (no cheating) but I'm not sure if I've been logging the correct stuff when we eat what's not packaged. I left 77 calories open on my diary today just in case these foods were not accurate. Although a lot of the foods I eat are packaged with nutrition info.

It could be exercise related too - one the coaches at the Y suggested mixing up my cardio - bumping up the intervals on the elliptical and trying a few different machines.

But anyway as far as food goes, are the values pretty accurate?
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Replies

  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    food scale. but in my case i do division of whatever portion we bought at the market. see my math teacher was right, i was gonna need to pay attention because I did need it one day.
  • bnorris2013
    bnorris2013 Posts: 256 Member
    Best thing you could do is run over to walmart and grab a kitchen scale i prefer the electronic ones i think they are either $10 or $15 because you can get exact portions down to grams

    but if your budget is a little tight they have the other ones that is s scale and you set the little measuring cup on it and it measures kinda like a spring weight not as accurate but will give you round about what you got and those are around $5
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    A food scale would probably solve most of the trouble you're having.
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    A food scale would probably solve most of the trouble you're having.

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  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    You weigh your foods. I weigh my steak and most meats after they are cooked. I weigh all my veges raw before cooking. If i'm cooking stew or soup etc I weight the meat raw. Go and get yourself a set of kitchen scales they are pretty cheap about $10.00 it will help you greatly logging your food.
  • chelseybennett1
    chelseybennett1 Posts: 275 Member
    A food scale like every one else said, and also do you log any oil or butter used in cooking? Sometimes its easy to forget to count those calorie laden foods especially if someone else cooked it.
  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
    I agree, get a food scale.
  • twinkiemon
    twinkiemon Posts: 216 Member
    We have a spring kitchen scale - I'll ask my mom if she'll be willing to weigh my meats from now on to help me out. She usually doesn't use butter or anything when she cooks - usually calorie-free cooking spray - if she does use butter or oil it's VERY little (and she does let me know so I can log it).
  • CAS317
    CAS317 Posts: 267 Member
    Yes...as the others have said, go and get that food scale YESTERDAY!!! As far as determining the calories of things such as deli meat (turkey, ham, etc.) if it's not already in the database I always google the nutrition information for whatever it is. Like just the other day I had an apple. Oh and btw, I'm very precise so I wanted to know exactly how many calories it was. I weighed it before I ate it. Then when I was done with it I weighed it again. I subtracted the difference and used algebra to determine what exactly I ate. I know that's a little hardcore but it works for me. I'm sure you could google something like porterhouse steak to get the exact nutritional value. Then just weight and calculate.
  • sun_fish
    sun_fish Posts: 864 Member
    I agree, get a scale and start weighing everything. I also just wanted to see these guys again!
    A food scale would probably solve most of the trouble you're having.

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  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    Buy food scale. Weigh or measure your portions. Ask your mother what ingredients she used to prepare the food.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    food scale= no guessing on ounces
  • kay930
    kay930 Posts: 54 Member
    A scale is the best way to know exactly how much you are eating. If you can't get a scale you can also compare your serving size to other things like 3 oz of meat is about the same size as a deck of cards...her is a link to a page I found this might help you. http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=177
  • twinkiemon
    twinkiemon Posts: 216 Member
    A scale is the best way to know exactly how much you are eating. If you can't get a scale you can also compare your serving size to other things like 3 oz of meat is about the same size as a deck of cards...her is a link to a page I found this might help you. http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=177

    Thanks - that's a great help! :)
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    As the above posters mentioned, a food scale. I hardly use measuring cups anymore (unless the packing does not provide weight per serving) and rely on my food scale 100%. It's amazing how different the "measured" and "weighed" amount differ even when you are using prepacked food. It's a must have.
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    I weigh EVERYTHING ....all the time...no matter what.
  • unmitigatedbadassery
    unmitigatedbadassery Posts: 653 Member
    At the risk of beating a dead horse: food scale and measure everything.

    As a side note, leaving 77 calories "available" isn't going to help you. It's about food QUALITY more than QUANTITY and calories are only a fraction of the whole scheme.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    You can actually just get a nice flat one and put your dinner plate on it, zero it out and dish up your meal and record the weight of each portion once it's cooked. You can zero it again between dishes - so put the meat on, record the weight, zero, put veggie #1 on, record the weight, zero, add veggie #2 or side #2 or whatever, record the weight...

    I have one like this:
    172411
  • rainavsfood
    rainavsfood Posts: 79 Member
    Exactly. Too many people worry about being under their calorie goal but that's not even what they should be watching. Macros are more important as well as what kind of foods you're actually eating. I weigh/measure everything I eat. Dipping a spoon into the peanut butter jar does NOT mean that you had one tbsp of peanut butter.
    At the risk of beating a dead horse: food scale and measure everything.

    As a side note, leaving 77 calories "available" isn't going to help you. It's about food QUALITY more than QUANTITY and calories are only a fraction of the whole scheme.
  • jules77az2004
    jules77az2004 Posts: 24 Member
    I won't say what everyone else did. :) hahaha!! So... because your mom is making your meals and I assume plating them up for you to eat when you get home and since you have a spring loaded scale, just weigh each thing you're eating. So quickly just take them off the plate and put them on the scale and write it down. You can always enter it later or enter it while you're weighing... which ever is easiest for you. It doesn't take too long. :) And it'll give you what you need for logging. :) Or use a measuring cup for things like vegi's... I make my own plates, but i do weigh everything before I eat it (even steak after it's cooked). I have a digital scale so I just add the plate onto my scale and write down the weight of everything I'm adding onto the scale. Everything from my meat to my taters to my vegi's. Or if your mom is really supportive, work together to find a solution that works for both of you. Everyone can use someone helping them along the way and to be honest... most of us have portion distortion problems. So maybe it'll be a good thing for your mom to help.... could help your whole family re think and re learn what portion sizes really are. :) Good luck. :)
  • El_Cunado
    El_Cunado Posts: 359 Member
    I agree a food scale is your best bet.
  • SweetTea111104
    SweetTea111104 Posts: 338 Member
    A food scale would probably solve most of the trouble you're having.

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    I love it!!! Lol!
  • Babeskeez
    Babeskeez Posts: 606 Member
    A food scale would probably solve most of the trouble you're having.

    328.gif

    yep
  • R55T
    R55T Posts: 172 Member
    Thanks Twinkiemon, I needed an answer for that too. Thanks for all the response as well. Will get me a food scale tomorrow when the shops are open.
  • klnor88
    klnor88 Posts: 28 Member
    Do yourself a favor and invest in a food scale (as cheap as $20) so you know exactly how much you are eating.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    One thing that was neglected in this thread is that MFP does have an option to create custom recipes. I cook from scratch a lot, and leave the iPad app open on my kitchen counter as I'm preparing my meals and just add ingredients to the recipe as I am adding them to the app. If I add more of something I just adjust the recipe. I don't worry too much about accuracy for things like spices, but if I'm adding more fat or other high calorie ingredients, I make sure the recipe is adjusted. Same with salt (sodium).
  • affacat
    affacat Posts: 216 Member
    since no one has mentioned the obvious solution yet, i suggest you just get a scale.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,468 Member
    If it's difficult to weigh every time, it's worth weighing a couple of times just to get an idea of what a portion looks like. Then you can estimate at other times. If you're dishing out the food, and know the calories of the whole thing, then you can try to judge your portion of it. For instance, if I'm cooking a meal for me and my son, often I'll work out the calories for the whole recipe, then give him 2/3rd and have 1/3rd myself. It saves weighing my portion individually. It's not so accurate as weighing everything, but it's sometimes more practical.
  • FlowersInTheDirt
    FlowersInTheDirt Posts: 124 Member
    I agree, get a scale and start weighing everything. I also just wanted to see these guys again!
    A food scale would probably solve most of the trouble you're having.

    328.gif

    Yep :)
  • MissMormie
    MissMormie Posts: 359 Member
    Exactly. Too many people worry about being under their calorie goal but that's not even what they should be watching. Macros are more important as well as what kind of foods you're actually eating. I weigh/measure everything I eat. Dipping a spoon into the peanut butter jar does NOT mean that you had one tbsp of peanut butter.
    At the risk of beating a dead horse: food scale and measure everything.

    As a side note, leaving 77 calories "available" isn't going to help you. It's about food QUALITY more than QUANTITY and calories are only a fraction of the whole scheme.

    Don't make it more difficult than it is. For most people calorie reduction IS the answer. Quantity beats quality when you're talking about weight loss every single time.

    You might want to read about the twinky diet:
    http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

    A nutrition professor that went followed a twinkie diet and lost 27lbs and became HEALTHIER in the process. That's not to say that some food choices aren't better than others, but it does show that weight loss equals calorie restriction.

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