Are there any calories you *don't* record

davemunger
davemunger Posts: 1,139 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have a secret: I don't bother recording a few things in my food diary. I don't record creamer for my coffee, or the grapes / cherries from the bowl we keep in the fridge, or occasional nibbles of other treats. I'd guess this all adds up to 100 calories a day. Does anyone else do this? What are your "off the books" calories? Do you think it affects your goals?
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Replies

  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
    Occasionally I don't bother recording the two packets of sugar I put in my coffee, unless I'm having more than one cup.
  • Panthers89
    Panthers89 Posts: 153 Member
    I try to record everything that I have eaten but it's hard to remember all of it during a day. I noticed that I leave out chewing gum and small vegetables like cherry tomatoes and beets - I'm pretty meticulous about the fruit recordings, even cherries and grapes. I use a generic salad entry every day and try to add / subtract from that the following morning if I feel that I omitted something with significant calories.
  • OkieTink
    OkieTink Posts: 285 Member
    Vitamins and other supplements.
  • chrisawelch
    chrisawelch Posts: 4
    I record every single thing unless I have a couple pickles... they are only 5 calories a piece. Or if I have a few 10 calorie toostsie rolls at the gym while I burn around 300 calories. But everything else I record.
  • yondermountain
    yondermountain Posts: 16 Member
    I record every little thing except lettuce and mustard on a sandwich. But I am 5'2'' and old, so losing weight is difficult. If I was a tall young man I would probably not be so obsessive.
  • DarthKity
    DarthKity Posts: 16
    I only dont record if its a tiny amount of calories, ie 1 cal can of diet coke or 8 cal Greens shake:smokin:
  • mrslcoop
    mrslcoop Posts: 317 Member
    The couple things I don't record are usually less than 15 cals each.... pickles, vitamins, chewing gum. In a day I'd say that adds up to maybe 50 cals tops.
  • Alwayssohungry
    Alwayssohungry Posts: 369 Member
    Once I get to maintenance I will probably skip some things. But now, it's the little things that add up for me. Handful of nuts here, grab a few chocolate chips there, half an apple, adds up quick
  • klp1017
    klp1017 Posts: 95 Member
    I used to never record my black coffee, until yesterday when I read in another thread about the potassium in coffee, which I never realized there was any. I'm always low on potassium so now I log everything.
  • duggud
    duggud Posts: 4
    I used to forget to add oil - usually only have a warm cooked meal for dinner, but when I cook I use to use about half a tbsp and a non stick pan. That was until my my other half was cooking and I saw he was using more like 2-3 tbsps if not more! Suffice to say we've switched to the 1 cal spray stuff, which is probably horrendously unhealthy and full of chemicals but now if I forget to put it down it's not an extra meals worth of calories in just oil. I sometimes also don't put down say an extra strawberry here or a grape there - as long as it is just the one.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    I don't record 50 calories of reduced sugar ketchup and/or marinades a day. I start adding them if I'm not getting the results I expect.
  • daisymae850
    daisymae850 Posts: 127 Member
    I record everything that I eat/drink
  • ea101367
    ea101367 Posts: 175 Member
    I don't record the skim milk I use in my tea everyday.:drinker:
  • seefyboy
    seefyboy Posts: 68
    What I normally do is set out my food diary the night before I go to bed and eat that food the next day. There's always things I don't add, which I'm not too worried about. Like today I had a few pieces of chocolate, olives, yogurt and some cheese that I didn't bother adding. You gotta live a little too and not be so strict ;)
  • jolt28
    jolt28 Posts: 218 Member
    spices - except salt.
  • ImtheOnethatsCool
    ImtheOnethatsCool Posts: 212 Member
    I don't record my green tea, white vinegar, or black pepper.

    I know - I'm a rebel.
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 831 Member
    I try to record my main meals and snacks. Then if I am really close to goal calories sometimes I will try and remember what extra stuff I ate to see if I am over or not!

    My calorie goal is set to 1800, so if I only get to 1600 I don't worry about the bites of cake I had today or trying to work out how much milk I put in my cups of tea. If I was at 1750 I would be more inclined to try and log them.
  • emmietoby
    emmietoby Posts: 172 Member
    hard candies that i treat myself to i have then to keep my mouth moist for it gets dry from all my meds.

    also i have ice tea ( one glass which i full with ice all day till by the end of the day it's all water!!) so i'll say i give myself about 100 cals a day. which isn't bad considering i hardly reach all my cals for the day.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    I don't record water and peppermint tea.
  • pkinblue
    pkinblue Posts: 140 Member
    I often don't record veggies, the splash of milk in my tea, the knife lick I do after I make the kids PB&Js, gum or Altoids. However, I also don't record every dog-walk--so I figure it evens out around 100 cals added, 100 cals burned.
  • animelose2012
    animelose2012 Posts: 63
    anything diet i drink and anything i eat that is not a whole serving
  • Linli_Anne
    Linli_Anne Posts: 1,360 Member
    I don't ususally record my spices/herbs, I also don't record the odd nibble here and there - a spoonful of my son's breakfast cereal, or, a taste of DH whiskey.
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
    Water or tea...sometimes I don't log a square of chocolate at the end of the day or a bite of cut up fruit (little bit of berries or cantelope for example). I know it's not a lot of calories.

    I also don't log sometimes if things are going to be complicated - like a buffett or family meal with little bites of lots of things. That just seems like too much work. But that's more like a break from logging a meal, rather than an everyday thing.
  • jennagoogles13
    jennagoogles13 Posts: 266
    Chewing gum. I really don't want to be that anal haha
  • iquiltoo
    iquiltoo Posts: 246 Member
    Only very little things like sugar free gum and mints, herbs and spices, and when I taste test the soup I make! Fruits have too much sugar to not count. I do count the creamer stuff I put in the coffee because two or three cups a day add up.
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    The only things I don't log are zero calorie items.

    Seasonings
    Water
    Black Coffee
    Diet Sodas

    And sometimes I even log those. I'm too anal.
  • ngressman
    ngressman Posts: 229 Member
    I record every little thing except lettuce and mustard on a sandwich. But I am 5'2'' and old, so losing weight is difficult. If I was a tall young man I would probably not be so obsessive.

    Lol I know what you mean. I am 5'2" also. I used to not have to record everything, but now it's a must.
  • Amyp7777
    Amyp7777 Posts: 79
    I don't record my coffee creamer when I use it, which isn't every day. I also occasionally steal a hershey's kiss or three from a coworkers desk that I can't record for legal reasons, I never bother with spices or very low calorie condiments. I also don't record my water because I know i drink buckets of it all day. I am currently having a couple of off-the-record wasabi peas. After reading over my post, yikes... It's a wonder I've lost weight.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Yup! I don't log the little bit of almond milk I put in my coffee in the morning. I don't log if I add extra veg to a recipe. And occassionally if I do some extra project around the house on the weekend, I don't bother with logging a little treat (100 cal or less) because I figure I burned the excess and it comes out even.
  • Candice_Says
    Candice_Says Posts: 24 Member
    The splash of almond milk I use in my coffee or oatmeal - at 30 cals for an entire cup, I don't think a splash is of any consequence.

    Some veggies, if they are the snack in and of themselves. For example, I wouldn't count a few bites of raw broccoli, but I would count the aggregate calories in a salad.

    Sugar free chewing gum - if I counted these calories, I would be a basket case in under a week. I chew a lot of gum. It is my weight-loss and quit-smoking friend. Yeah, there are days when I can chew a whole pack or two, and that might end up being as many as 100 calories. But let's face it - I didn't get chubby by chewing too much Orbit :laugh:

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