Counting Calories Accurately - Tips & Methods

since when does peanut butter have calories?

I know, right?! MY peanut butter is calorie-free! HAHA. Oh, I wish!

Great tips!

For now all I can do is to not eat max of my recommended calorie intake here coz I know a lot of the food recorded here are low-balling calories. And also not eating back exercise calories or if i do over eat my calories, i'd need to have at least 300 more on exercise.

Just a few of the things I can do while traveling and can't cook my own food.

When in doubt regarding the accuracy of an item, I compare it to the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory Food Lists ( http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list ) This database has foods listed by 100 gram portion, and several other options. Example: Apples, raw, with skin is listed by Value per 100.0g, 1cup, quartered or chopped (125g), 1 cup slices (109g), 1 large (3-1/4" dia. 223g), 1 medium (3" dia. 182g), 1 small (2-3/4" dia. 149g), 1 extra small (2-1/2" dia. 101g), or NLEA serving 242g.

If an item in the MFP does not list grams, I go to the USDA database and use this information to create a new entry in "My Foods" . And, I always enter things in the "My Foods" list as 100g. It is easier, and much more likely to be accurate, if I enter the portion of 100g I am using, than if I am trying to adjust cups to tablespoons (FYI- 2T = 0.125 cups of flour or 15g).

As far as weighing meats cooked or uncooked - there are usually entries in the USDA database that list it either way. I use raw weights when entering a recipe (Beef Stew), and cooked weight when eating it plain (steak). I use raw weights to build my MFP recipe, and indicate how many servings the recipe will serve. Once cooked, I weigh the entire batch and divide by number of servings. If the Beef Stew I created makes 4 servings and the entire batch weighs 728g, I know that one serving is 182g. I can then dish out my 182g and know, with relative accuracy, that I am eating the number of calories I think I am.
As a side note - that pot of beef stew will need to be weighed every time I make it, because sometimes I cook out more liquid than other times. I either portion it all out right then, or I will modify my recipe title to indicate what the current serving size is - Beef Stew (182g serving).

Bumping for later, thanks.

Bumping to save

Great information... Bump.

Bump, and save!

If a food listed in MFP only has a volume measurement and it’s not a free pouring liquid, ignore it, go the label or the producer’s website and find the calories by weight. If this fails, consider not eating that food. I’m not kidding.

That advice makes me sad. : (

I know people do that sort of thing, but I hate to think of people giving up foods just because their calorie count might have a margin of error of more than a couple calories.

Yeah, I agree. If I had listened to the "always weigh your food" crowd in the beginning, I would have failed before I started because I had no money to buy a food scale. I lost the first 60 pounds while using only volume measurements for *every* thing. When my mom gave me a food scale about a month ago, I started weighing everything and found that I was *spot on* in my volume measurements. For anyone that had Home Ec or cooking classes in high school. you learned how to correctly measure a variety of things by volume. There is a right and a wrong weigh to measure various dry goods. If you are fitting 60g of oatmeal in a 1/2 cup measuring scoop, then you didn't take any cooking classes and should educate yourself. And mustard? How much mustard are people *dumping* on their sandwiches that the 5 calorie per tsp difference is going to close their calorie deficit? :noway:

It reminds me of all the veteran runners that tell the newbies that they *have* to go to a fancy running store and get 3-figure customized running shoes or else they will have to just give up and stick to the couch. Poor people can do this!


There were a lot of good tips in the OP, for sure. But I will never weight out any super-low cal stuff like spinach or mustard. I estimate on low calorie veggies and condiments. I think playing it smart makes more sense than playing it OCD.

If a food listed in MFP only has a volume measurement and it’s not a free pouring liquid, ignore it, go the label or the producer’s website and find the calories by weight. If this fails, consider not eating that food. I’m not kidding.

I'll be eager to see how long one can last under a "diet" that follows a rule like this.

First of all, your food label is not 100% accurate. So go ahead, find the grams, weigh the food, but know that even that is purely an estimate. Your 103g of an apple or 40g of oatmeal is not precise even with a precise weight.

I mean, I weigh stuff. I use my food scale multiple times a day. I certainly use it for mayo, peanut butter, and things like oats, rice, etc.

But the line between accuracy and insanity is pretty clear to me.

Live the healthiest life you can enjoy - that's the motto I've lived with, and as you can see from my ticker, I've been pretty successful. Many of us cannot enjoy a life that involves choosing not to eat foods because they're not listed in the MFP database in grams. Damn.

:drinker:

I know this is an old post, but thank you so much for posting it - very informative!