Lick your plate or subract cals not eaten?

fattybumclaire
fattybumclaire Posts: 91 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I spend ages meticulously weighing out and inputting my meals into mfp every day, but sometimes I actually get full and don't want to finish what is on my plate. (I don't remember this happening before I started mfp lol so think I may becoming more in tune with my bodies requirements!!!)

My question is - how on earth do you try and calculate the leftover calories once everything is mingled together on a plate? How do you subtract that from your food diary? And is it worth it?

Replies

  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    I did an experiment once, i.e. I weighed the amount of leftover food residue on my plate.... it came to less than a gram

    here's what i did, I weighed the plate, I put the food on the plate, I weighed the plate again (and subtracted to find the weight of the food without the plate), I ate the food, I weighed the plate again............... it weighed the same as before I put the food on it. Yep, there was food residue there but there wasn't enough of it for the scale to register a difference.

    You're better off not worrying about it... it might add up to 2-3 calories over the course of a day... so think of it as a bonus 2-3 cals of body fat burned. It won't show on your scale on weigh-in day, but if you're hankering to be that accurate, it's better to think of this as bonus calories (or fractions of calories) burned, not an inaccuracy.
  • koolaidsmile79
    koolaidsmile79 Posts: 10 Member
    I will add my calories back in if it is a substantial amount, such as half of my chicken or steak. If its veggies, I don't.
  • BernadetteChurch
    BernadetteChurch Posts: 2,210 Member
    They're calories, not money! It's not worth it!
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
    Lick my plate! I payed for it, cooked it and shall bloody well eat it! Even tho my husband always says I look like a Neanderthal :)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I think you're aiming for a degree of accuracy that cannot be acheived, no mater how precisely you weigh.

    Accept that all numbers are estimates.
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
    3 options:
    A) lick the plate
    B) do smaller portions
    C) keep left overs and lick the plate later!
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
    I keep the cals at what it was for the full meal unless I only eat about half but thats just me :)
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,230 Member
    Put it this way, your calorie counts are never spot on either. It's an inexact science at its core.

    Basically, unless I leave enough to be worth a container in the fridge for later, I don't subtract it from my cals.
  • anewlife1980
    anewlife1980 Posts: 225 Member
    I actually try not to mix my foods together just for this purpose, because any food left over I do weigh again & take off my totals. The couple times I have mixed it, I weigh it & split the difference unless I know there was alot more of one thing then another. At this point its only a guess but still better then nothing.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,230 Member
    I actually try not to mix my foods together just for this purpose, because any food left over I do weigh again & take off my totals. The couple times I have mixed it, I weigh it & split the difference unless I know there was alot more of one thing then another. At this point its only a guess but still better then nothing.

    But...but... the peas go in the mash, go in the gravy, with the bits of the sausage and... and...
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    Let's call this rounding error and move on
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
    I can't say I've experienced being full enough to leave food on my plate while keeping track of my calories.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    Lick it up, lick it up, it's only right now

    Lick it up, lick it up, ooh yeah

    Lick it up, lick it up, come on, come on

    Lick it up, lick it up
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Well typically I know how much I'm having of everything, so I've put things back and subtracted them, yes. Typically I just get small portions though so it's not a problem.
  • teachmom32
    teachmom32 Posts: 183 Member
    Haha! I'm a plate licker. Although sometimes I just run my finger along the plate and scoop it in that way.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    I think you're aiming for a degree of accuracy that cannot be acheived, no mater how precisely you weigh.

    Accept that all numbers are estimates.

    This^ Unless it is 1/2 of your original serving, you are working too hard.

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