how do i track calories if i don't know the nutrition info

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chocowalnut
chocowalnut Posts: 23 Member
in Food and Nutrition
A lot of the food I eat doesn't have the nutrition info, like I eat at my work a lot (it's free food and I'm there all the time). So yeah I could estimate the calories but it is so easy to be way off with that and then I won't lose weight. So what can I do about this?

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  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    First lose the negative attitude. :flowerforyou: You don't have to be perfect to lose weight. Make your best guess. Find the closest thing in the database or break down the ingredients and add them separately. You're right - you might be off a lot. Sometimes you'll probably be over, sometimes you'll probably be under - so it all will likely even out.

    If you find out it just isn't working, even when you do your absolute best then you can evaluate which matters more to you - free food or losing weight. But try logging first and cross that bridge if it comes to it.
  • SwampWitch666
    SwampWitch666 Posts: 110 Member
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    Yeah, if you want to be particular but the answers you're looking for aren't available, you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and do you some good old-fashioned math.
  • AwesomeGuy37
    AwesomeGuy37 Posts: 436 Member
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    Is it like some sort of potluck or takeout? Maybe you can ask someone for the recipe? You may have to become some sort of reverse-engineering cook/scientist to figure it out. It's a gamble eating food someone else made.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    I'm thinking of getting a food scale for work. One of those $10 Amazon deals I hear so much about. It'd just be awkward using it and I feel like I'd have to sneak around but we could both try this for a closer guesstimate LOL. I say this like two weeks after I decide to start bringing my lunch rather than buy from the cafeteria. Boo!! :(
  • chocowalnut
    chocowalnut Posts: 23 Member
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    Does a food scale just measure the weight of the food? I need something like a heart rate monitor but that calculates the calories I eat not burn lol >.<
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    LOL

    You may have just mentioned the next big nutrition invention!!

    Yeah it only measures the weight of food, but then you could look for an entry like 'pork chop, cooked' or 'peas, steamed' and enter the weight for a slightly better estimate than purely eyeballing. A problem is when you don't know *how* the item has been cooked, which could drive the calorie count way up. Was a bunch of extra oil/butter added , etc
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Can new wristband sense what you're eating?

    http://m.livescience.com/40756-can-new-wristband-sense-what-you-re-eating.html

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