This may have been asked already, SORRY

Cloe
Cloe Posts: 435
edited September 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I had left overs from Christmas, home made meatballs and meat pies. How do I add these for calories count etc. There is no brand type etc.

Also what to do about all the left over goodies, chocolates etc. Christmas fruit cake. I have lots left over and don't want to end up eating it myself but my daughter and husband still want some. AAAHHHH! I know self control.........I'm trying.:tongue:

Replies

  • Cloe
    Cloe Posts: 435
    I had left overs from Christmas, home made meatballs and meat pies. How do I add these for calories count etc. There is no brand type etc.

    Also what to do about all the left over goodies, chocolates etc. Christmas fruit cake. I have lots left over and don't want to end up eating it myself but my daughter and husband still want some. AAAHHHH! I know self control.........I'm trying.:tongue:
  • Christy421
    Christy421 Posts: 30
    When I can't find food on the calorie count database, I do rough estimates. I try to look up the different parts of the item that I know are in there, or just guess. Or, honestly, I say screw the count for those foods liek you're talkign about, and just eat small portions of the food in moderation. I would try to avoid the goodies and chocolates all together if there is a self control issue there though! I know I can't just have one chocolate or cookie :laugh:

    But with all that said, I definitely don't think deprivation is the answer because NO ONE is perfect and so you're bound to have a day where you just can't take avoiding the cravings or wanting some of that Christmas fruit cake, so you'll overinduldge!...so here is what I do! I give myself one day of the week where I can have ANYTHING I want, no calorie count, BUT in moderation. I won't eat pizza and burgers or fries for every meal that day haha, but I won't worry about counting. If I do want fries at dinner, I'll get them. Cookies for desert, no problem! That way during the week if I feel like I'm just dying for something outside of my diet, I know I can have it on that day. And usually after going through a whole week of sticking to your guns and eating healthy, you're not going to want to totally SMASH on bad food ya know?

    Anyway, I've rambled haha! good luck, and be strong!
  • rockymtnguy
    rockymtnguy Posts: 140
    You can check the USDA websites via search and then you'll need to input each ingredient 1 at a time by volume. I beleive the site is: www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
    Hope this helps
  • GwenRamsey
    GwenRamsey Posts: 6
    When I can't find foods in the database, I log the ingredients and save the entry as a food item to try and get a good idea of the total count for calories, protein, etc.

    :blushing:
  • Eve23
    Eve23 Posts: 2,352 Member
    Healthier Me put this link on quite awhile ago but for the newbies here it is again. I use it all the time.

    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

    Thanks again Healthier Me this site is great.:flowerforyou:
  • Cloe
    Cloe Posts: 435
    Thanks!
  • rjjarvis
    rjjarvis Posts: 55
    as for the homemade stuff, you can just add up all the constituents separately.

    As for the leftover goodies, why not have your daughter and husband take what they want to their rooms and leave you out of it. Otherwise, one of you can take some to the office and give it away.

    This stuff isn't particularly good even for people that don't need to watch their weights.
  • DanielleG
    DanielleG Posts: 15
    If you know the ingredients and quantities you can calculate the calories and other info your self. I just did this with soup the other day.

    You write down all the ingredients and their nutrition info...calculate how much calories and etc.. are in the quantity you used. Then you add all the calories and info together. Next divide the added numbers by the number of servings of the final dish.

    Here is the soup I made:

    Vegetable Chili Soup

    2 big cans of Campbells vegetable soup
    2 16oz cans of Great Value Chili Beans
    2 Servings of Williams Chili Seasoning
    2 of the big soup cans of water

    Mix all ingredients together and heat to hot.

    One can of soup is: Serving Size- 1/2 c
    Servings per container - 6
    Calories per serving - 100
    Fat- 0.5
    Sat. Fat - 0.5
    Trans Fat - 0
    Poly Fat - 0
    Mono Fat - 0
    Cholesterol - 5
    Sodium - 890
    Carbs - 20
    Dietary Fiber - 3
    Sugar - 7
    Protein - 4
    Vit. A - 60
    Vit. C - 0
    Calcium - 2
    Iron - 4

    (For the soup you would take all of these numbers and times them by 6 and then times them by 2. 6 because there is 6 servings per can and 2 because you used 2 cans)

    Chili Beans
    One can - Serving size - 1/2 c
    Servings per container - 3.5
    Calories - 110
    Fat - 1
    Sat. fat - 0
    Trans fat - 0
    Poly fat - 0
    Mono fat - 0
    Cholesterol - 0
    Sodium - 470
    Potassium - 230
    Carbs - 20
    Dietary Fiber - 6
    Sugar - 2
    Protein - 2
    Vit. A - 4
    Vit. C - 0
    Calcium - 4
    Iron - 8

    (For beans times the amounts by 3.5 and then by 2.)

    Chili seasoning
    Serving size - 2 tsp
    servings per container - 8
    Calories - 10
    Fat - 0
    Cholesterol - 0
    Sodium - 0
    Carbs - 2
    Dietary fiber - 0
    Sugar - 0
    Protein - 0
    Vit. A - 30
    Vit. C - 2
    Calcium - 0
    Iron - 4

    (For seasoning you would times all of the numbers by 2 because you only used two servings.)

    Now add all of the amounts together and divide by 13 servings. (This recipe makes 13 one cup servings... I measured it to see how many servings it makes.)

    It is listed in the database as this brand: Campbell's/Great Value/Williams
    and the name as vegetable soup/chili beans/ chili seasoning/water
  • flachix
    flachix Posts: 256 Member
    The advice on how to figure calories of homemade items is very good, and probably the easiest. there are nutrition softwares out there you can download too. that way you can have your own data base. I got mine from recipecalc. its ok, not fantastic. as for the goodies. I would recommend dividing them up into portions if you can, and freezing them. If they are out of sight it will be easier for you, and if you have to thaw it, or mess with it instead of just popping it into your mouth, you will have time to think about it. and decide if you really want to eat it. and how much damage it will do. as for the family wanting it......for my family, its basically...tough. :laugh: have it away from the house, but not here. my DH is diabetic, and he does like his sugar free treats, so he has those in the house. other wise, this is a clean, safe house. (mostly because his treats cause me stomach aches) :cry: I am trying to achieve a goal, I expect help and I don't want to listen to anyone snivelling because they can't have empty calories. a bit militant I admit, but hey, some times you have to stand up for yourself. (my family is grown, I have no little ones I have to try to explain it to). you can do this. a bonus of making it yourself and writing down the ingredients etc, is you can control the sodium, and fat and amounts that go into it, and I bet as you do, you will automatically think of ways to make it healthier and tastier. (turkey instead of beef etc). well, sorry for the long post. good luck
  • ariannedavis
    ariannedavis Posts: 520 Member
    in the google search bar I type in the food name followed by nutrition facts; within the first two or three sites I usually find what I am looking for. Check serving sizes though! I entered pizza the other night and ended up with 1200 calories. Um, yeah, I meant two slices, not the whole freakin thing! :laugh:
This discussion has been closed.

Categories