How many calories do you think this amount of potato is?

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sophie42222
sophie42222 Posts: 42
in Food and Nutrition
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ukg13r27h0fyt7a/2014-09-11 12.46.44.jpg?dl=0

I'm not sure how well the picture shows it but it's just like one scoop. How many grams would you estimate, and therefore how many calories?
Thank you :)

Replies

  • RaeLB
    RaeLB Posts: 1,216 Member
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    invest in a food scale :smile:
  • melaniefave41
    melaniefave41 Posts: 222 Member
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    Zero, because it's only a picture. = )
  • hmrambling
    hmrambling Posts: 321 Member
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    I printed it out and put it on my scale. It didn't even register. If I REALLY wanted to know, I would take the plate, put it on a scale, scoop the potatoes off of the plate, zero the scale, and put the potatoes back on the plate and use that measurement.
  • DerekVTX
    DerekVTX Posts: 287 Member
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    Use a food scale, a measuring cup, and the MFP database. Leave the forums for relivant questions.
  • Uselessly_Irrelevant
    Uselessly_Irrelevant Posts: 58 Member
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    Scoops like that come in all different sizes, so it's not really easy to say. Plus there is nothing next to it to give a size relationship. It could be like anywhere from 1/4 to 2 cups. If I were logging it, and didn't have access to a scale or I didn't make the meal I would probably just rough guess on the high side (1.5 or 2 cups) and call it like 400 or 500 grams. 300-400 calories. That's for the potatoes alone.. plus gravy, plus who knows how much milk and butter was added to it. If it were my meal and I had to just guess though, I'd call it 500 calories just to be safe.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    bout tree fiddy
  • sophie42222
    sophie42222 Posts: 42
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    i was out -,- i cant weigh it whilst im out.
  • sophie42222
    sophie42222 Posts: 42
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    I printed it out and put it on my scale. It didn't even register. If I REALLY wanted to know, I would take the plate, put it on a scale, scoop the potatoes off of the plate, zero the scale, and put the potatoes back on the plate and use that measurement.
    i was out :/
  • sophie42222
    sophie42222 Posts: 42
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    Scoops like that come in all different sizes, so it's not really easy to say. Plus there is nothing next to it to give a size relationship. It could be like anywhere from 1/4 to 2 cups. If I were logging it, and didn't have access to a scale or I didn't make the meal I would probably just rough guess on the high side (1.5 or 2 cups) and call it like 400 or 500 grams. 300-400 calories. That's for the potatoes alone.. plus gravy, plus who knows how much milk and butter was added to it. If it were my meal and I had to just guess though, I'd call it 500 calories just to be safe.

    here's the actual picture so you can compare sizes. I dont think it was as much as 300 calories, it was smaller than a jacket potato and they're not that many calories. But thank you for actually being helpful - i couldnt weigh it because i was out.
  • All4Me2014xx
    All4Me2014xx Posts: 155 Member
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    Ok, I can't look at the picture, but the next time you have a portion of potatoes and have it weighed, keep that serving size in mind and do the best you can when you are out to gauge the serving size you are having.

    If you weigh your potato and get the grams, ounces, etc and have the calorie totals for that, then when you are out you will start to be able to better estimate how much you have on your plate.

    Any picture we see will be deceiving because we don't know how close/far away the picture was taken, how big a scoop it was, etc.
  • sophie42222
    sophie42222 Posts: 42
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    Scoops like that come in all different sizes, so it's not really easy to say. Plus there is nothing next to it to give a size relationship. It could be like anywhere from 1/4 to 2 cups. If I were logging it, and didn't have access to a scale or I didn't make the meal I would probably just rough guess on the high side (1.5 or 2 cups) and call it like 400 or 500 grams. 300-400 calories. That's for the potatoes alone.. plus gravy, plus who knows how much milk and butter was added to it. If it were my meal and I had to just guess though, I'd call it 500 calories just to be safe.

    forgot to post the link, here https://www.dropbox.com/s/5shj9i8wacx6a60/20140911_124645.jpg?dl=0
  • sophie42222
    sophie42222 Posts: 42
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    Ok, I can't look at the picture, but the next time you have a portion of potatoes and have it weighed, keep that serving size in mind and do the best you can when you are out to gauge the serving size you are having.

    If you weigh your potato and get the grams, ounces, etc and have the calorie totals for that, then when you are out you will start to be able to better estimate how much you have on your plate.

    Any picture we see will be deceiving because we don't know how close/far away the picture was taken, how big a scoop it was, etc.

    Yep i will do next time, i couldnt today because i wasnt at home.
    I've now posted a picture where the potato is next to something so it can be compared, but you're not looking at it anyway haha.
  • pepperpat64
    pepperpat64 Posts: 423 Member
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    bout tree fiddy

    :laugh:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Ok, I can't look at the picture, but the next time you have a portion of potatoes and have it weighed, keep that serving size in mind and do the best you can when you are out to gauge the serving size you are having.

    If you weigh your potato and get the grams, ounces, etc and have the calorie totals for that, then when you are out you will start to be able to better estimate how much you have on your plate.

    Any picture we see will be deceiving because we don't know how close/far away the picture was taken, how big a scoop it was, etc.

    Yep i will do next time, i couldnt today because i wasnt at home.
    I've now posted a picture where the potato is next to something so it can be compared, but you're not looking at it anyway haha.

    What the poster is trying to tell you is that when you are home and you're weighing out servings of things...pay attention to what that looks like...so when you are out like you are/were here, you have a good general idea of what your serving should look like and you can then make a better guestimate.
  • asciident
    asciident Posts: 166 Member
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    Keeping in mind it's actually too hard to tell from even your picture because you didn't include anything for physical scale not to mention I can't tell how "packed" that scoop is... I'd guess it's at least a cup of mashed potatoes. Using the MFP entry for mashed with whole milk is 175 cals then add butter and gravy...
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Problem isn't the potato, it's all the stuff that's added to it... so it could be anywhere from 120 calories to 300 I suspect.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    I'd use any generic mashed potato entry and call it a day. As long as you're being consistent and not deliberately underestimating your calories you'll be fine. Check your progress after a few weeks and adjust your calorie goal up or down if you're not happy with the results.
  • Nice2BFitAgain
    Nice2BFitAgain Posts: 319 Member
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    Photos don't really give a good depiction of how big something really is.

    Next time - ask for no potatoes and extra veggies....less worry
  • sheltrk
    sheltrk Posts: 111 Member
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    Hard to be sure from the picture, but I'd guess that's about 1 cup of mashed potatoes. A scoop the size of a tennis ball, baseball, or a closed fist is about 1 cup. Here's a nice list of portion-size estimates if you are eating out and don't have a scale handy:
    http://my.clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/nutrition/hic_making_sense_of_portion_sizes.aspx

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