Logging food when visiting family/friends

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SKismet
SKismet Posts: 137
in Food and Nutrition
How do you do this???

I dinner at my boyfriends about once a week on average, and also at my mom's about the same. I feel like I would seem incredibly petty to ask them what brands they use or whatever, so tracking these calories seems rather difficult.

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  • annasid78
    annasid78 Posts: 99
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    I would say that they are your loved ones. Seems to me that they would be more than happy to help you out. After all your health dosn't only affect you, but them too. Plus I bet they are proud of you for embarking on this journey. So in my oppion.. ask away. Or maybe if that still dosn't work for you... talk to them about it and see where they stand on the matter.
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
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    ask how they made stuff and then you will have the list of ingredients :) or just guess.
  • jlewis121186
    jlewis121186 Posts: 33
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    if you are still uneasy about asking, just kinda see where they shop (walmart, HEB, albertsons, etc) and if they typically use name brands or store brands and make an educated guess...i think getting CLOSE to the calorie count is better than blowing it off, you know what i mean? it may not be exact, but it will be pretty close i bet!
  • bekdavis
    bekdavis Posts: 290 Member
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    jump in and offer to help cook!
  • anovasjo
    anovasjo Posts: 382 Member
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    jump in and offer to help cook!

    YEAH!!
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
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    I just guess... though mostly I am at my mom's and know what brands she is using because I'm in the kitchen when food prep is going on. :) A guesstimate is better than nothing, imo.
  • jmyers1230
    jmyers1230 Posts: 67 Member
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    I have this same problem at work. I work at a day care and the kids get breakfast, lunch, and snack. If we are in the room during these times, we have to "eat" or at least pretend to eat. I often will eat a little bit, but I have no idea what brands/quantities are in anything. I usually just check the database and pick a middle of the road value for whatever we had that day. For example, today breakfast was English muffins with American cheese on top so I looked up both and picked one to estimate the calories. I probably wasn't exact, but I counted something for it instead of just skipping it.
  • bjberry
    bjberry Posts: 665 Member
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    My sister-in-law was pretty interested in my calorie-counting process. She is a fabulous cook, so I watched how she prepared her spagetti sauces and other meals and noted what breads and other foods she used. She did not feel bad at all about what I was doing and my brother watched the whole process and helped set me up on their computer to log in each night. I had lost down to about 146 before my week at their house, and he had not seen me that small in 30 years! They just cheered me on. :drinker: (lots of water)
  • SKismet
    SKismet Posts: 137
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    Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I might just have to see about starting to help cook or asking for recipes.

    I wasn't planning on just skipping logging meals I ate there, but I wasn't sure how to do the logging and figured I would get some input. I have to admit, the other thing that I feel can be tricky in this situation is measuring the portions, but I'll probably get better at that as I get more practice at home of seeing portion sizes.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    I have no qualms asking for specific brand info. I've also been known to just check fridges and cabinets for brand names and to make sure that I'm getting the right nutrition info. I do this at family dinners and parties. At pot luck style parties, I'll actually track down the person that brought an item I'm considering eating and getting the info from them before I eat it.

    I guess I have no shame. lol

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