The decline of accuracy

whalenmich7295 · January 2011

Alright, this is driving me nuts. When I first started tracking calories; I was 100% accurate on everything... measuring the weight of this, and the ounces of that... i even added the calories you'd get from a teaspoon of ketchup. At any rate, I have become more lax on that... just flubbing the number so that I can be done with it. Im sure it is one a 100 calories this way or that, but still its not accurate. i rely on what is out there in the myfitnesspal database, rather then adding up the calories my self.

My question is: how important is it to be a nazi when tracking calories (and actually measuring out everything), or because the Differentiation of calories too small to make a difference?

lotusfromthemud · January 2011

The differentiation can add up pretty quickly. It depends on how much you're lax with...

The whole idea with counting is to count everything.

With a dash of oil here, a teaspoon of sugar there, it can and does add up. I've also tested my "eyeballing" accuracy and although I can spot an ounce of shredded cheese at twenty paces, 6-7 oz of meat will look like 4 to me, and a "tablespoon" of anything is more likely two or even three.

My two cents.:flowerforyou:

sprinkies · January 2011

i think it's super important in the beginning so you can learn portion sizes, but i think after you've been doing it for a while you can eyeball things a lot better. i don't measure things like peanut butter, ketchup, hot sauce but i still do weigh my chicken, measure my rice, cereal and things that i have a hard time eyeballing because i would LOVE to eat too much of them!! lol

superwmn · January 2011

Everyone is different, but I'm only super accurate about a few things. I weigh and measure, but not obsessively. I also have a lot of items I eat that I consider 'free' (I don't weigh/measure lettuce, for example).

Try being less strict with your measuring and see how you do.

Charmagne

bluuea · January 2011

Can you honestly "eyeball" a serving and know that it somewhat accurate? Personally, I can't and portions control is my biggest downfall. If you work out and the calories are earned then I'd say you have some "wiggle room" on the amount of calories. If it's your daily allotment, I would say you have to measure.

jam3114 · January 2011

For me its a slippery slope ...............I start out like 100% of everything no matter how big or small. Then as time progresses I start to guess, then start to not weigh things & eventually leads to a melt down where nothing gets tracked or entered & I lose the run of myself altogether.
For it to work for me I need to be accurate but then I think we get used to sizes of things & start knowing calories of everyday items that we use.
I'm all for accuracy just wish I was more disciplined :sad:

Fat_n_Happy · January 2011

The only thing that matters is RESULTS. If you're still getting weight loss results like you're expecting, then don't sweat it, regardless of how many people on here tell you you have to be exact as possible.

If, however, you're not seeing the results.............then you're not being honest enough to yourself.

karljp · January 2011

I say, NO BIG DEAL! You are always going to be off one way or the other, especially when I think of excercise. You can't count everything, be as accurate as you can, but don't go through each day mearsuring stuff! The key is changing past behaviors and making smarther choices, portioning, eating more and often of the right foods and exercise! Remember, the more you excercise, the more you can eat! After that, watch your weight decrease and your health and fitness increase.

sbwood888 · January 2011

I would think, if you are still getting the results you want, then you are doing it right. :happy:

Robin1117 · January 2011

I think if you are still making your weight loss goals, you are doing great. But if not, you have to tighten it up.

I am maintaining now, and as a few of the other posts said, I eyeball things like olive oil, fish, chicken, condiments, because I have become used to the size range by the ounce.

I find it very important to weigh and measure things like cheese, nutbutters, granola's, cereals, nuts/seeds, breads...things like that because if you are off just a little bit you really add a ton of extra calories you didn't intend to eat.

meglane · January 2011

I think lax is completely fine, unless you are leaving out that piece of 5 layered chocolate cake

Weight loss is cumulative over the week or month or whatever. So really, leaving out the ketchup on your log is not going to make or break you. As I always say, I lb = 3500 calories so the 3 calories you get from mustard is pretty much negligible. I personally log the things that compose the majority of my meal or that have caloric significance.

ahbach2005 · January 2011

This is just a thought but

If you are getting good results and have been doing it for a while it seems like it shouldn't matter......

I firmly believe it is a lifestyle change not a lab exercise...keep in mind I am an engineer and I keep a spreadsheet with charts on my weight and blood pressure metrics but it is a motivator not a control mechanism

meggonkgonk · January 2011

I was pretty on top of it to learn portion sizes, but I've laxed up on the actual measuring, in favor of eyeballing and getting the hang of doing it on my own. If I hit a plateau I might go back to it but I'm still going pretty steady. I mean I'm not seriously going to count out every little thing for the rest of my life-- there's too much stuff to do in life to obsess like that.

sugaraddict63 · January 2011

I agree.....................weighing and measuring everything is ridiculous if your losing weight.

Sweet13_Princess · January 2011

I think you have to be a calorie Nazi if you want to keep losing the weight. It's really easy to "forget" what you ate throughout the day and little nibbles, here and there, really do add up!

My hope is that the food items loaded in MFP really are accurate. I'd hate to think that my weight loss would be stalled because someone plugged something in that is wrong!

Case in point: I had a whoopie pie from my local grocery store last night. I found entries ranging from 150 to 450 per pie. What the heck should I pick? I ended up splitting the difference by adding an extra half serving, "just in case."

Shannon

jimrogers · January 2011

Even if you are + or - 100 calories per day, you are still light years ahead of the schlub who had a Whopper value meal and a pizza for dinner!

There are people in this world who are successful at losing weight by just "eating right and eating less" even without "counting" calories.

The fact that you are tracking, even with a margin of error gives you a huge advantage. Don't make this process so tedious that it's stressing you. Just do the right thing, eat what and how much you logically KNOW you should, and you will be fine.

With all that said, I do try to track as accurately as possible, but do realize that some entries will have guesses. I'm ok with that as I'm down 10 pounds in about 6 weeks.

Sweet13_Princess · January 2011

I think you have to be a calorie Nazi if you want to keep losing the weight. It's really easy to "forget" what you ate throughout the day and little nibbles, here and there, really do add up!

My hope is that the food items loaded in MFP really are accurate. I'd hate to think that my weight loss would be stalled because someone plugged something in that is wrong!

Case in point: I had a whoopie pie from my local grocery store last night. I found entries ranging from 150 to 450 per pie. What the heck should I pick? I ended up splitting the difference by adding an extra half serving, "just in case."

Shannon

taletreader · January 2011

Do you mean accuracy or precision? For the difference, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision .

I personally aim for accuracy but am ready to sacrifice precision. Now MFP makes it pretty easy -- if I eat 2 slices of product XYZ and 11 almonds, MFP will give me some very specific calorie number, thus introducing a false sense of precision. But in reality, once I start cooking for more people than myself, I just give myself a ballpark (150-200, whatever) for tasting and licking off spoons, thus getting an accurate, if imprecise idea of what I'm consuming.

willhare · January 2011

I think it's important to be as accurate as possible, but a) It can be difficult to get everything perfect using a user-submitted database, and b) you're not always going to be able to know exactly what you're eating (unless you're cooking every single meal). Therefore, you're hardly every truly 100% accurate anyway.

The nature of tracking is just to build awareness and accountability. Sometimes I don't track a slice of onion, but I'll never skip even a few tortilla chips or pretzels. It's really up to you to define where you draw the line, but make sure it doesn't snowball into you omitting things like cheese, mayo, etc. - things that seem small, but actually have a lot of nutritional value (good or bad) to be aware of.

In the end, I think the comfort with the differentiation is up to you. Are you still losing weight and achieving your goals by leaving minor things out? Are you comfortable enough with your knowledge of food and the associated calories that you can be confident that you're not cheating the process? Have you noticed that the looser tracking is snowballing into you omitting more and more legit foods?

Also remember that the calorie deficiency myfitnesspal is ~500 less than you need to maintain, so unless you're leaving off a lot of little things, you're still going to be progressing, albeit the tiniest bit slower.

traceytoo · January 2011

I rarely weigh anything but always eat 2/300 calories under my goal so that I have plenty of wriggle room for any miscalculation .... look if ur weight is going downward then you are doing good, if it goes up then you're doing something wrong .... I'd go by that

myukniewicz · January 2011

just do whatever works for you

if you are seeing results then continue with what you are doing.
personally, i am a "calorie nazi" lol. i count, weigh & measure EVERYTHING. but that's because i have like a OCD thing about it i guess. ha ha.

The decline of accuracy

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