how accurate is your logging?

2

Replies

  • bbygrl5
    bbygrl5 Posts: 964 Member
    I measure and/or weigh everything with my food scale. If I'm ever in doubt, I overestimate amounts. I'm probably a good 100-200 calories above what I actually consume in my food diary.

    If I eat out, sometimes I will add another 100-200 calories to my calorie total because I don't trust the nutrional info always. The FDA is supposed to regulate and make sure that places have accurate testing performed, but there just isn't the funding for them to truly do so, so I don't trust it 100%.
  • gangstagirl625
    gangstagirl625 Posts: 187 Member
    mine is pretty accurate when it comes to TBSP or or cups i dont have a food scale but i do know that when it comes to meat a palm size is a serving
  • DivaStar2
    DivaStar2 Posts: 7
    I am pretty accurate. I do both eyeball and measure.
  • MeliciousMelis
    MeliciousMelis Posts: 458 Member
    I measure....kinda OCD-ish about it
    lol
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    When I didn't measure and weigh every single dadgum thing, I was way off. Now I do and am much more accurate.
  • eleanoreb
    eleanoreb Posts: 621 Member
    I find it pretty easy to measure accurately when i'm at home or know exactly the brand/quantities of what im eating..but if i eat out..its anyones guess..
  • NYGoddess77
    NYGoddess77 Posts: 146 Member
    All the foods I consume are 90% homemade...so I would still enter what brand of chicken, fish beef etcc I would use but as far as quantity and weight...I would just create my one meal with this following recipe calculator fro Spark People...all you have to do to be acurate is to determine the amount of servings u will get out of that meal. Then it will give u the nutritional value of 1 serving of that meal :-)

    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
  • Jain
    Jain Posts: 861 Member
    I dont weigh or measure veggies (apart from spuds) or fruit, but everything else gets weighed out. Especially carbs.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,177 Member
    I am meticulous with my weighing and measuring, but I've done it so long, I can eyeball portions almost perfectly. Still, I'm not comfortable relying on that.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    i love to measure, love it! I do need a new food scale though, mine only does ounces and it seems to never move! IE: I put a carrot on. I put 2 carrots on. Finally it moves a little. I put 5 carrots on. I put 8 carrots on, suddenly it goes from 1oz to 4oz.... No idea what this scale is doing!

    (I get what I paid for, $7 wal-mart scale! haha!)

    I always always log everything I eat. All I drink. If I go over, I want to see that! I want my friends to see that! I need their input and reassurance and I love their praises when I do well.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I eat in the dining hall at school a lot, so there is a lot of guessing. The weight has just dropped off, so I do wonder if I'm rather too harsh with my guestimates!
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    Everything to the gram!
  • Jaedynmoon
    Jaedynmoon Posts: 280 Member
    I measure and weigh EVERYTHING! Even my cereal I eat, I weigh instead of measuring because it's more accurate that way! :)
  • InMyJeans
    InMyJeans Posts: 87 Member
    Im still looking for the right scale but I've been eyeballing stuff and I measure my liquids/powders with my measuring cups. I think I overestimate everything else and as long as I have half of my plate with green stuff Im good.
  • rdy2begin
    rdy2begin Posts: 170
    I measure ,count,weigh and then some ,,guessing got me here LOL ;0) Later on after I have more of an idea I will eyeball :)
  • robertf57
    robertf57 Posts: 560 Member
    I measure precisely. If I didn't I would be tempted to cheat.
  • maureak
    maureak Posts: 107 Member
    I used to eyeball everything because I thought I was pretty good at estimating. Then I started measuring most things to make sure my estimates are good (some were, some were not).

    I'm back to eyeballing the stuff I eat regularly and will measure anything new.

    I also try to estimate on the high side to insure I'm not underestimating what I eat.
  • dwarfer22
    dwarfer22 Posts: 358 Member
    pretty accurate. I use the recipe builder ALOT, and I measure pretty much everything but veggies. But I use the same bowls as always so I know how they should look.
  • singer201
    singer201 Posts: 563 Member
    I'm trying to be as accurate as possible. I weigh everything I can't measure with measuring cups or spoons or count (like almonds, jelly beans, etc). I also use the scale to determinie what size fruits to log.

    I have one of these <http://www.etsy.com/listing/59910407/vintage-pelouze-ice-cream-scale>. It's accurate enough and very sensitive.
  • stephanielynn76
    stephanielynn76 Posts: 709 Member
    I measure liquids in a measuring cup but I eyeball the rest. I overestimate calories and under report my exercise so I figure I'm good. I have seen steady loses since I started so it's working for me.
  • kacarter1017
    kacarter1017 Posts: 651 Member
    I measured a lot when I started my weight loss journey (months prior to joining MFP) now I measure things every few times I eat them. So I'll measure my brown rice once, then eye ball for a few times, then measure again. My step son is diabetic and portions are very important to have correct for him. I learned a long time ago that my 1/2 cup slowly gets bigger til it's closer to a cup. So, to keep the time and effort reasonable, I've come up with my "measure every few times" guideline. I think I'm staying pretty true to correct portions doing it this way.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
    I have to measure everything! If I try to guess, I'm usually way under.
  • MeredithLee11
    MeredithLee11 Posts: 192 Member
    I'm guilty of eyeballing. A food scale is something I've been meaning to invest in, but I'm just lacking the funds now.
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    I also measure everything in grams and ounces because I don't know what the database will show. I also weight pasta, meats, cheeses, and anything else that falls in that category.

    Since I cook for my husband and for myself, I enter all the meals with several ingredients as a recipe, with the proper number of portions. If I like something, I can go back to My recipes and get the information again.

    But as another member said, it is very hard when eating out unless the restaurant has nutritional values in the menu or website. In that case, I over estimate or add 'quick calories." and hope for the best.
  • ebgbjo
    ebgbjo Posts: 821 Member
    Insanely accurate. I measure in GRAMS!

    Same here.. and it irritates me to now end when I come here to log food and I don't have option of grams (grams should be in EVERY food) and only have things like cups, teaspoons, ect
  • BlkOnyx488
    BlkOnyx488 Posts: 35
    I am really good when I eat at home, but when i eat at a friends or some resturants, I don't know what to do.
    as far as logging.

    I have gotten use to what an 8oz portion of food looks like
    so I try to at the very least maintain a healthy portion when I do eat out
    But I don't always log it.
  • Nigel99
    Nigel99 Posts: 498 Member
    I'm pretty accurate about my logging. I log everything I eat/drink, and everything I'm using in my meals that contribute to the cals/sodium/fat/etc. Everything gets measured well, though I've had to estimate a couple of things once in a while. I make sure I don't underestimate everything, so I'm pretty much right on target.
  • katschi
    katschi Posts: 689 Member
    I have a digital food scale, measuring cups and spoons and I use them for all my food.
    I'm enjoying it and the novelty hasn't worn off yet after 6 weeks.
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
    Measuring out your food is the best way. It's not what you eat so much as it is sticking to the appropriate portions of what you eat. I don't think all of my entries are completely accurate, but I usually go under about 50 or 100 calories in my logging just to make adjustments for any errors.
  • toots99
    toots99 Posts: 3,794 Member
    Measure everything.
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