Calories

Dawn0797
Dawn0797 Posts: 7
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Can someone pls tell me how accurate the calories are when you type in what you ate? I noticed that there are sometimes more then one selection and they both say different things. And what happens if you dont find your food?

Replies

  • Kym1610
    Kym1610 Posts: 328 Member
    When I can't find a particular brand or if I am eating at a restuarant I just get the generic, and if there is more than one generic I tend to use the one that is higher in calories
  • Dawn0797
    Dawn0797 Posts: 7
    When I can't find a particular brand or if I am eating at a restuarant I just get the generic, and if there is more than one generic I tend to use the one that is higher in calories

    Thats what I did yesterday, but I couldnt find anything for generic. I want to make sure that I am not going over my calorie limit! Thx for the reply
  • jeeping_mom
    jeeping_mom Posts: 72
    The calories are entered by members for the most part. A TON are inaccurate. I've noticed a lot aren't complete as far as sodium, carbs, fat... sometimes people just post calories.

    I'd say follow the label if you can, find something close, or enter it yourself and save into your foods. Especially if it's something you eat a lot. I have a ton of my own foods I've calculated once, so I can keep going back.

    Also, check with other websites... it's a big crap-shoot. Sorry :)
  • Dawn0797
    Dawn0797 Posts: 7
    Thanks thats what I figured! I really enjoy this site and hope it works out for me. My husband is deployed right now and I want to look smoking when he comes home.
    I think I am going to post my before pics when I can get the guts to take them
    Thx for the reply
  • jeeping_mom
    jeeping_mom Posts: 72
    Restaurants suck. It's so hard to find stuff. If I can't find anything, I'll take all the ingredients, then add 1-200 calories for frying and extra crap they throw in there. Most chain restaurants are good, but I hate Friday's. I keep emailing them asking for info, and they keep telling me to ask for it, the restaurant tells me to email their corporate hdqs... basically - don't eat there if you care about what you put into your body. lol
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    It's one of the good and bad things about the database - anyone can add in new foods, which is great! But, if they make a mistake or have incorrect info then you won't have the right data. It also means that there are soooo many duplicate products which is pretty annoying when you are searching for something.

    If you have a packet that your food came in you can check it yourself and correct the database entry it if is wrong. Or add it if it is a new food (just search under a few different names first, so we don't have yet more duplicates!)

    If there are lots of different entries (try looking up apples as an example!) I will just pick one that is in the middle or slightly higher.

    And, don't worry too much about it - you can never be truly accurate, especially with fresh food. If I enter an apple at 80 calories, the particular apple I'm eating today might be a bit bigger or smaller or might have a bruise so I don't eat part of it, or I'm in a hurry so I don't eat it all. My reasoning is that by getting down some kind of number I have a good estimate of what I'm eating and that things will balance themselves out - some under, some over.
  • Dawn0797
    Dawn0797 Posts: 7
    It's one of the good and bad things about the database - anyone can add in new foods, which is great! But, if they make a mistake or have incorrect info then you won't have the right data. It also means that there are soooo many duplicate products which is pretty annoying when you are searching for something.

    If you have a packet that your food came in you can check it yourself and correct the database entry it if is wrong. Or add it if it is a new food (just search under a few different names first, so we don't have yet more duplicates!)

    If there are lots of different entries (try looking up apples as an example!) I will just pick one that is in the middle or slightly higher.

    And, don't worry too much about it - you can never be truly accurate, especially with fresh food. If I enter an apple at 80 calories, the particular apple I'm eating today might be a bit bigger or smaller or might have a bruise so I don't eat part of it, or I'm in a hurry so I don't eat it all. My reasoning is that by getting down some kind of number I have a good estimate of what I'm eating and that things will balance themselves out - some under, some over.

    Thx for the info.
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