Calculating Food Question

ljashley1952
ljashley1952 Posts: 275 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm just wondering, is there a way of calculating food calories before I log them? Without going out of MFP and googling? Sometimes when I'm trying to decide what to eat I'd like to look up the caloric value before I decide. I know I can always log it and then delete it, but wondered if there was a way around that. If not, I can always just google.

Replies

  • daynerz
    daynerz Posts: 227 Member
    edited October 2014
    Do it in your head or keep a paper handy with you all day :D
    You will find, fruits, bread, pasta, ect, portion sizes all within the same amount of calories regardless of the brand.... you just need to get your portion sizes/numbers down then you can calculate anywhere, anytime.. ex 2 slices white bread roughly 160-190 calories.. max.. .....it holds open for honesty however, but... i log my food on here at the end of the day, I add the numbers myself (since im living in china ATM) and quick add the calories to my food diary. No Big Deal. Whatever suits you. :p
  • warriorguy
    warriorguy Posts: 143
    Look at packages you've bought for the value, size, serving, etc. If not a purist, don't be afraid of remembered calories and estimate.
  • prestigio
    prestigio Posts: 181 Member
    Logging and deleting probably is the easiest and most accurate method...
    Ofcourse you can look it up and calculate it by hand or estimate the amount of calories, though I think logging / deleting is more convenient.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Why can't you look it up in MFP without logging it?
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    Yes, use the recipe builder.
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    edited October 2014
    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    Why can't you look it up in MFP without logging it?

    Yes! Search for the food and select an entry, then click on the link to nutritional info, just below the words in red that say How Much?, instead of adding the food. A box will come up with the calories and all nutritional info

    55835802.png



  • ljashley1952
    ljashley1952 Posts: 275 Member
    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    Why can't you look it up in MFP without logging it?

    When I do a search it will give me the item and a volume, but not a calorie count unless I hit the 'Add' button.

    Say I want to decide whether to eat a fried egg and toast or just have coffee and a banana for breakfast. I can look up the items on Search, but calorie count is not noted until I actually log it by hitting Add.

    Over time I will remember the exact calorie amount for the things I eat often, but I'm not quite there yet with things I don't eat on a daily basis. It looks like I'm limited to either googling or adding it and then deleting it if I decide not to eat it and choose something else.

    I have not looked into Create a Meal or whatever that was called. I'll try it.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    sodakat wrote: »
    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    Why can't you look it up in MFP without logging it?

    Yes! Search for the food and select an entry, then click on the link to nutritional info, just below the words in red that say How Much?, instead of adding the food. A box will come up with the calories and all nutritional info

    55835802.png



    ^ This
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    They have a database here for just that.
  • findingmyw1ngs
    findingmyw1ngs Posts: 107 Member
    I think they've covered a lot of how to do it. Also, as you continue to count calories you might find that you've simply memorized them for some things
  • davideliasirwin
    davideliasirwin Posts: 2 Member
    edited October 2014
    You can preview the item before logging it.

    1) go to you food page and click on add
    2) search for the item
    3) select the one you would like to view
    4) on the right it has the dialog for serving size and add button.
    5) instead of clicking add, there is a small blue link above that says "nutritional info", click on that.
    6) Changing the portion size does not seem to affect this nutritional info sometimes.

    Edit: This works on entries listed in the search results, but I am not sure how to do this with the Recent/Frequent/My food/Meals/Recipes entries.
  • ljashley1952
    ljashley1952 Posts: 275 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    sodakat wrote: »
    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    Why can't you look it up in MFP without logging it?

    Yes! Search for the food and select an entry, then click on the link to nutritional info, just below the words in red that say How Much?, instead of adding the food. A box will come up with the calories and all nutritional info

    55835802.png



    ^ This


    Fantastic! That is exactly what I was looking for! I'm rather new and hadn't even noticed the small print under the words in red.

    Thanks, all!

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