Don't Use The First Food Suggestion That Comes up from MFP DataBase

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oncem0re
oncem0re Posts: 213 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello fellow dieters/healthy life builders! As we all start this year, we all find our ways to join some group and watch what we eat and lose some weight along the way. I'm right there with you! But here are few things that I thought maybe helpful when using MFP for the beginners and even for the oldies who may not thought of checking around. I'm OCD by nature I want to know EXACT - this is NOT because what this program is all about...but this is how I am...if I'm guesstimating, I want to be atleast VERY close. So with that said, whenever I'm trying to log my food on MFP I always try to find the closest match and NOT the first one that pops up.

Here are few things you may want to consider when you log your food item for the day.

Is the size the same? Example - Medium Banana for me maybe a LARGE banana for someone and the difference on the calories could be different. One person could "guestimate" it or the other look it up online. I honestly saw a bowl of oatmeal from the database that has 1 calorie. I mean really? if I'm in a rush to do these and added that, that will be a 200 calories difference which is in my layman terms 30 minutes workout with Jillian Michael's ! That's a HUGE difference mind you! So my biggest advise, try to find almost the exact same match of your food item. IF you can't find it - go for the Make Your Recipe and add your ingredients one at a time! It will give you a better result than rushing it and just picking the first one you see....

Or for some others - do you have ever do this ..... you ate a piece of Bread ... you weren't sure of the brand and you weren't sure if it's Honey Wheat, Whole Wheat etc... so you go to the database and enter "TOAST" ofcourse hundreds of hit will show toast, but you will then try to pick the LOWEST calories that's out there! --- heheh.... (I've done this before! so please no shame on it!) but... really you're only cheating YOURSELF! Get it? So take a minute and try to really log what you ate. Don't forget that 1 tsp of butter you spread on your toast! Those adds up too!

AGAIN, for my fellow readers - this is just for people that REALLY want to take a good track of their Daily Food Diary Intake... if you have a method you use where you don't care of small things and don't sweat it if you're 100-200 calories off... GOOD FOR YOU! I do care - because sometimes it takes me 20 minutes on stair master to burn 100 calories! so every little bit does matter!

Thanks! I'm new to MFP but not in dieting, please feel free to add me! I'm highly motivated and very enthusiastic !

Replies

  • MagicalGiraffe
    MagicalGiraffe Posts: 102 Member
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    I weigh everything meticulously so I rarely find this to be an issue. Good luck with your endeavours, I understand having OCD can be a frustrating condition.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Yes using a food scale really simplifies it. Doing that, I've only seen a few errors.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
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    Banana size can be misleading. I had a small (roughly 4") banana weigh in at 120 calories.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Great tips!

    These are two more great posts that people might find helpful if they want to work on the accuracy of their logging:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1290491/how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Small, medium, large, etc, all those descriptive words are worthless when describing portion size. Weigh it in grams and never look back.
  • MeeshKB
    MeeshKB Posts: 120 Member
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    obscuremusicreference wrote: »
    Banana size can be misleading.

    True story. LOL

  • neveragain84
    neveragain84 Posts: 534 Member
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    I tend to go with the ones with the most confirmations or double check the info myself. If not 100% accurate it's okay because I know healthy eating isn't a perfect science.
  • beachgod
    beachgod Posts: 567 Member
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    I use hardly any of the suggestions since few of them match the info on the nutrion label and most don't have serving sizings with a 1 gram option. I make my own listing per labels or the manufacturer's website if at all possible and the serving sizes are in grams for much more accurate tracking.
  • MagicalGiraffe
    MagicalGiraffe Posts: 102 Member
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    MeeshKB wrote: »
    obscuremusicreference wrote: »
    Banana size can be misleading.

    True story. LOL

    11027_Andy_large_AYYY.gif
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    A food scale is your best friend. When I got my new Samsung phone, I was excited for S Health but have since found it utterly useless for tracking calories as the only serving sizes are 'small, 'medium' and 'large'. What the frilly heck?

    I go for the non-asterisked entries where I can, or scan barcodes. The thread linked above (the step by step guide) is invaluable reading when just starting out.
  • MsJulesRenee
    MsJulesRenee Posts: 1,180 Member
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    Don't forget to also count cooking oils. They add a lot of calories. (6 seconds of Pam spray is about 50 calories.)
  • oncem0re
    oncem0re Posts: 213 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    A food scale is your best friend. When I got my new Samsung phone, I was excited for S Health but have since found it utterly useless for tracking calories as the only serving sizes are 'small, 'medium' and 'large'. What the frilly heck?

    I go for the non-asterisked entries where I can, or scan barcodes. The thread linked above (the step by step guide) is invaluable reading when just starting out.

    Yes I do have a scale! But when I'm out and about and before I forget that one last thing I put in my mouth I really want to go ahead and log it in MFP... so for those times, I think it's when we have to be much careful. Another thing, I don't bring my scale at work :( I just don't think my co-workers will really understand. Thanks for all the tips! I love reading and learning new things!
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    mariawalls438 wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    A food scale is your best friend. When I got my new Samsung phone, I was excited for S Health but have since found it utterly useless for tracking calories as the only serving sizes are 'small, 'medium' and 'large'. What the frilly heck?

    I go for the non-asterisked entries where I can, or scan barcodes. The thread linked above (the step by step guide) is invaluable reading when just starting out.

    Yes I do have a scale! But when I'm out and about and before I forget that one last thing I put in my mouth I really want to go ahead and log it in MFP... so for those times, I think it's when we have to be much careful. Another thing, I don't bring my scale at work :( I just don't think my co-workers will really understand. Thanks for all the tips! I love reading and learning new things!

    I don't keep a scale at work either, though I tend to bring my lunch from home already weighed. I do keep measuring spoons to do the sneaky dressing measuring where needed and otherwise estimate. I do also admit that how easy something is for me to track does impact on what I choose to eat when I'm out! I'll often order a steak and vegies at a restaurant, mostly because I love a good steak, but also because the menu usually tells me what it weighs ;)

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