can you go by the label on the package?

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brianalbro1
brianalbro1 Posts: 12 Member
in Getting Started
I started doing this again. Was told you cant go by the llabel on the package if you cant go by that then how do you know what a serving is and calories stuff is? Iv just been going by the package and weighing and measuring what it says or counting out stuff.
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  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I go by the package but use the serving size weight rather than the measurement for accuracy (except liquids). Things like fresh meats get weighed even if I am going to use the entire package because there can be some discrepancies between the label and the actual weight.
  • ashbash830
    ashbash830 Posts: 19 Member
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    I go by the label on the package and haven't had an issue losing weight.
    As far as calorie counting, 20 or 50 calories or so isn't going to make a difference.
    You need to eat 3,500 calories on top of what you already eat to even gain a pound.
    So if you're on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, add an additional 3,500 on top of that.
    Gaining weight is harder than you may think. :)

    Don't get discouraged! Try to stay away from highly processed foods, as they may contain more calories than what the label says.
  • brianalbro1
    brianalbro1 Posts: 12 Member
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    Mfp says I need to be at 1500 calorie diet I tend to be under by alot like 900 or 1000. And if I exercise should I eat till I'm at 1500 or would I be good. Like say if i ate 1500 calories and exercised and burned 1000 I would be at 500 calories now do I eat all that back till I'm at 1500?
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    If MFP says you need to be at 1500, then you need to be at 1500. you are straying away from your original question.... which makes you appear to be a troll. I'm hoping you aren't.
    To answer your question, yes, you need to eat back exercise calories to stay at the recommended 1500 calories.
    And to answer your original question, use the weight listed on the food packaging when counting calories, not the measurement. Get a food scale and weigh solid foods.
  • ashbash830
    ashbash830 Posts: 19 Member
    edited January 2015
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    brianalbro1 wrote: »
    Mfp says I need to be at 1500 calorie diet I tend to be under by alot like 900 or 1000. And if I exercise should I eat till I'm at 1500 or would I be good. Like say if i ate 1500 calories and exercised and burned 1000 I would be at 500 calories now do I eat all that back till I'm at 1500?

    You need to eat those calories back.
    Here is what I do (makes it easier to get calories)
    I eat six times a day. I eat every three hours.

    I eat breakfast as close as possible to when I wake up, then wait 3 hours and eat a snack, etc.
    If you go over or a little under it will be okay, but don't leave out a lot of calories because you'll be depriving yourself of essential nutrients and may become malnourished.
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
    edited January 2015
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    brianalbro1 wrote: »
    I started doing this again. Was told you cant go by the llabel on the package if you cant go by that then how do you know what a serving is and calories stuff is? Iv just been going by the package and weighing and measuring what it says or counting out stuff.

    I always go by the label, but make sure you are weighing even prepackaged foods. For example, the bread I eat says a serving is 57 grams for two slices, but when I weigh two slices it's usually over 57 grams, sometimes by quite a bit. The same goes with many other packaged foods, and that's how many people inadvertently add calories without even knowing it. Always weigh them.
  • brianalbro1
    brianalbro1 Posts: 12 Member
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    Sorry about straying away from the question just poped in my head. I do weigh my stuff out. Just thought maybe there was another way people were figuring out what the weight and serving sizes were and that the labels were wrong. So if a package says 3oz is a serving and I measure 3oz I'm doing it right then?
  • ashbash830
    ashbash830 Posts: 19 Member
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    brianalbro1 wrote: »
    Sorry about straying away from the question just poped in my head. I do weigh my stuff out. Just thought maybe there was another way people were figuring out what the weight and serving sizes were and that the labels were wrong. So if a package says 3oz is a serving and I measure 3oz I'm doing it right then?
    Yes.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    edited January 2015
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    ashbash830 wrote: »
    I go by the label on the package and haven't had an issue losing weight.
    As far as calorie counting, 20 or 50 calories or so isn't going to make a difference.
    You need to eat 3,500 calories on top of what you already eat to even gain a pound.
    So if you're on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, add an additional 3,500 on top of that.
    Gaining weight is harder than you may think. :)

    Don't get discouraged! Try to stay away from highly processed foods, as they may contain more calories than what the label says.

    gaining weight isn't hard. that extra 3,500 doesn't need to be in just one day. your post seems to imply that it does. 3,500 is also for an entire pound. you can gain in fractions of a pound and that adds up too.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    brianalbro1 wrote: »
    Sorry about straying away from the question just poped in my head. I do weigh my stuff out. Just thought maybe there was another way people were figuring out what the weight and serving sizes were and that the labels were wrong. So if a package says 3oz is a serving and I measure 3oz I'm doing it right then?

    yes, that is correct. Weighing according to the package will be accurate for your daily calorie counts.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    brianalbro1 wrote: »
    Sorry about straying away from the question just poped in my head. I do weigh my stuff out. Just thought maybe there was another way people were figuring out what the weight and serving sizes were and that the labels were wrong. So if a package says 3oz is a serving and I measure 3oz I'm doing it right then?

    Yes, you are doing it a accurately as possible by using the label but going with the serving weight.

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    ashbash830 wrote: »
    I go by the label on the package and haven't had an issue losing weight.
    As far as calorie counting, 20 or 50 calories or so isn't going to make a difference.
    You need to eat 3,500 calories on top of what you already eat to even gain a pound.
    So if you're on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, add an additional 3,500 on top of that.
    Gaining weight is harder than you may think. :)

    20 to 50 calories on one item isn't going to make much of a difference, but doing it several times a day will build up and make it easy to gain.

  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    ashbash830 wrote: »
    I go by the label on the package and haven't had an issue losing weight.
    As far as calorie counting, 20 or 50 calories or so isn't going to make a difference.
    You need to eat 3,500 calories on top of what you already eat to even gain a pound.
    So if you're on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, add an additional 3,500 on top of that.
    Gaining weight is harder than you may think. :)

    Don't get discouraged! Try to stay away from highly processed foods, as they may contain more calories than what the label says.

    they don't. And you need to be careful when advising about 'highly processed' foods. Any food preparation that takes food away from the state it was on the hoof or the plant is a process, so freezing, baking, etc, are processing.
    it's actually quite easy to gain weight by miscounting calories. if you are off by 50 calories for each time you eat, and you eat six times per day, that's 300 calories per day. Over the course of a week, that's 2,100 calories. More than half a pound gained already! Keep that up each week and you'll find yourself gaining weight steadily. So yes, 50 calories can make a difference in calorie counting, which is why weighing is so important.
  • brianalbro1
    brianalbro1 Posts: 12 Member
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    Alright think I understand it all and been doing it right then. Thought I was doing it wrong. What about frozen food? Do you weigh it after you cook it or before? Have a problem figuring that out like label say so many oz for a serving I measure it before I cook it is that wrong?
  • mallory_2014
    mallory_2014 Posts: 173 Member
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    Go by the label but double check serving sizes. Those small cartons of milk (500mL) are two servings. The double bar pack of a lot of Nature Valley bars, are two servings. Always weigh food even if serving size is listed also by a cup amount. The cup amount can and usually is wrong. If I measure out 1/3 cup of my oatmeal, it is actually more grams than it says it is. Also, when adding food to the journal, double check the numbers entered against the information on what you are eating. Entries are done by users and some are wrong or they are entered with information from a different country which can be different than yours.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    edited January 2015
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    brianalbro1 wrote: »
    Alright think I understand it all and been doing it right then. Thought I was doing it wrong. What about frozen food? Do you weigh it after you cook it or before? Have a problem figuring that out like label say so many oz for a serving I measure it before I cook it is that wrong?
    Frozen foods I weigh after they are cooked. Dry goods I weigh prior to cooking (such as pastas and rice).
  • brianalbro1
    brianalbro1 Posts: 12 Member
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    Recipes that don't have weight as a serving but as cups and ect... how do you go by weight?
  • ashbash830
    ashbash830 Posts: 19 Member
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    mccindy72 wrote: »
    ashbash830 wrote: »
    I go by the label on the package and haven't had an issue losing weight.
    As far as calorie counting, 20 or 50 calories or so isn't going to make a difference.
    You need to eat 3,500 calories on top of what you already eat to even gain a pound.
    So if you're on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, add an additional 3,500 on top of that.
    Gaining weight is harder than you may think. :)

    Don't get discouraged! Try to stay away from highly processed foods, as they may contain more calories than what the label says.

    they don't. And you need to be careful when advising about 'highly processed' foods. Any food preparation that takes food away from the state it was on the hoof or the plant is a process, so freezing, baking, etc, are processing.
    it's actually quite easy to gain weight by miscounting calories. if you are off by 50 calories for each time you eat, and you eat six times per day, that's 300 calories per day. Over the course of a week, that's 2,100 calories. More than half a pound gained already! Keep that up each week and you'll find yourself gaining weight steadily. So yes, 50 calories can make a difference in calorie counting, which is why weighing is so important.

    Yes I know what food processing is. Thanks.
    Eating raw carrots as opposed to cooked carrots will aid better in losing weight, as an example.
    The more food is processed means the food is more completely digested, equalling getting more calories for that particular food. Your body does less work eating highly processed foods or softer foods than it does harder, less processed foods.


    I didn't say weighing isn't important and so far I haven't had an issue, I've lost 15 lbs previously to using MFP.


  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    ashbash830 wrote: »
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    ashbash830 wrote: »
    I go by the label on the package and haven't had an issue losing weight.
    As far as calorie counting, 20 or 50 calories or so isn't going to make a difference.
    You need to eat 3,500 calories on top of what you already eat to even gain a pound.
    So if you're on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, add an additional 3,500 on top of that.
    Gaining weight is harder than you may think. :)

    Don't get discouraged! Try to stay away from highly processed foods, as they may contain more calories than what the label says.

    they don't. And you need to be careful when advising about 'highly processed' foods. Any food preparation that takes food away from the state it was on the hoof or the plant is a process, so freezing, baking, etc, are processing.
    it's actually quite easy to gain weight by miscounting calories. if you are off by 50 calories for each time you eat, and you eat six times per day, that's 300 calories per day. Over the course of a week, that's 2,100 calories. More than half a pound gained already! Keep that up each week and you'll find yourself gaining weight steadily. So yes, 50 calories can make a difference in calorie counting, which is why weighing is so important.

    Yes I know what food processing is. Thanks.
    Eating raw carrots as opposed to cooked carrots will aid better in losing weight, as an example.

    Actually, cooked carrots are better for you than raw. Cooking carrots break down their tough cellular walls. It’s hard to properly chew carrots and optimally benefit from the beta-carotene content. In the body, beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A, which is beneficial for bone health, the immune system, and vision. According to a 2008 report in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, boiling or steaming carrots made its antioxidants, most notably carotenoids, more ready available to the body.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
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    Just keep in mind that errors up to 20% are possible. If your calorie count for weight loss and maintenance is small, those small errors in counting could affect your progress.

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