How to track a salad when the calories in MFP vary BIG time??
boonsl
Posts: 6
Seems like a silly question, but I eat alot of salads
Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, purple onion a tiny bit of feta with light salad dressing (2 tbsp). When I go to track this the results are vary so much in regards to calories. How does everyone else track a salad? Do you track everything separate?
Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, purple onion a tiny bit of feta with light salad dressing (2 tbsp). When I go to track this the results are vary so much in regards to calories. How does everyone else track a salad? Do you track everything separate?
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Replies
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I wouldn't worry too much about the lettuce, cucumbers etc. The feta I would measure - a small cube probably has more calories than you realise. And I'd log the dressing separately.0
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track everything seperate using the brands and ingredents you used.0
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I add in every ingredient individually and if need be, over estimate.0
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Recipe builder for the veggie part of the salad without dressing. My dressings change all the time depending on my mood.0
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Weigh each individual ingredient to log it. Or use the recipe builder, weighing and inputting each ingredient. Don't use MFP 'salad' entries, you have no idea what that person put in their salad. Many of the entries are user created and flawed.0
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Yes I add every ingredient individually as well and I tend to overestimate all of my calories just a little bit. I always look for the name brands too, MFP has a good data base. For example I always use Fresh Express Baby Spinach and the calories here vs. on the bag are spot on. I'm used to using a certain amount by now for example I know what 1/2 cup of shredded carrot looks like. I am not overly concerned with the specificity of veggies unless they are carb heavy veggies. I do weigh and measure things like dressings and cheese. Although I don't use cheese in my salad and stick to straight balsamic vinegar. Hope this helps.0
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I was also noticing the same thing when tracking my salads. I do what was mentioned ^^ and track the fatty things separately. Veggies are overall very low in calories and not bad for you. I'd focus more on the other items that add a lot of fat and sodium content. A three cup salad with lots of other veggies should only account for about 100ish calories not including the dressing, cheese etc..0
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I would enter each ingredient separately. I would be most exact with things like olives, cheese, croutons or salad dressing.
If you eat the same salad with the same amounts of ingredients then you might save it as a meal or a recipe so you can enter it faster.0 -
A food scale is very helpful. When I'm making something like that for myself with multiple things going into a bowl, I set the bowl on the scale, tare it to zero, and add the first thing, make note of the weight, then tare, then add the next, and so on. I do this with my oatmeal, burrito bowls, etc. Most of the items are already in my recent foods, so it's easy to log by going down the list, checking the boxes and adjusting the portions as needed.
As for database entries for foods, it takes some hunting around sometimes to find the most accurate entries, and those that give the option to log in grams. Rather than brand names for things like rice, veggies or meats, I search for the things like "rice - brown, cooked", or "lettuce - romaine" and then choose the one that does NOT have an asterisk next to it. These generally have the most complete nutritional info as well, including potassium and other items that aren't necessarily included on labels of packaged foods.
If you don't have a food scale, do the best you can with measuring spoons and cups, but for better accuracy, pick up a good scale - they aren't expensive, and are a great tool to have.0 -
I estimate the veggies (I didn't get pudgy eating too many carrots! If I end the day 50 calories over because I ate too many veggies, well, that's how it's going to be! ) and track the high calorie items more exactly, i.e. dressing, nuts, cheese.0
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I add everything in separately and saved it as a meal, It is almost always the same base with the spinach, cucumber, onion, tomatoes, cheese and dressing. Select the meal when you have it and add or subtract if I do something different. I am such a creature of habit that I eat the same thing a lot.0
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A scale. Use one. Find the entries that show it in grams. Weigh the lettuce, log it. Rinse and repeat with every vegetable. Dressing. Set a bowl on the scale, tare it out to 0, weigh it in grams. The dressing I use is 70 cal / 31g.0
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If it's just a garden salad, I used to put my bowl on a scale and tare it and start adding stuff...I pretty much just picked some random vegetable that was in the salad and used that times the weight...not perfect, but it was close enough for me. I mostly worried about accurately measuring the dressing or any other toppings like eggs, cheese, etc...those are the calorie hits. A large garden salad itself with just the veggies isn't going to amount to a whole lot of calories.
that said, it just depends on how accurate you want to be...I personally never felt the need and never had the time to add every single salad ingredient.0 -
Track separately, with usda after your query. For example, baby spinach usda. Try to be careful measuring the higher calorie stuff.0
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If I were making a very varied salad, I'd weigh each individual ingredient and log it in the recipe maker. The first time I chose anything from the data base, I always verify it either from packaging or a Google search. Anyway, once you've saved something in the recipe builder, you can update the quantities each time you make a salad after that.
If I'm making a really simple salad of just, say, lettuce and tomato, I log the individual ingredients right in my diary instead of the recipe builder.
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mamapeach910 wrote: »If I'm making a really simple salad of just, say, lettuce and tomato, I log the individual ingredients.
Yup. And even if it's complex I'm weighing it all separately. Chicken / Steak / Fries / Cheese. Yes, don't ask, it's as amazing as it sounds.0 -
mamapeach910 wrote: »If I'm making a really simple salad of just, say, lettuce and tomato, I log the individual ingredients.
Yup. And even if it's complex I'm weighing it all separately. Chicken / Steak / Fries / Cheese. Yes, don't ask, it's as amazing as it sounds.
Well, yeah, of course weigh them separately always. It's just if it's got 13 ingredients, I'd do it in the recipe builder instead of my diary.
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Weight/ measure every single ingredient and enter it separately. If it's something you eat often, build a recipe. I cheat sometimes in that if I eat something similar every day with slightly different quantities, I will just copy from the day before and amend the amounts (faster than entering again).0
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What I do is, rather than the recipe builder, if I have an set that I use frequently I'll add it as a meal. For instance, I eat scrambled eggs pretty frequently. Except I use one egg, one serving of egg whites, bacon, cheese, and onions. Rather than putting all that in every time, I put it all in once, saved it as "Scrambled Egg Breakfast" and now I can just choose that meal. If I don't have the bacon or put in some spinach, it's easy to add or remove an item.
This also lets you easily change the amount if you weigh out the components of your salad and don't want to have exactly the same amount of tomatoes.0 -
Never use a random generic entry in the database when you can log what you actually ate. If you are making the salad log what you put in it.0
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That's why the zero function on a digital scale is the bomb, it's so easy to weigh everything by the gram while building the salad. And I love that I don't have to wash dozen measuring spoons every day. I would never track using other people's recipes, or restaurant foods (unless I'm eating at that specific restaurant).0
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I always track my salad dressings separately and the salads I have been eating are very simple salads (no meat, croutons etc) Thanks everyone!0
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If this is a meal you have often, try instead to save it as a recipe. That way you look up all the ingredient calories just one time and save it. If you alter the salad significantly, you could just Quick Add the extra calories. I've done this with many common meals I have, such as Tuna salad sandwiches, or even my beef enchiladas that I make often.0
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I will do that! Thanks0
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What others have said, when at home, use a mixing bowl and a scale.
Place bowl on scale, tare, chop vegetable, weigh, record, tare, repeat ad terminus.
Search MFP Food Database in the format "vegetable - raw" to get non-asterisked entries.
Here is my usual daily lunch salad with items I keep on hand.
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I used the recipe builder to make a base salad, then add or delete items as needed.0
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I make a huge steel bowl of salad to last for the week. I add each ingredient into a recipe, it's divided by 7 for servings. Each of these servings fills a plate, last week my "Everything But the Kitchen Sink Salad" was only 46 calories. To each of these servings I add and track separately, X number of grape tomatoes, half of an avocado, and 2 ounces of meat strips and 2 tbsps of dressing. Those are the real calories, total 351 calories.0
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I input all ingredients separately, using the barcode scanner when I can.0
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