problems counting calories in food

eyda
eyda Posts: 23 Member
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
hello everybody. I'm very2 new to this MFP and i have a problem starting it coz i dont know how to count calories in my food. If the food are in packaging then it's fine coz i can always look at the nutrition facts info, but what about cooked food like if i cook a vegie lasagna without cheese then how am i suppose to know the calories in my food intake. Or how many calories is it in a banana? can anybody help me please...:embarassed: :frown:

Replies

  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    hello everybody. I'm very2 new to this MFP and i have a problem starting it coz i dont know how to count calories in my food. If the food are in packaging then it's fine coz i can always look at the nutrition facts info, but what about cooked food like if i cook a vegie lasagna without cheese then how am i suppose to know the calories in my food intake. Or how many calories is it in a banana? can anybody help me please...:embarassed: :frown:
  • danarochelle
    danarochelle Posts: 212 Member
    All you have to do is enter the food in your food diary and it will tell you how many calories/fat grams/sodium, etc...

    :flowerforyou:

    WELCOME!!
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    what about the protion of the food? should i measure all my food before i cook them? how big is the portion should i take?
  • Phoenixflame
    Phoenixflame Posts: 560 Member
    With home cooking, it's just the sum of the parts. Make your lasagna, just enter each ingredient into your diary and how much of it you used, divided by the number of servings. Like...you probably made lasagna for your whole family. How much of it did you eat yourself? 1/4th? 1/6th? Say you used 4 oz of cheese, 4 oz of meat, and 1 cup of tomato sauce. Together, that would would all equal the number of calories in your dish, but if you only had 1/4th of it, then you would only enter 1 oz of cheese, 1/4th cup of sauce, etc.

    The diary is a GREAT way to pinpoint where all your calories are coming from. It can help you make healthier choices too.

    As far as portion size...just don't go over your calories, and eat a balanced diet. The rule of thumb is take your dinner plate, reserve half for veggies, 1/4th for starch, and 1/4th for protein.
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    in that case , i should just cook simpler dish then. Normally i cook stir fried mix vegie with olive oil and a pinch of salt and paper. thanks for the advices, really helps a lot.
  • lynniejones
    lynniejones Posts: 1,291 Member
    You can input your ingredients and how many it serves here:

    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

    Also, it has helped me tremendously to have invested in an inexpensive kitchen scale.
    It will seem a bit of a chore at first to weigh/measure your food but it will become habit before long. One thing I have found is that true portions are a lot smaller than I had always thought they were.

    Good luck,
    Lynnie
  • shanwow16
    shanwow16 Posts: 203 Member
    You can input your ingredients and how many it serves here:

    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

    Also, it has helped me tremendously to have invested in an inexpensive kitchen scale.
    It will seem a bit of a chore at first to weigh/measure your food but it will become habit before long. One thing I have found is that true portions are a lot smaller than I had always thought they were.

    Good luck,
    Lynnie

    Kitchen scale is a good idea...I have one, but never really used it until last night when I wanted some cheese for a snack. I was curious to know how much 30g (1/4 cup) was cause I always just guessed and low and behold it was way more than what I thought it was!! :happy:
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    You can input your ingredients and how many it serves here:

    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

    Also, it has helped me tremendously to have invested in an inexpensive kitchen scale.
    It will seem a bit of a chore at first to weigh/measure your food but it will become habit before long. One thing I have found is that true portions are a lot smaller than I had always thought they were.

    Good luck,
    Lynnie

    where do you refer the true portion from? I have a kitchen scale at home, i can start measuring food from now on.
    Last night my husband cooked angelhair pasta with tomato gravy and a cup of chicken and mix veggies. I just add that one by one to know the total calorie.
  • lynniejones
    lynniejones Posts: 1,291 Member
    where do you refer the true portion from? I have a kitchen scale at home, i can start measuring food from now on.


    Google portions sizes and read up on them. A portion of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards.

    Here is an example of some article to read.
    http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_3_2x_Portion_Control.asp
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    i need another clearifications about kcal. is kcal on the food label the same as calorie OR kcal = 1000 calorie.

    i bought peanut butter with no added sugar today and it says that 2 tbsp = 200kcal. is that 200 calorie OR 0.200 calorie?
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    anybody?
  • janiebeth
    janiebeth Posts: 2,509 Member
    I can't help with the kcal vs cal, but I have a jar of Jif in front of me - not low sugar, or low fat - just the regular stuff - and it is 190 calories for 2 tbsp.

    Hope you get an answer.. Janiebeth
  • mimielle
    mimielle Posts: 44 Member
    I think kcal is the same as cal. 200 calories is about right for 2 tbsp of peanut butter
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    so i guess it's the same then, wowww peanut butter is really high calorie. :frown: . I showld take less peanut butter then. Thanks a lot guys..:happy:
  • Phoenixflame
    Phoenixflame Posts: 560 Member
    the "calories" you see on nutrition labels are kcalories. It's just simpler to call them calories. So yeah, 35 calories is really 35 kcal.
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    by the way, the ticker says that i've lost 3lb but i dont feel like i'm losing any. can i depends on that number or maybe i add my food wrongly. i think it's wrong because i just started less then a week.
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    Nop, i really losing pounds...i step on the scale this morning and i lose 5 lbs..yeay...it's only been 1 week...sooo happy.
  • Widdy1961
    Widdy1961 Posts: 100 Member
    the "calories" you see on nutrition labels are kcalories. It's just simpler to call them calories. So yeah, 35 calories is really 35 kcal.

    Yes, it can be confusing...........Kcal is what you would call Calories (100 kcal = 100 cal)

    Not sure about the U.S but, in the UK the Nutrition Info carries Kcal (kilocalorie) and kJ (kilojoule)

    1 kilocalorie = 4.1868 kilojoules

    This can sometimes confuse people, as they mistakenly look at the kJ and assume it's the Calories.......doing this would make your 100 Cal (Kcal).......418.68 :cry:

    Widdy
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    Nop, i really losing pounds...i step on the scale this morning and i lose 5 lbs..yeay...it's only been 1 week...sooo happy.

    i weight my self after a week and i gain back those pounds i've lost. dont know why, i still counting my calories. But i do eat a lot of wholegrain bread though, 2 slices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each. It's easier for me to just have a sandwich. Is that not okey?

    or maybe because of my hormones, it is around my period time.
  • crystal_sapphire
    crystal_sapphire Posts: 1,205 Member
    Nop, i really losing pounds...i step on the scale this morning and i lose 5 lbs..yeay...it's only been 1 week...sooo happy.

    i weight my self after a week and i gain back those pounds i've lost. dont know why, i still counting my calories. But i do eat a lot of wholegrain bread though, 2 slices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each. It's easier for me to just have a sandwich. Is that not okey?

    or maybe because of my hormones, it is around my period time.

    it's very normal to gain bloat weight around your period. keep eating right and within a week it should be back to where you were
  • eyda
    eyda Posts: 23 Member
    i really hope so. and although i do feel a bit frustrated i'm gonna keep on going and hope for the best. coz there are just to many success story in here which means this could work for me to right. just a matter of time i guess.
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