tips on how to calculate calories in homecooked meals

kwm1234
kwm1234 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I am fairly new here. Have used this app and others in the past and really like them when eating a single food or prepacked food with nutrition listing. However, I always seem to fall off from using this app because I have so much trouble calculating/estimating calories in homecooked meals. Any tips on how to do this? I am the one cooking so I have food info and am in control of preparing meals I just don't know how to figure out serving sizes and calories when I've made a meal for multiple people with lots of ingredients... Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I usually get stressed about not being accurate and stop counting... Is it okay to estimate a little? Only have 5-10 lbs or so to lose but would love to stick to it this time. Thank You.

Replies

  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Use the recipe feature in your foods section. Add up all the ingredients in a dish,and it'll ask you how many servings it makes, and automatically divide the calorie and nutrition information per serving for you. You can even directly import an online recipe into your recipe list if you want, it takes about three minutes, tops. Super easy.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    i use the recipe builder here and divide it in servings
    Very handy
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    If it's a recipe online you can just import the link and it does the seaching for you... you would just have to update the quantity amounts you are using, unless you follow recipes exactly.

    I find it bothersome to try to weigh and log ingredients at the same time, so I usually keep a piece of paper and pen nearby. As I cook, I weigh stuff and jot down the weight (or the calories on the can/package of what I am using). Once I'm done cooking, I portion out the recipe in 4 servings (or whatever it is) and log the recipe into MFP. It's a bit tedious and you end up with a lot of dishes to wash, but it's the most accurate for me. It does get easier the longer you do it so don't give up the first few times!
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    edited May 2015
    Recipe builder and food scale. Weigh out ingredients and log the weights of each into the builder. Weigh the final product in grams, and set that as the amount of servings (remember to tare the container). Weigh out your portion, and input the weight of your portion as the amount of servings you ate.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    What they said. I use the recipe builder and just name them by the date I made them. I tried giving them "real" names, but that got to be too confusing with "Breakfast Casserole 24 ..." :smiley:

    WELCOME to the Discussion Boards, by the way! :smiley:
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,945 Member
    The recipe builder will help.

    I'm still playing around with finding the easiest way to do this myself. Luckily it's just me so I can make something, portion it out into x servings and not worry about how much is in each container since it's just me eating it. For now anyway!

    You could just do that and see how things go - weigh everything in grams as you go, portion it out into x servings right away and log a serving. If you find that you aren't losing weight as expected, you'll have to tighten up the logging. Some folks here will weigh the final product and log the recipe as the total number of grams for the final product. Then as they portion it out for themselves, they can just enter in the number of grams they ate.

    I hope that makes sense!

    ~Lyssa
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