Calorie Counting 101
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Using a leveled tablespoon is still much less accurate than using a scale. A scale is ALWAYS best for solid foods. As to tracking your weight. From the homepage there is a tab that says "check in". Click it. From there, there is an option to enter your weight and review previous weights.GRITSandSLUTS wrote: »You seem to be very informative about counting/weighing calories/food. I have a kitchen scale as well; but, I also use a good set of measuring cups and spoons. I agree that someone can definitely get more than an actual Tablespoon of, let's say, peanut butter; I dig in a big scoop in my Tablespoon, and push it against the side of the bottle then level it off; and use my finger to roll it out onto my bread. I'm thinking this is the best way to get your portions correct. When I was in WW, the point system just flabbergasted me - first thing I will admit was . . . at the time, I was not exercising; but staying within my points. Now I am on a Medical Weight Loss program and keeping up with my calories and I will try to figure out what I might eat at a meal, if we go out, to stay within my caloric count. I'm now exercising and was told to increase my water intake. I can see how to keep up with my water; the only thing I have not found on MFP is how to keep up with my weight, whether up or down (hopefully more downward than upward). I'll get to something and then cannot find it again. Found the weight - but it is flat lined. Then tried to go through my profile page and was told it was 'not working'. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
I second that. People often don't realize that food gets compacted when you measure it with spoons/cups/etc so even if you get the most precise level edge that can be, it will still be more than the weight equivalent stated on the pack.0 -
Don't mind me. Just bumping useful threads.0
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Bumping!0
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Bump this back to the front page0
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Evening bump.0
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The first thread I read in December. Bumping for all newbies!0
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To the first page with you!!0
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Morning bump!0
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Thanks to having read this thread when I first started, I even weighed xanthan gum when I was cooking yesterday. I don't know that I'd have found doing this as smooth a ride as it's been without these TRULY helpful posts.0
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Many of the soups do not list their nutritional information based by weight, they list it based by volume even though the soup is not 100% liquid. I would either eat half a can, or the whole can of soup and just go off what the nutritional information says for the whole can.hansel2001 wrote: »my question is how to you weigh soup say like Campbell's chicken noodle soup weigh the liquid and noodles together or liquid then noodles and add them together just trying not to over think
I usually go by the package details, although I know that a certain amount of fudging is permitted. If I wanted to be super-accurate I would buy a cheap scale with a tare function. Put your bowl on the scale, get the weight of the scale, hit tare, pour the soup in the bowl. The scale will subtract the weight of the bowl, leaving you with the weight of the contents.0 -
I disagree about weighing the food before cooking...meat especially! Because if you cook meat, A LOT if not all of the fat comes out! Vegetables will not be the same raw or cooked either because they lose water. I think you have to pay attention to your entries, whether they say cooked or raw, and find one that fits what you have. For example, I am not going to log an entry for sausage that claims it has zero of everything but calories!! I know that almond milk has calcium, so if I see a 0 on calcium, I know that entry is bad. If I see a 0 on potassium for greens, I know that entry is bad. You have to be educated and know what you are dealing with!
Good points. I've been wondering whether I should weigh my meat after cooking.
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Lol I have never seen anyone bring a scale to a restaurant and just start weighing everything. I say you just use your common sense to pick something healthy I mean don't go for anything fatty or full of carbs...a lot of restaurants have below 600 meals or whatever and they are good. You don't have to kill yourself over this stuff just don't ever give up on yourself and eventually you'll get to where you want to be
If you follow your plan 90% of the time a misstep here and there won't be fatal.
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I don't see how this would be any more accurate than just trusting the label. They can round up/down on calories listed on the label so you're not getting a precise calories per gram anyway. For example, if they say 100 calories per 100 gram serving it's probably between 95 and 104 if you're lucky....I say "if you're lucky" because I believe they are allowed to be off by as much as 20%. And your particular can of soup is likely to have slightly more or less calories than the sample they tested because it might have one more or fewer chunk of potato/meat/whatever than the tested sample.
Many of the soups do not list their nutritional information based by weight, they list it based by volume even though the soup is not 100% liquid. I would either eat half a can, or the whole can of soup and just go off what the nutritional information says for the whole can.hansel2001 wrote: »my question is how to you weigh soup say like Campbell's chicken noodle soup weigh the liquid and noodles together or liquid then noodles and add them together just trying not to over think
I usually go by the package details, although I know that a certain amount of fudging is permitted. If I wanted to be super-accurate I would buy a cheap scale with a tare function. Put your bowl on the scale, get the weight of the scale, hit tare, pour the soup in the bowl. The scale will subtract the weight of the bowl, leaving you with the weight of the contents.
You can jump through as many hoops as you want chasing 100% accuracy but you aren't going to get it. It's impossible. The label should be a good enough estimate for anyone. And if it isn't good enough then you shouldn't be eating it because there is no way for you to be more accurate. If you're that worried about accuracy you probably need to be making all of your food yourself from scratch.
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GreatDepression wrote: »Geez, you must have a never-ending supply of self-control and motivation to do something like this (weighing to the gram, always overestimating calorie amount, etc.).
It's really not that hard.0 -
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With 23 pages, I'm sure there's some notorious debate afoot, but all in all, this is good information that I will consider going for.0
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Not really much of a debate at all. This is a pretty straight forward guide. One might argue that counting calories isn't necessary, but if that's their opinion, then why are they reading a calorie counting guide in the first place.TaurianDoll wrote: »With 23 pages, I'm sure there's some notorious debate afoot, but all in all, this is good information that I will consider going for.
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My old mechanical spring scale needs an upgrade
May get a decent digital one this weekend
Even trying to weigh out portions has helped
And a quarter of a cup of mixed nuts is a super tiny amount
It is just wrong...0 -
Nuts are one of the foods I think many many people overeat. It's true that when you weigh them up a serving size is quite small.professionalHobbyist wrote: »My old mechanical spring scale needs an upgrade
May get a decent digital one this weekend
Even trying to weigh out portions has helped
And a quarter of a cup of mixed nuts is a super tiny amount
It is just wrong...
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Thanks for sharing.
I think I have not been putting in the correct way. Been trying to lose weight but seems like I'm putting on more.0 -
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