Quick Added Calories? What are these?

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jenkins1103
jenkins1103 Posts: 50 Member
in Food and Nutrition
When I look at people's food diaries I see these quick added calories. what are these? Why would you add them to your food diary? Please someone give me a little insight..

Replies

  • GameOn2011
    GameOn2011 Posts: 73 Member
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    Same here, I have NO idea and was curious too!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    I use quick add calories to lower my daily intake on days I don't work. I wait tables so I'm set on "lightly active" for my lifestyle but if I'm not at work, I'm not on my feet for those couple hours so I'm not burning those calories. So usually on days I don't work (like today) I will add 200 calories so that I don't eat those calories I haven't "earned" by being on my feet 'cause usually on my day off, I'm on my *kitten* in front of the TV! lol

    Or I'll add calories for something I know is around that many calories but can't find in the database - just so I don't go over, they're calculated.
  • nananie2
    nananie2 Posts: 272 Member
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    For me, it's just faster sometimes to add up mentally all the calories than to log everything precisely in my diary. I figure it's better to do it quickly rather than not... But I try to stay away from those quick adds, because I like to see what I ate in retrospect to figure out what went wrong (or right)...
  • JPod279
    JPod279 Posts: 722 Member
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    I ate Mexican food last week and had a general idea of the calories but it was at a little mom and pop restaurant so there is no way to know the EXACT calories so you can use them for something like that.
  • mgreen10
    mgreen10 Posts: 229 Member
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    For me, it's just faster sometimes to add up mentally all the calories than to log everything precisely in my diary. I figure it's better to do it quickly rather than not... But I try to stay away from those quick adds, because I like to see what I ate in retrospect to figure out what went wrong (or right)...

    Exactly...like if I make a salad and know how many calories are in there I will just quick add them instead of researching every single little item and spending so much time on MFP
  • lynnmarie60
    lynnmarie60 Posts: 325
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    Actually I use that for foods that I know the exact calories for and I can't find it in the database only.
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    For me, it's just faster sometimes to add up mentally all the calories than to log everything precisely in my diary. I figure it's better to do it quickly rather than not... But I try to stay away from those quick adds, because I like to see what I ate in retrospect to figure out what went wrong (or right)...

    Exactly...like if I make a salad and know how many calories are in there I will just quick add them instead of researching every single little item and spending so much time on MFP

    yeah same here. or if im using spices or something. i dont want to put in every single thing!
    also when my mum will file it under her recipes and i dont wanna put it under mine. i'll just quick add from what she makes it out to be
  • dfunk06
    dfunk06 Posts: 56
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    I use it for al the little BLT's (bites, licksm and tates) throughout the day
  • husker_gal
    husker_gal Posts: 462 Member
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    For me, it's just faster sometimes to add up mentally all the calories than to log everything precisely in my diary. I figure it's better to do it quickly rather than not... But I try to stay away from those quick adds, because I like to see what I ate in retrospect to figure out what went wrong (or right)...

    ditto! :smile:
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    When I look at people's food diaries I see these quick added calories. what are these? Why would you add them to your food diary? Please someone give me a little insight..

    My understanding is that they are there for times when you are rushed and don't have time to enter an entire new food, or when you have to guess what your calories were for an item that isn't in the database. For example, you're at a friend's house and they've cooked dinner for you. You don't feel comfortable asking them for their recipe, so you guess the calories as best you can and use the "Quick Add" to get the meal into your log without spending a half hour at your friend's house scouring MFP for a similar food item. .

    IMO, you should add a description of the food that you entered as "Quick Add" in the Food Notes section so that you can look back later and see what they were. Otherwise, it's difficult to use the data you've so carefully logged if you decide to make changes to your plan.

    Unfortunately, I've seen folks use "Quick Add" when they are logging something they don't particularly want to share with others--alcohol, junk food, etc. I'm not sure how that helps someone when they analyze their eating patterns, but that's me.

    I suppose some folks may use Quick Add if they are only tracking calories and aren't concerned with following their nutrients, too.

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