Overestimating Calories — Is this okay?

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sarab260
sarab260 Posts: 122 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone!

I'm just wondering if anyone else tries to overestimate calories in an attempt to balance out other places where I'm probably unknowingly underestimating calories. That is, I'll try to round up. For example, if it's almost 1 cup of frozen yogurt, I'll log 1 full cup, or if I don't finish some of my dinner, I log the full recipe anyway. Also, sometimes when going out to eat, I'll add 1-200 quick calories just for any discrepancies with menus that don't offer calories. E.g., If I go to a diner and have 3 pieces of bacon, I'll log the Generic - 3 Pieces of Bacon, but also add 1-200 calories just to be sure that I'm being totally honest if the generic bacon on the site is slightly lower calorically than the greasy diner bacon. Does that make sense?

I'm doing this to try to balance things out, but am wondering if there are potential repercussions of this in the future. I'm nervous that when I get to maintenance (fingers crossed that I get there, haha), having logged this way while losing weight will make me think I can eat more calories than I can.

Just wondering everyone's thoughts, and if anyone has any tips! Thanks!
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Replies

  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    So your solution to guess work, estimations and unknown amounts is to add more guess work, estimations and unknown amounts?

    I would recommend logging as accurately as possible. If you feel you are under or over estimating somewhere, fix that at the source.
  • siluridae
    siluridae Posts: 188 Member
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    Cups of that and pieces of this are not a good way to measure anything but maybe fluids.
    Get a food scale, then you know exactly how much you are eating. If you add oil to your bacon, then add that separately. Then you also do not need to add any calories anymore and can make sure you get all the nutrition you need.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    I would use a food scale, NEVER use generic entries (not accurate) and yes, when in doubt guesstimate up.
  • sarab260
    sarab260 Posts: 122 Member
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    Merkavar wrote: »
    So your solution to guess work, estimations and unknown amounts is to add more guess work, estimations and unknown amounts?

    I would recommend logging as accurately as possible. If you feel you are under or over estimating somewhere, fix that at the source.

    Ah, thank you for your response! Haha, you're absolutely right, and have also showed me that I did not articulate myself very well. What I mean to say is I am 99% of the time very scrupulous about logging accurately. I measure food, follow recipes to a tee with food scales and such, and am currently trying to follow a few different guides that keep me on certain caloric tracks. The issue is sometimes if I want to go to dinner with my friends or brunch with my family, there's an inherent amount of guesswork that plays into dining at restaurants that don't have calorie counts on their menu. I'm wondering if there's any merit to trying to balance this out elsewhere by rounding up a bit, or if this will only cause longterm issues. I think you're saying I'm definitely on the track for the latter though, so I will try my best to continue to only be as accurate as possible moving forward, as you suggest! Thanks again for responding :)
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Nope. I use a food scale. Guess work is saved for when I eat at a restaurant.
  • sarab260
    sarab260 Posts: 122 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    I would use a food scale, NEVER use generic entries (not accurate) and yes, when in doubt guesstimate up.

    Ah, good to know. I did not realize that generic entries could be such treacherous territory, but that makes sense. Thank you for the head's up!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Nope, I weigh everything. It doesn't take much time at all and I don't have to worry about 'oh I'm so hungry, maybe I overestimated lunch too much?'.

    I don't eat out much but when I do (maybe once a week in average), I just estimate, maybe overestimate a bit, but it's just one meal so not a huge deal (and if I overestimate too much, I end up hungry later anyway and go over my calories).
  • sarab260
    sarab260 Posts: 122 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Nope. I use a food scale. Guess work is saved for when I eat at a restaurant.

    Exactly! That's where my problem lies, and as I said above I didn't really articulate that properly. I mean that I try to round up in certain places to account for restaurant outings and such. But yes, I use a food scale all other times. Thank you for responding! :)
  • sarab260
    sarab260 Posts: 122 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Nope, I weigh everything. It doesn't take much time at all and I don't have to worry about 'oh I'm so hungry, maybe I overestimated lunch too much?'.

    I don't eat out much but when I do (maybe once a week in average), I just estimate, maybe overestimate a bit, but it's just one meal so not a huge deal (and if I overestimate too much, I end up hungry later anyway and go over my calories).

    Very good points. Thank you for your response!
  • ariana_eatsandlifts
    ariana_eatsandlifts Posts: 197 Member
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    When I eat at restaurants that don't offer nutrition information, I do my best to eyeball the portions and go with the higher calorie options in the database just to make sure. Sometimes when I'm really not sure, I'll box up half at the restaurant and bring it home to weigh out on my food scale. That way I can enjoy myself when I'm out but still remain accountable for what I eat. At worst, it's more calories than I thought but I only ate half and can save the rest for later.
  • sarab260
    sarab260 Posts: 122 Member
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    ariana_eatsandlifts wrote: »
    When I eat at restaurants that don't offer nutrition information, I do my best to eyeball the portions and go with the higher calorie options in the database just to make sure. Sometimes when I'm really not sure, I'll box up half at the restaurant and bring it home to weigh out on my food scale. That way I can enjoy myself when I'm out but still remain accountable for what I eat. At worst, it's more calories than I thought but I only ate half and can save the rest for later.

    Woah, great tip! I love that idea. I often have leftovers at restaurants, so this is a great idea to keep me on track with a resource I already have. Thanks so much!
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    sarab260 wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    I would use a food scale, NEVER use generic entries (not accurate) and yes, when in doubt guesstimate up.

    Ah, good to know. I did not realize that generic entries could be such treacherous territory, but that makes sense. Thank you for the head's up!

    But I guess if generic is all you have to go on when you're out somewhere that you don't have exact calorie counts, it's ok. I would go by that anyway....

    I think what you're saying makes sense as long as you're logging properly otherwise. That's probably what the generic entries are for. Situations where something entered is better than nothing.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    sarab260 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Nope. I use a food scale. Guess work is saved for when I eat at a restaurant.

    Exactly! That's where my problem lies, and as I said above I didn't really articulate that properly. I mean that I try to round up in certain places to account for restaurant outings and such. But yes, I use a food scale all other times. Thank you for responding! :)

    Why not just log accurately and be generous when you are out and logging restaurant meals? If you log accurately you get a better sense as to portion size which will not only help you in the long run, but will make your guesswork when you can't weigh more accurate as well. When I estimate restaurant meals I even use grams and ounces because I'm so used to seeing what food weighs. I always log a tablespoon of butter or oil.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    sarab260 wrote: »
    Merkavar wrote: »
    So your solution to guess work, estimations and unknown amounts is to add more guess work, estimations and unknown amounts?

    I would recommend logging as accurately as possible. If you feel you are under or over estimating somewhere, fix that at the source.

    Ah, thank you for your response! Haha, you're absolutely right, and have also showed me that I did not articulate myself very well. What I mean to say is I am 99% of the time very scrupulous about logging accurately. I measure food, follow recipes to a tee with food scales and such, and am currently trying to follow a few different guides that keep me on certain caloric tracks. The issue is sometimes if I want to go to dinner with my friends or brunch with my family, there's an inherent amount of guesswork that plays into dining at restaurants that don't have calorie counts on their menu. I'm wondering if there's any merit to trying to balance this out elsewhere by rounding up a bit, or if this will only cause longterm issues. I think you're saying I'm definitely on the track for the latter though, so I will try my best to continue to only be as accurate as possible moving forward, as you suggest! Thanks again for responding :)

    Ok I see.

    Yeah if it's the odd meal every now and then that you can't log, like a restaurant with no nutritional details, I would still try to be as accurate as possible and round up.

    Restaurants seem to add more oils and salts from what I hear.

    I guess just be realistic. If possible decide what to eat before hand and pre log it.
  • sarab260
    sarab260 Posts: 122 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    sarab260 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Nope. I use a food scale. Guess work is saved for when I eat at a restaurant.

    Exactly! That's where my problem lies, and as I said above I didn't really articulate that properly. I mean that I try to round up in certain places to account for restaurant outings and such. But yes, I use a food scale all other times. Thank you for responding! :)

    Why not just log accurately and be generous when you are out and logging restaurant meals? If you log accurately you get a better sense as to portion size which will not only help you in the long run, but will make your guesswork when you can't weigh more accurate as well. When I estimate restaurant meals I even use grams and ounces because I'm so used to seeing what food weighs. I always log a tablespoon of butter or oil.

    You're absolutely right. This sounds like a much better and accurate system, and will definitely facilitate my weight loss in the most effective way. Especially moving forward, I'm sure this will become much easier than it is now (I'm still very, very new to this), as I will be able to tell dining out weight estimations better with practice, I'm sure. Thank you for your help!
  • Editme12
    Editme12 Posts: 71 Member
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    This is something I do. For example, when I make a dish (in this case, one I've been having routinely), I count almost all of it. Except onions. They're so low in calories, I don't bother weighing them out. Ham, potatoes, cheese all get weighed. But with veggies I'm more lenient (cause I didn't get fat off of too many veggies). But, I keep that in mind and maybe add a little extra to the butter stats I'm putting in (as in, more than I actually used). Or not. Depends on if I've exercised too. Like, when I bike really strenuously somewhere (like to and from school) I don't log that as a workout. Instead I eat a banana (unlogged) and call it even. This won't work for everyone, but I'd be pulling my hair out if I didn't give myself a few not-totally-accurate breaks. For me it makes a diet more manageable.

    I don't know what long-term affects you're concerned about. Your body will get used to how full it should be, and since you're estimating up, the only concern I could see here is that when you reach maintenance, you still may lose weight (by doing the same estimating).
  • Kait_Dee
    Kait_Dee Posts: 175 Member
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    I've got myself on the list for the launch of crowd funding campaign for a new portable, Bluetooth scale for just for this reason (Slate Scale). I'm looking to get my entries as accurate as possible and this little thing will help me do just that. They're looking to interface with MFP too.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    If your goal is to lose weight, yes, this is fine.
  • Fujiberry
    Fujiberry Posts: 400 Member
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    I overestimated my food most of the time I've been on MFP. I've bulked and cut using this method, and it's worked well for me.

    If you're the type to be nitpicky and a bit obsessed about the number on the scale, I wouldn't recommend this method.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    If you aren't able to use a food scale, over estimate is definitely a good plan :)

    If my mum cooks me one of her DELICIOUS spaghetti dishes - which are absolutely RIDDLED with calories but worth it - I'll search 'spaghetti bolognase (SP?!)' or a restaurants equivalent of what she is cooking and enter a good 2-4 servings! Heh!:)

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