Calorie Counting and Guesstimating...
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CADreaming09
Posts: 311 Member
Hey everyone!
I was hoping to get some advice from some of you that are having success with counting calories on MFP.
I'm finding that my main issue with calorie counting isn't staying under the calories really, it's not knowing how many calories are in certain things I eat, e.g. eating out. Do you all just guess as to how many calories you're consuming? Do you research the meal itself? Most restaurants don't have the nutrition listed on their site.
My day usually goes as follows:
8-5pm are work hours, and I eat food I know the calories too and I do great.
5pm-bedtime I'm home and we either go out to eat or I cook and I don't know the calories. And I'm usually in a hurry because the evening just doesn't have enough time with babies and hubby.
Anyway, any advice would be appreciated
Thanks! Frankie
I was hoping to get some advice from some of you that are having success with counting calories on MFP.
I'm finding that my main issue with calorie counting isn't staying under the calories really, it's not knowing how many calories are in certain things I eat, e.g. eating out. Do you all just guess as to how many calories you're consuming? Do you research the meal itself? Most restaurants don't have the nutrition listed on their site.
My day usually goes as follows:
8-5pm are work hours, and I eat food I know the calories too and I do great.
5pm-bedtime I'm home and we either go out to eat or I cook and I don't know the calories. And I'm usually in a hurry because the evening just doesn't have enough time with babies and hubby.
Anyway, any advice would be appreciated
Thanks! Frankie
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Replies
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Eating out can be tricky. I tend to go to places that I provide calorie information. And sometimes you just can't do that unfortunately. Then you would estimate as close as you can (which humans generally underestimate by about 30%).
Counting and weighing food gets easier as you go as you items that you regularly eat are easier to pull up. If you don't have a food scale I strongly encourage you to get one. It really is eye opening to see how much you can over/under eat. The MFP database is pretty extensive, but there can be many incorrect entries. I highly recommend the following link:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1
I like to pre-log my day as I have a general idea of what I will be eating (breakfast and lunch are usually the same thing every day for the week) so I really only have to log dinner on the day. I started writing everything down that I eat (with weights) and then go back and log when the kiddos are in bed. Probably takes me 3-5 mins to log, a couple extra mins to prep my plate at dinner.
Good luck! And keep scanning the forums. There's lot of great information out there by people who have been very successful at this 0 -
Most places if you google you can find the calories if it is a chain restaurant. I do some guessing and probably end up under eating because of it.0
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Most chain restaurants have their nutrition info online. If you aren't going to a chain then I recommend looking up individual ingredients, when possible, rather than the name of the entree. For example, I would look up ground beef, kaiser roll, etc. instead of "hamburger."
You'll also need to study up a bit on portion sizes. If you google "serving size chart" you'll get several good image results that give you visual cues.
If you go out to eat regularly, you'll build the knowledge of how many calories are in your favorite foods. We used to go out a lot and, in my experience, going out to eat became much less of an event so it was easy to choose foods like grilled chicken or salmon and salads instead of splurging on higher calorie items.0 -
I've become pretty good at estimating portions (even if my calorie/weight estimates aren't so great). Like, I've noticed that at a lot of restaurants the food they give you is at least 2 times the portion, or even 3 times!
Look into "appropriate" portion sizes, and evaluate that way how much of the food you should be consuming at a time.0 -
I do 1 of 2 things:
If eating out & I have the choice of where to go, my choice'll be a chain because they'll have nutritional information available.
If I am eating somewhere that doesn't have nutritional information available, whether it be an eatery or a holiday meal with family, that I didn't prepare; I'll just "sample" everything (two bites, spoons, forks or 1 shot glass (for caloric dense beverages) worth & assume that each bite, etc. was 25 to 50 calories & the beverage 25 calories an ounce, depending upon if the item; is usually known to be calorie dense or not) & I'll also exercise an extra hour, that day; in case my guesstimate is still wrong.0 -
Some restaurants don't have calories listed on their online menus, but I google (for instance) "Panera nutrition" and the nutrtion/calorie page will show in the listings. Of course the MFP database has a lot of those entries already, just make sure it's verified with a green check and that it corresponds exactly to what you have ke.g., a hamburger listing that says "no bun" won't correspond if you are eating the bun). Keep in mind that some nutrition listings do not include the side dishes that may come with the meal, so enter those separately. You'll get the hang of it after a while.
For home cooking, start with a few of your most frequent meals and use the recipe builder. Get one or two of your meals in your own personal database, and go from there. You can search the forum for more tips on how to enter portions in grams etc.0 -
OP you may find this thread helpful, some good tips in there about eating in restaurants.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10213155/a-guide-to-going-out-to-eat/p1
I agree with what others have said, I try to look up some things ahead of time so I have an idea of the calorie counts in restaurant meals (either from a chain restaurant with publicized nutrition info, or through some averaging of different similar entries in MFP database). For home made foods, I use the recipe builder or log the individual components separately.
This is another helpful thread about logging accurately.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p10 -
Sounds like you are not thinking about dinner until dinner, which is the default when one is busy, but does not give you time to plan. Perhaps plan tomorrow's dinner after tonight's dinner, or during a break during today's workday.
I could guess at what you mean when you say you don't know the calories in the food you cook for dinner, but why don't you explain it to me so I'm not making assumptions?0 -
I've found that a cheat sheet of portion sizes (google portion sizes) which uses your hand for reference really helps. It's not going to be an exact count, but what helps me is having to actually enter things in - creates a lot of accountability. As in, I want to sprinkle cheese on that - rather than dumping in on without thinking, I'll consider what the actual portion/calorie ratio is. Try not to get too hung up on exacts, that's an easy way to get discouraged.0
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My experience tells me that the "science" of weight loss is more the "art" of weight loss. You guess at the caloric "burn" of many, if not all exercises, you guess at your daily activity level (sedentary/lightly active, etc.), you guess at portion sizes in many restaurants, you estimate caloric contents of the food your make at home (there are so many alterntives), you estimate (to a greater degree of certainty) on portion sizes at home, you eat back half your exercise calories etc. Then you get on the scale for your (weekly, daily, monthly, hourly) weigh in and see how you've done. After a period of time, the sacle gives you good news, you know what a serving of (x) is you know what the caloric value of your breakfast is, you know so much more about what you are doing that it starts to get easier. THEN you plateau and panic all over again.
If you try to practice the art of weight loss, I think, you'll be better able to continue on your journey and "maintain" your weight loss as you become naturally more aware of size, caloric content and burn; all based on your experience.
We are estimating/guesstimating everything. Our results show us if we are doing well or not, and we adjust accordingly.
Do the best you can, keep your mobile devise handy when cooking. It really only takes a second or two to log something into a recipe. Use similar recipes over and over again by editing out unused ingredients and adding in new ones. Call them recipes 1-10. Weigh out the total dish and then weigh your portion (or eyeball the share of the total you are taking) to establish what you are eating.. You can log in/adjust the ingredients while the dish is cooking. It takes practice but is doable.
Eating out, use your experience, you know that something breaded and deep fried is going to "cost" you more in calories than something plain broiled. Log in the closest match. many chain resturants, many good resturants, have their entrees in the data base.
Don't try to be exact. I don't think you can be. Get it as close as you can without sweating and stressing. Close enough is close enough.. Good enough is good enough. At your next weigh in, you'll see if it was "good enough" and you will adjust accordingly.
We are all setting the ground work for a new life style, one that we will be able to enjoy. Can't enjoy life if you're stressing over minitue (Don't sweat the small stuff, P.S. it's all small stuff). If you mess up, continue on doing your best. If you're messing up alot, you need to change.
The scale and the fit of your clothes will tell how close you're coming, how well you're doing.
A stress free Thanksgiving will cost you about a pound or two. (I doubt that you are going to eat more than 5000 calories over your maintenance). Enjoy the Holiday with your friends and family. Remember to get back on plan Friday and onward.
Weight loss is not a science, although it can seem to be with the math of Calories in v Calories out. It's an art, a lifestyle that we all have to learn to get used to and maintain. Have fun with it so that you can LIVE with it.
I hope this stream of consciousness has helped, been enjoyable, or, at least, not been objectionable.0 -
Frankie, week ends and crock pots. Cook enough for left overs. If you can grill, get family packs of skinless chicken. We do 10-20 lbs at a time, then vacuum seal and freeze. Freeze in 2-4 breast packs. These pack are great for when the clock pot food runs out later in the week. Love the vacuum sealer for meats, veggies etc.0
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Plan ahead. I have a rotation of 8, quick and and easy meals that I make for dinner. I have made them lots of times each and know the calorie count (only had to calculate It once as long as I don't change the recipe).
Make weeknights with 4 kids easier, and I'm consistently losing weight.0 -
Thank you, everyone! I read every reply and they are all super helpful! I did great over the holiday break and I'm motivated to keep it up!!!0
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kshama2001 wrote: »Sounds like you are not thinking about dinner until dinner, which is the default when one is busy, but does not give you time to plan. Perhaps plan tomorrow's dinner after tonight's dinner, or during a break during today's workday.
I could guess at what you mean when you say you don't know the calories in the food you cook for dinner, but why don't you explain it to me so I'm not making assumptions?
I just mean that when I cook meals, I haven't been careful enough in counting the calories, but I forgot about the recipebuilder on this site, so that's going to help tremendously.0 -
If you tend to go to the same restaurants multiple times, this has worked for me:
I try to identify the restaurant ahead of time (if feasible) and look at the menu (most restaurants have these online now, even if they don't have nutritional info). I decide ahead on what I'm going to eat.
If that meal works well for me (tasty, satisfying, etc.) then I put a fair amount of effort into estimating it as accurately as I can, choosing MFP database entries that are on the higher side, so if anything I'm overestimating. Then I save it as a meal I can re-use when I eat there again.
When I've done this once for a restaurant, I can (somewhat) jimmy the rest of the day or week to make that meal work, if it's over.
Over time, the "my meals" tab has a list of restaurant meal that I can easily re-use when I eat there again.
Another thing: I learned this because of being vegetarian, but it works for weight loss . . . many/most restaurants will do simple modifications to meals if you ask (I order veggie burgers, with their toppings, hold the bun, for example). Things that are added/assembled for each meal, vs. pre-plated, they'll usually be willing. Or, especially at sit-down places, they'll do things like give you multiple servings of the side veggies on a plate, as a meal. Don't be afraid to ask (nicely of course) - the worst that can happen is that they'll say "no".0 -
i used the recipe builder for my home cooked meals (that would be most meals) and found eating out less was very beneficial in losing weight (and weight management in general) as well as beneficial to my wallet.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »i used the recipe builder for my home cooked meals (that would be most meals) and found eating out less was very beneficial in losing weight (and weight management in general) as well as beneficial to my wallet.
I am going to try and eat out less. I'm doing small challenges with my food and that's my next one. I'm thinking three times a month to start. Thank you!
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My experience tells me that the "science" of weight loss is more the "art" of weight loss. You guess at the caloric "burn" of many, if not all exercises, you guess at your daily activity level (sedentary/lightly active, etc.), you guess at portion sizes in many restaurants, you estimate caloric contents of the food your make at home (there are so many alterntives), you estimate (to a greater degree of certainty) on portion sizes at home, you eat back half your exercise calories etc. Then you get on the scale for your (weekly, daily, monthly, hourly) weigh in and see how you've done. After a period of time, the sacle gives you good news, you know what a serving of (x) is you know what the caloric value of your breakfast is, you know so much more about what you are doing that it starts to get easier. THEN you plateau and panic all over again.
If you try to practice the art of weight loss, I think, you'll be better able to continue on your journey and "maintain" your weight loss as you become naturally more aware of size, caloric content and burn; all based on your experience.
We are estimating/guesstimating everything. Our results show us if we are doing well or not, and we adjust accordingly.
Do the best you can, keep your mobile devise handy when cooking. It really only takes a second or two to log something into a recipe. Use similar recipes over and over again by editing out unused ingredients and adding in new ones. Call them recipes 1-10. Weigh out the total dish and then weigh your portion (or eyeball the share of the total you are taking) to establish what you are eating.. You can log in/adjust the ingredients while the dish is cooking. It takes practice but is doable.
Eating out, use your experience, you know that something breaded and deep fried is going to "cost" you more in calories than something plain broiled. Log in the closest match. many chain resturants, many good resturants, have their entrees in the data base.
Don't try to be exact. I don't think you can be. Get it as close as you can without sweating and stressing. Close enough is close enough.. Good enough is good enough. At your next weigh in, you'll see if it was "good enough" and you will adjust accordingly.
We are all setting the ground work for a new life style, one that we will be able to enjoy. Can't enjoy life if you're stressing over minitue (Don't sweat the small stuff, P.S. it's all small stuff). If you mess up, continue on doing your best. If you're messing up alot, you need to change.
The scale and the fit of your clothes will tell how close you're coming, how well you're doing.
A stress free Thanksgiving will cost you about a pound or two. (I doubt that you are going to eat more than 5000 calories over your maintenance). Enjoy the Holiday with your friends and family. Remember to get back on plan Friday and onward.
Weight loss is not a science, although it can seem to be with the math of Calories in v Calories out. It's an art, a lifestyle that we all have to learn to get used to and maintain. Have fun with it so that you can LIVE with it.
I hope this stream of consciousness has helped, been enjoyable, or, at least, not been objectionable.
Aaallllll o' dis.0 -
Most chain restaurants are truly appalling. I'm not going to eat Cheesecake Factory or Applebee's dreck just so I can have an exact calorie count of their deep fried whatsits...No thank you!
I guesstimate. If I meet my weekly loss or maintenance goal does it really matter? No!
However: when I'm guesstimating I go high. So sometimes I use Cheesecake Factory calorie totals for non Cheesecake Factory foods. And Paula deen recipes. They're so bad they're great. Almost anything is going to actually be less calories than the paula deen version! LOL0 -
CADreaming09 wrote: »Hey everyone!
I was hoping to get some advice from some of you that are having success with counting calories on MFP.
I'm finding that my main issue with calorie counting isn't staying under the calories really, it's not knowing how many calories are in certain things I eat, e.g. eating out. Do you all just guess as to how many calories you're consuming? Do you research the meal itself? Most restaurants don't have the nutrition listed on their site.
My success = 25 kg (55 lbs) lost. I'm 2 kg away from my goal now.
In answer to your questions:
1. My husband and I don't eat out very often.
2. My husband makes our evening meals, and has been kind enough to weigh the food and give me any packages and things so I could log it all.
3. If we do plan to go out (like we did on Sunday), yes, I research the meal.
---> some restaurants have menus with nutrition listed. That's wonderful when they do.
---> sometimes restaurant items are on MFP's database because someone else has researched them. Take that info with a grain of salt. Does the calorie amount look realistic? What is the portion size?
---> some restaurants just post their menus with a brief description. If this happens, I will start checking recipe sites to see if I can find something close. And then I usually add more calories (half again) to the amount because I figure that the restaurant serving size is likely to be larger.
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