New here and wondering about guesstimating food???

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Replies

  • AskTracyAnnK28
    AskTracyAnnK28 Posts: 2,834 Member
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    For example here is my supper:
    100grams pork chops
    15ml ketchup
    125g brown rice
    85g mixed frozen vegetables
    NO GOING ONLINE - ALL WITH MY EYES AND BRAIN
    Meat doesn't have carbs
    Ketchup - read the label - 5g carbs
    Rice - read label - 30g carbs
    Veg - read the label - 10g carbs
    Add them all up: 45grams carbs.
    All added up in 2.5 seconds.
    I actually won the race IMO!

    I guess with calorie counting this same way it would really only take a few seconds too though BUT I would have to log it in or write it down somewhere to remember the totals. Remembering totals of carbs doesn't matter because I only need to know for insulin reasons at the time of that particular meal.

    Ok but you know you can scan the bar code on the package and BAM! Now it's stored so you wouldn't have to look it up anymore.

    But if this carb counting is working for you, then keep going with it. But remember that most of us are here to log our food - that's what MFP was designed for and how most of us lost our weight.

    Try not to look at any food as "junk food". It's just food. If there's something you really enjoy then try and fit it into your diet.


  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    I lost 70 lbs guesstimating. I maintain just fine guesstimating. I've never weighed anything. So I'm pretty good at it, but many people aren't and find that they need a scale. Do what works best for you.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,262 Member
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    Owlfan88 wrote: »
    Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.

    That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.

    Ive done it. It's very stressful and we all know what stress can do lol. Having to manage diabetes is stressful enough for me. Im working on eliminating stress and well logging just can't be a part of my life anymore....

    How is logging calories more stressful than weighing your food and counting carbs, which you're already doing? You must be looking up the carb counts somewhere and the carb counts are likely on the same page/package. I don't really care what you do but when I look at what you're doing, it reminds me of somebody running 395 meters of a 400 meter race and then wandering off and sitting in the bleachers rather than crossing the finish line.

    Lol, oh dear no! That's not me. I find logging calories stressful because of the having to type in EVERY single food and making sure it's the right one. There are always many entries for the same food but you have to click in to see if its right and then if not, you have to continue searching. So annoying! ALSO if you are cooking a recipe, you can use the recipe builder but same thing - do you know how many times I have to look for the entry that matches the label on the can or box I used? Sometimes up to six times! Logging calories online takes up so much time and is very frusterating!
    The way Im doing my carb counting:
    Weigh a fruit, look up on nutrition data if needed. Most sizes of the fruits I buy are 15g carbs and if it's a sliced fruit like canteloupe or watermelon then I weigh 100grams and I have them memorized. 8g carbs for watermelon and 7g for canteloupe.
    All boxes, cans and containers have all the info I need on the label - no need to look it up online or log it anywhere.
    For green vegetables there's usually barely any carbs at all so I don't need to know about the 1-2 grams of carbs it has.
    Meat, no carbs either. BUT I do chose lean cuts and I make sure to weigh it so that im only getting 100grams at a time.

    If that works for you, great. You know your medical needs (wrt diabetes) much better than I do. If you find yourself getting stuck (not losing fat that you want to lose) you can decide if you want to change anything or not.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    I lost my first 15 pounds estimating, but I wasn't eating back exercise calories. Once I started weighing I realize that I was WAY off though.
  • Zesh211
    Zesh211 Posts: 10 Member
    Thanks everybody, Just to clarify: When I say junk food I mean candy, chips, chocolate, cakes, pastries, fried fast foods. I plan to only eat these foods on holidays or birthdays.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,572 Member
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    Thanks everybody, Just to clarify: When I say junk food I mean candy, chips, chocolate, cakes, pastries, fried fast foods. I plan to only eat these foods on holidays or birthdays.

    *hides her carb level*
  • Zesh211
    Zesh211 Posts: 10 Member
    glassyo wrote: »
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    Owlfan88 wrote: »
    Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.

    That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.

    Ive done it. It's very stressful and we all know what stress can do lol. Having to manage diabetes is stressful enough for me. Im working on eliminating stress and well logging just can't be a part of my life anymore....

    How is logging calories more stressful than weighing your food and counting carbs, which you're already doing? You must be looking up the carb counts somewhere and the carb counts are likely on the same page/package. I don't really care what you do but when I look at what you're doing, it reminds me of somebody running 395 meters of a 400 meter race and then wandering off and sitting in the bleachers rather than crossing the finish line.

    Lol, oh dear no! That's not me. I find logging calories stressful because of the having to type in EVERY single food and making sure it's the right one. There are always many entries for the same food but you have to click in to see if its right and then if not, you have to continue searching. So annoying! ALSO if you are cooking a recipe, you can use the recipe builder but same thing - do you know how many times I have to look for the entry that matches the label on the can or box I used? Sometimes up to six times! Logging calories online takes up so much time and is very frusterating!
    The way Im doing my carb counting:
    Weigh a fruit, look up on nutrition data if needed. Most sizes of the fruits I buy are 15g carbs and if it's a sliced fruit like canteloupe or watermelon then I weigh 100grams and I have them memorized. 8g carbs for watermelon and 7g for canteloupe.
    All boxes, cans and containers have all the info I need on the label - no need to look it up online or log it anywhere.
    For green vegetables there's usually barely any carbs at all so I don't need to know about the 1-2 grams of carbs it has.
    Meat, no carbs either. BUT I do chose lean cuts and I make sure to weigh it so that im only getting 100grams at a time.

    Not to push you towards logging food but they changed the system and now, when you search for a food, you get a summary of the calories and serving size along with the product name or if it's generic. And, if you eat a lot of the same foods, it's really easy because those go in your list of recent food items and you can log it from there. I'm not sure about the app version but on the browser version, you just click on nutrition info, log it if it's what you want or move on to the next entry that looks good if it's not. You don't need to do more than one search. <That right there is what I can't stand! Trying to find the correct entry that matches the label im looking at!

    Even if you don't pay attention to the calories, keeping your carb count would be super easy once you log the correct item. (But I'm more of a computer girl and find it easier to log than use pen and paper or commit to memory.)

  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,572 Member
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    glassyo wrote: »
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    Zesh211 wrote: »
    Owlfan88 wrote: »
    Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.

    That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.

    Ive done it. It's very stressful and we all know what stress can do lol. Having to manage diabetes is stressful enough for me. Im working on eliminating stress and well logging just can't be a part of my life anymore....

    How is logging calories more stressful than weighing your food and counting carbs, which you're already doing? You must be looking up the carb counts somewhere and the carb counts are likely on the same page/package. I don't really care what you do but when I look at what you're doing, it reminds me of somebody running 395 meters of a 400 meter race and then wandering off and sitting in the bleachers rather than crossing the finish line.

    Lol, oh dear no! That's not me. I find logging calories stressful because of the having to type in EVERY single food and making sure it's the right one. There are always many entries for the same food but you have to click in to see if its right and then if not, you have to continue searching. So annoying! ALSO if you are cooking a recipe, you can use the recipe builder but same thing - do you know how many times I have to look for the entry that matches the label on the can or box I used? Sometimes up to six times! Logging calories online takes up so much time and is very frusterating!
    The way Im doing my carb counting:
    Weigh a fruit, look up on nutrition data if needed. Most sizes of the fruits I buy are 15g carbs and if it's a sliced fruit like canteloupe or watermelon then I weigh 100grams and I have them memorized. 8g carbs for watermelon and 7g for canteloupe.
    All boxes, cans and containers have all the info I need on the label - no need to look it up online or log it anywhere.
    For green vegetables there's usually barely any carbs at all so I don't need to know about the 1-2 grams of carbs it has.
    Meat, no carbs either. BUT I do chose lean cuts and I make sure to weigh it so that im only getting 100grams at a time.

    Not to push you towards logging food but they changed the system and now, when you search for a food, you get a summary of the calories and serving size along with the product name or if it's generic. And, if you eat a lot of the same foods, it's really easy because those go in your list of recent food items and you can log it from there. I'm not sure about the app version but on the browser version, you just click on nutrition info, log it if it's what you want or move on to the next entry that looks good if it's not. You don't need to do more than one search. <That right there is what I can't stand! Trying to find the correct entry that matches the label im looking at!

    Even if you don't pay attention to the calories, keeping your carb count would be super easy once you log the correct item. (But I'm more of a computer girl and find it easier to log than use pen and paper or commit to memory.)

    You need more patience, woman! :p

    But really, if what you'd doing is working for you, keep doing it. If you're also trying to lose weight and you end up....not...then you need to change things up and logging will help with that.

    Personally, I need to log because I either eat mindlessly or have portions that aren't even close to what the portion I should be having are. Logging keeps me in check. And, by paying attention to my calories, I eat all the "junk" I want. :)

    But I also haven't hit being diabetic yet. My grandmother was so it might happen but I've been really lucky so far.