Food Diary Calorie Counts....WTH?

Altoprincess
Altoprincess Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been following the plan since February 9 and have lost 15 pounds. I am thrilled. However... I am always confused when searching the calorie counts on listed foods. Four ounces of grilled chicken breast range from 160 to 220 calories..that's a lot! It seems there are many other foods that seem to be all over the map.

Am I missing something? How do others handle the wide ranges in reported calories?

Replies

  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
    Entries are user generated. So there will be errors. If I'm entering a packaged food I use the barcode scanner (on the app) and then weigh the food and log it. If I'm logging a "whole" food I enter the food + usda.

    For example boneless skinless chicken breast usda.

    If there are still many to choose from with different value I will check them against the usda database and then choose the correct entry.
  • Altoprincess
    Altoprincess Posts: 3 Member
    good advice.....
    Thanks!
  • punkrockgoth
    punkrockgoth Posts: 534 Member
    I find that for whole foods, a quick Google search for calorie counts will give you a ballpark idea of where it should be. When in doubt, I pick the entry with the highest number of calories.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Altoprincess wrote: »
    I have been following the plan since February 9 and have lost 15 pounds. I am thrilled. However... I am always confused when searching the calorie counts on listed foods. Four ounces of grilled chicken breast range from 160 to 220 calories..that's a lot! It seems there are many other foods that seem to be all over the map.

    Am I missing something? How do others handle the wide ranges in reported calories?

    I try to use only system entries and get the syntax from https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods

    The system entry (as opposed to user-created entries) is "Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, cooked, grilled"

    The system entries are not free from errors. I see two system entries for this which are off by 3 calories per 3 ounces (one way to recognize system entries is when they have the green check yet no confirmations) and will eventually report it to support@myfitnesspal.com like I have for other entries noted on these threads: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10014325/updated-recipe-tool-feedback/p29
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10346670/extremely-wrong-nutrition-on-the-green-ticked-food-created-by-the-mfp-team-pics-attached#latest
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
    I use the USDA food list as well as https://www.nutritionix.com/database to double check things that are new to me and not on my recent list already.
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
    It might also have to do with what oil, marinade, etc was used when grilling by the person who added the entry. That's why it's best to weigh raw and use the USDA entry.

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