Question on logging leftovers

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Konigboy
Konigboy Posts: 86 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm having a little debate with a friend regarding leftovers. If you measure out and log a meal, say for dinner, if you have the leftovers for a meal the next day, do you log it again? I usually feel logging it once is enough, since it works out over a few days.

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Are your leftovers what was left on your plate of the meal you already logged? Or are they what was left in the serving dishes and thus not what you logged?
  • JoelleAnn78
    JoelleAnn78 Posts: 1,492 Member
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    ^^ This. If you are having a second full serving of the meal you would need to log that meal. If you logged a full serving the first night and had 1/3 left over that you ate the next day I guess you wouldn't necessarily need to log that if you already did the night before. I find it far more helpful (as far as accuracy and macros) to just log 2/3 of the serving for the night before and the leftovers logged as 1/3 the next day... for example.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,025 Member
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    I only log the portion I actually eat. I weigh it ahead of time and then log my portion. I would log the leftovers the day that I eat them. I guess it would balance out if you logged it all at one meal even though you ate it at two meals, but it would drive me crazy to do that unless I had it for lunch and ate the leftovers for dinner.
  • Konigboy
    Konigboy Posts: 86 Member
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    I logged the entire meal, but only ate about half of it.
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
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    Let's say I make a stir-fry. I weigh/measure all the ingredients that go into that stir-fry. It's something I make regularly, so I load it into the Recipe Builder and say how many servings it is, probably 4. Then I log one serving each time I eat it. I may eat a little more of it one day and a little less the next, but at the end of the week I've eaten it all and my calories are accurate.

    The biggest reason I find it better to log what I eat on the day I eat it is to keep track of macros. I'm trying to hit a protein goal every day, so seeing I'm getting 30g of protein from my stir-fry each day lets me know what else I need to eat to hit my 100g goal.
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    If you logged the entire meal then only ate about half of it, go in and adjust your daily intake to half a serving (or half of however it's logged), and then log the rest of it the next day or when you eat the rest.

    You're right, it will all eventually even out at the end of the week, so as long as you're not going over your weekly calories (if you're tracking like that), then it shouldn't matter.
  • Konigboy
    Konigboy Posts: 86 Member
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    Ok, thanks. This was like a modified version of stir fry. Mainly broccoli, mushrooms and chicken.
  • VeroniqueBoilard
    VeroniqueBoilard Posts: 71 Member
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    It doesnt really change anything in the actual weight loss *IF* you are on your target calories each day. But it's harder to keep track.

    If goal is 1600, and day 1 you log 1600, but actually did not eat let's say 200 calories (leftover), you are actually at 1400... what are you going to do the next day? eat 1800 to make up for it or deliberatly eating less then suppose to?

    I see no reason not to save the meal and log 1/2 one day and 1/2 the next day.
  • moonchildisme
    moonchildisme Posts: 83 Member
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    If I already logged the whole meal and only ate half, I do not log it again...but that's me.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
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    I think your way is fine but I would find it confusing to remember to create that much of a deficit for myself the next day or next few days for it to even out. I only log what I actually eat. In your case, I would have copied the meal to the next day (or whichever day I was going to eat) and then changed the serving to half for each of those entries.
  • Sarahb29
    Sarahb29 Posts: 952 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Erm, I'm not sure what you mean by leftovers but yes I log it. When I make something, I divide it up into portions, and therefore it divides the calories and nutrients by 4. The portion I'm going to eat that night, and 2-4 other portions for lunches and dinners. Every portion I eat I log.

    If you logged 4 meals in one night you'd be way over your calories one day and the next few days you might get under 1000 calories and not be able to complete your diary.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    Konigboy wrote: »
    I logged the entire meal, but only ate about half of it.

    I would have changed my entry to reflect the amount I actually ate in that meal to make the calories right for that day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Konigboy wrote: »
    I logged the entire meal, but only ate about half of it.

    I would have changed my entry to reflect the amount I actually ate in that meal to make the calories right for that day.

    me too
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I only log what I actually eat that day. I would have changed the entry and then logged the remainder when I actually ate it.
    Look at your weekly calorie goal though. In the grand scheme of things it is eating the same amount of calories over the course of a week so it doesn't really matter as long as you don't forget you already logged it and undereat or overeat because of that. Do what you prefer. It is your diary.
  • Konigboy
    Konigboy Posts: 86 Member
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    Thanks for the input. It doesn't make me over, as I pretty much hit my calories every day and very rarely eat my exercise calories back, and have those daily.

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