Recording food made by someone else

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genderwar
genderwar Posts: 15 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How do you track things homemade or from a local restaurant, personally? I LOVE to frequent small local places, and I find that, when I do, I end up not recording at all that day, because I don't know what to put. Same with when I go to dinner at someone's house or a potluck! I often go to potlucks for my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture - we all pitch in on growing the food and then we all get a share of what's harvested weekly), so the food is all usually very healthy, and I eat small portions, but I don't know what to record!

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  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
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    If you type a food name in the search box it will pop up with some options- many of which are from restaurants. I usually just pick the one closest to what I think I ate. It may not be 100% accurate, but at least you get a guide that way.
  • jamiegirl816
    jamiegirl816 Posts: 11
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    I try to build in some extra calories for the day and just look for things that are comparable when I put them in later. You are already making the right choices by eating small portions. Just be honest with what you ate and go with it. If you are still losing you must be doing something right!
  • BeeElMarvin
    BeeElMarvin Posts: 2,086 Member
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    For restaurants, some will provide information, most - not so much - you can guess or ask what's in it. When you go to someone's house or the potluck, ask who made it and if you can have the recipe... just suggestions...
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    For restaurants, you can best guess it by searching the food database using the name of the dish. Usually there's something comparable...

    For the potlucks, how about asking folks to bring in a couple copies of their recipes, or email them to each other to save on paper. Then you can put the recipe in as one of your own, guess on the # of servings and come up with something that way.

    Good luck!
  • BeeElMarvin
    BeeElMarvin Posts: 2,086 Member
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    For restaurants, some will provide information, most - not so much - you can guess or ask what's in it. When you go to someone's house or the potluck, ask who made it and if you can have the recipe... just suggestions...
    oh, and then input the recipe on your "food diary" page.
  • babs23
    babs23 Posts: 86
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    Search the database and find something similar. Recording something is better than nothing at all.

    When you search, you may find 10 different dishes that fit your description. Try to pick something that's higher in calories. It's better to overestimate, than to underestimate.

    The more you eat out, the more you are subjecting yourself to high levels of fat and sodium. If you're in this for the long haul, you'll have to change your eating habits.

    Good luck! :)

    ETA:

    Poke around this site for a while: http://eatthis.menshealth.com/home

    It provides nutritional comparisons for restaurant foods and store bought processed foods. There's a reason why it all tastes so friggin good! ;)
  • KeyMasterOfGozer
    KeyMasterOfGozer Posts: 229 Member
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    If you are at a local place, jsut ask them. Explain that you are tracking calories, but you love to eat here. They will likely be glad to give you at least approximate quantities of ingredients so that you can make a recipe or meal in MFP. In this economy, they don't want to drive away potential repeat business.

    Edit:
    Do this in a time of day when they are not super busy. :)
  • genderwar
    genderwar Posts: 15 Member
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    Thanks for the suggestions! I probably eat twice a week or so, mostly working lunches. Since I work in neighborhood development, we always go to local small neighborhood places.

    I also go every other week for mexican on margarita night. :) We used to go every week, but we switched to every other week to be healthier! I definitely couldn't get rid of the mexican food and margaritas all together. It's just not probable for me. If I tried to get rid of it all together, I would probably just end up binging on it every so often. This way, I know it's coming and I work it in.

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