"Guesstimating" food - help me

RachNRoll
RachNRoll Posts: 192 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone.
The only meal per day that I have to "guesstimate" is lunch, since I take lunch at work's cantina. Everything else I measure with a food scale at home.
I need your help. This was my lunch today, and I'm logging the following:

- 150 gr salmon
- half a pepper
- 1 medium boiled egg
- half a teaspoon of oil
- half a cup of pasta (penne).
- the 2 candy I found on the database

I just find it hard to believe that 0.7 of a cup of penne (plain pasta) is 266 kcal

I don't have that much experience with cups for measure. Do you think I'm under guesstimating or over guesstimating here?
The same goes for the salmon, even though that's how much 150gr in my food scale looks to me...

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Replies

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited July 2016
    Your pasta portion looks around 60grams - 220 cals approx. The veg and oil through it, I'd guess that to be around 70-80 cals
    The salmon I would eyeball to be around 100g - 182cals, I don't think it looks even as much as that but better to slightly over estimate.
    Your egg looks large which is 75cals approx.

    So in my opinion your lunch was approx 560 cals. That is an ideal amount of calories for a meal imo.
    I aim for 500 breakfast and 500 for lunch, 800 for dinner and the rest (400-600 depending on how active I am on the given day for snacks/treats).
  • RachNRoll
    RachNRoll Posts: 192 Member
    Thank you @RunRutheeRun ! Yeah I usually don't eat pasta and got mindblowned on the calories. I'll take an extra walk today :) I don't want to cut my pre-workout meal and neither my dinner (big vegetables plate to make me full). And I really need the deficit.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    I think I erred on the side of caution and came up with almost the same approximation (558 calories total). 4oz salmon (194 kcal) half a bell pepper (about 23), a large egg (about 72), 1.5 oz dry pasta (about 3/4 cup cooked- 150) and a tbsp evoo ( about120). I always guess higher on the side of oil for food I didn't prepare myself.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Is your cafeteria managed by an external vendor like Sodexho,Aramark, or Eurest by chance? If so, entries for the foods on those companies menus may be in the database. Even if they aren't managing your cafeteria, I still use their entries sometimes when I buy lunch at work, assuming that many cafeterias would use similar type of foods and recipes. So if I got penne pasta primavera with salmon, I might search just that in the database but type in Eurest first, and see if something similar comes up. It's another data point, if nothing else...
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    I always err on the side of prepared food having more oil. I cook a lot, so I've learned that to get the texture/mouthfeel that restaurants attain, they are using a LOT of oils/fats/butter. I might guesstimate the oil as high as a tablespoon, between broiling the salmon, tossing with the pasta, and sauteeing the veg. There is visible oil on teh plate, which you don't get under pasta with only a teaspoon of oil.

    Also: Assume all food service eggs are large. They don't buy medium eggs for boiling and serving whole.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 427 Member
    be weird! Take the food scale with you! But, yes I think that is about right.
  • RachNRoll
    RachNRoll Posts: 192 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Is your cafeteria managed by an external vendor like Sodexho,Aramark, or Eurest by chance? If so, entries for the foods on those companies menus may be in the database. Even if they aren't managing your cafeteria, I still use their entries sometimes when I buy lunch at work, assuming that many cafeterias would use similar type of foods and recipes. So if I got penne pasta primavera with salmon, I might search just that in the database but type in Eurest first, and see if something similar comes up. It's another data point, if nothing else...

    That's a good idea, never thought about that possibility. Even though I don't think I can find it in the database (living in a scandinavian country) I will take that into consideration in the future.
    savithny wrote: »
    I always err on the side of prepared food having more oil. I cook a lot, so I've learned that to get the texture/mouthfeel that restaurants attain, they are using a LOT of oils/fats/butter. I might guesstimate the oil as high as a tablespoon, between broiling the salmon, tossing with the pasta, and sauteeing the veg. There is visible oil on teh plate, which you don't get under pasta with only a teaspoon of oil.

    Also: Assume all food service eggs are large. They don't buy medium eggs for boiling and serving whole.

    Thank you, I also think you're right. I try to have the best choices available but here they cook a lot (a lot!) with butter and/or cheese and cream cheese. It's definitely better to overestimate on the oils as you say!
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Also: calorie counts in the database for pasta come in dry and cooked - 1/2 cup cooked pasta is very different from 1/2 cup dry!

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