Licks & nibbles & tastes

How do you log when you take a nibble of food when you are cooking it? Or take a taste of someone else's food when at a restaurant? Can I not count it if they take a bite of my food & I've logged my food?

Replies

  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
    If it's just a taste and only once or twice, I would ignore it. If it's a fair number of tastes throughout the day, I would add 100-200 calories with the "Quick add calories" option in the diary.
  • kathy0224
    kathy0224 Posts: 43 Member
    I never thought about the "quick add"! Thanks!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I never bothered tbh, but to cover it in some way what I did was say when logging a small slice of cake for example I would double up the calories - its always better to over estimate imo.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    MFP stopped my habit of licks, nibbles and tastes. It was too hard to bother logging them and really if you are going to do something, never half-*kitten* it.
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
    I used to ignore it. But I've realized the grocery store bites of cheese, tortilla chips and half a cookie really add up. I might add a small portion of a meal I'm preparing to cover the tastes. If I'm at a restaurant I do the same. It's all an estimate..but what I find is that after reviewing my log, it's a ton of extra calories and lots of tastes! And I needed to count them.
  • kathy0224
    kathy0224 Posts: 43 Member
    Thanks for reminding me about those grocery store bites! Costco samples are now my enemy!
  • kcn2bluesky
    kcn2bluesky Posts: 187 Member
    Stop eating other people's food...just kidding! You can, but I would leave extra calories at the end of the day to account for it.

    But then again, I am a "sloppy logger" lol I don't log with precision. For the most part, I weigh all my food and then round up to the next nearest 5 grams on everything and log that higher weight. This gives me leeway throughout the week to continue my Sloppy Logging Practice, and to not have to account for any little inaccuracies in my logging (although I'm personally not a fan of licks, tastes, nibbles, or sharing food with other people as I prefer to just eat what is on my own plate)
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    kathy0224 wrote: »
    Thanks for reminding me about those grocery store bites! Costco samples are now my enemy!

    Costco samples are awesome.
  • JenHuedy
    JenHuedy Posts: 611 Member
    I have to taste as I cook, so I just log an extra 10% or so for my serving for that meal. Example - for mac & cheese I'll take 90g but log 100g.

    For other things, if it's just one or two nibbles, I'll let it go. I kind of have a rule that I don't have to log if I limit to 1 little bite. If I go back for more I have to log. This usually keeps me from going back over and over. Stupid, i know, but if I go to the effort of logging it, then I figure I might as well have a little more!

    I'll log 150-200 cals for a Costco trip if I sample high cal items (fruit or veg get a pass). Or if its a potluck situation and I want to try a few bites of things that look interesting I'll log a quarter of a serving or a larger portion if I'm having something else that's similar (like 1.25 servings potato salad if I'm also trying a bite of a pasta salad).

    Those stupid things sure do add up. Whenever I'm getting stuck I crack down on my logging and it's always the pretzel here or couple of chips there that sneak up on me.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    When I stop loosing weight or slow it way down, I stop all those licks, nibble and tastes.. They can derail my deficit so fast..

    BTW I am notorious for taking nibbles of food out of the trail mix bins and getting that free sample of coffee at Fresh Market.. I actually will save myself about 300 calories when I shop in there..
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
    It depends on how many taste's/bites/nibbles. I had 3 little bites of ice cream this afternoon and probably won't count that. But if I had had much more, I probably would have.

    I think it was Gail Simmons who was once asked how she keeps so slim when she's a judge for Top Chef and other Food/Wine events. She said she's there to TASTE stuff. That means a couple bites. Anything more than 3 bites is actually eating.

    Do the best you can with trying to be realistic when you log. I'd say if it's over 100 calories, it counts...but that's just an "out there grasping at straws" number.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    If I take several bites at a restaurant I use quick calories. If I taste what I'm cooking - I don't - it is far too little. Apart from this I never lick, taste or nibble any more.
  • If I weigh out some yogurt, I don't lick the spoon afterwards (unless I tared out the container and weighed from it vs. weighing into the bowl because then the yogurt on the spoon is part of the grams I took out of the container). As for tastes of other people's food, like a stray french fry here or there, I will quick add 25 calories per bite.

    Maybe it sounds obsessive, but overall, thinking of it as something that still has to be logged means I pretty much never take bites/licks/tastes - even when cooking unless we're talking about a very small sample of something like a low calorie sauce. I know what my typical recipes taste like. New ones are more of a surprise, and I figure out after what I would like to change. I weigh all my ingredients ahead of time anyway, so I don't generally start adding a dash of this or a scoop of that once I start assembling.
  • kathy0224
    kathy0224 Posts: 43 Member
    Thank you for all the advice. I am impressed that so many of you do not lick the spoon after measuring/while cooking, but I will definitely use the quick add for when I take more than 1 bite of something!
  • ummijaaz560
    ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
    When I cook I always taste my food. To account for the taste I just portion less of the serving size onto my plate, but I log the whole amount as what I've eaten.

    So if the portion is 130 grams I will put 120 grams on my plate to account for the taste test.
  • battyfitch
    battyfitch Posts: 117 Member
    I'm bad with logging licks and tastes. I just don't do it. There are a few other things I don't bother logging as well, like gum and vinegars and low calorie soft drinks and cooking oil, and it hasn't stopped me from losing. But I have more wiggle room for error given that I have so much weight to lose. If the losses slow, I'll tighten up my logging. Until then I will lick ALL the spoons!

    If you're meeting your calorie goal every day and haven't banked any calories by the end of the week, I'd start quick adding 100-200 to compensate for the random licks and bites through the day, but if you're finding that by the end of the week you've accrued a few hundred spare calories, maybe on a Sunday just quick add those spares to account what you might've eaten through the week without logging.



  • famjam2016
    famjam2016 Posts: 20 Member
    I never ever try samples... I just think of all the dirty hands in there lol I'm also throwing left overs, kids half eaten treats to the dogs a lot quicker than I would have ever before!