Food Journaling Question

pedermj2002
pedermj2002 Posts: 180 Member
edited December 3 in Food and Nutrition
I've started hitting this problem, and it's bugging me.

We got out to dinner to a pub that doesn't seem to have nutrition information. Or we make dinner at home, but the exact recipe is not known (my wife is a much better cook than I am, but this also means she plays more loosely with recipes, which means I might not have any way to guess at all the ingredients even with direct questioning).

How does everybody else log their food when dealing with this? If it's me, and me alone, I can usually do it okay. But once shared meals happen, it's anybody's guess. Since I want to do better, I need to have *something* I can use.

Any suggestions out there?

Replies

  • Sarah_Shapes_Up
    Sarah_Shapes_Up Posts: 76 Member
    1) ask your wife to measure what she cooks to help support you
    2) guestamate: ask the main ingredients, taste it, and guess at how many calories/marcros but always over estimate
    3) search a similar meal in MFP and go by what it says
  • pasewaldd
    pasewaldd Posts: 24 Member
    You could have her make the recipes on your MFP log. That is how I cook now. It is super quick and super easy.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I try to find a similar restaurant or use deli listings from grocery stores and just try to find what looks close...if there are several possible options I will pick the highest calorie one.
  • iamamalia
    iamamalia Posts: 21 Member
    this exact issue is the main reason why I haven't been able to successfully stay on track with logging in the past. guesstimating and approximating has always caused me anxiety in the past (OCD is no fun), but this time I'm doing my best to let it go and only commit myself to logging to the best of my ability. hoping it lasts!
  • pedermj2002
    pedermj2002 Posts: 180 Member
    She's definitely not into doing the food journaling thing, so getting her to do it is not likely to happen. For now, it seems like the only viable option is to do what I have been doing: Taking the closest viable option that seems realistic and using it.

    So, I guess that question's answered :) Thank you for the advice. It's been an interesting month so far, definitely. I have lost weight, and now I've hit the point where the weight actually fluctuates, even though my net caloric intake seems to say I should always be losing it. Ah, fun times.
  • dreamsignals
    dreamsignals Posts: 39 Member
    I tend to go by individuals ingredients, prioritizing the more calorie-dense ones. For example, I'm more interested in learning how much coconut milk or heavy cream went into the pot than I am in how many cups of spinach.

    If you're not losing consistently, you're not at caloric deficit. You could be underestimating calories, or overestimating exercise, or both. It seems you are, unwittingly, at maintenance levels.

    The fluctuation could be the so called "water weight," through more sodium, or more carbs replenishing your glycogen.

    Also, if you're doing weights at a small caloric deficit, you could actually be gaining lean mass.

    As an experiment, try to commit to a strict logging week, skipping pub food and the wife's culinary summersaults.
  • pedermj2002
    pedermj2002 Posts: 180 Member
    I'm still very early on weight loss. First month of diet, only 3 weeks in, and have lost 8lbs. I am being pretty religious about logging the good, though, and trying to make best guesses when I don't have exact counts.

    I am also doing strength training 3 days per week, and planning on stepping that up soon. Right now, I've just gotten to the point of completing 3 of the the basic body weight circuits I found on nerd fitness.

    And the fluctuation I'm seeing is within the 1lb range, and is on a day to day fluctuation. I'm weighing myself daily, but only recording twice/month.

    All of that being said, do you think I need to be more vigilant than I am right now? I can accept that if so, but I think I'm doing okay on that front so far.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    pedermj2002 wrote: »
    I'm still very early on weight loss. First month of diet, only 3 weeks in, and have lost 8lbs. I am being pretty religious about logging the good, though, and trying to make best guesses when I don't have exact counts.

    I am also doing strength training 3 days per week, and planning on stepping that up soon. Right now, I've just gotten to the point of completing 3 of the the basic body weight circuits I found on nerd fitness.

    And the fluctuation I'm seeing is within the 1lb range, and is on a day to day fluctuation. I'm weighing myself daily, but only recording twice/month.

    All of that being said, do you think I need to be more vigilant than I am right now? I can accept that if so, but I think I'm doing okay on that front so far.

    As long as you are losing weight, your plan is working. :)
    If you stop losing weight for three weeks or so, you can make adjustments.

    Here is the MFP recipe blog that lists calories. Your wife might be willing to cook some of these foods for you:
    http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/category/eat/recipes/

  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    With home-cooking I have the recipes set up in the recipe-builder. Before I cook I have the pan weighed, and the ingredients list on a note pad. As I cook I weigh each thing and then toss it into the pan. After its finished cooking/ reducing I weigh the lot then take off the pan weight and enter the amount of gs as the amount of servings in the recipe builder and also alter any of the ingredient amounts ( or delete/ make substitutions). 100g of casserole = 100 servings. I weigh it as I put it on my plate (plate on scale)

    It sounds more hassle than it actually is- I just need my phone and a notebook/ pen. takes about 10 minutes longer. If I'm cooking its usually for the day ahead anyway, so im not waiting on anything.
  • dreamsignals
    dreamsignals Posts: 39 Member
    pedermj2002 wrote: »
    All of that being said, do you think I need to be more vigilant than I am right now? I can accept that if so, but I think I'm doing okay on that front so far.

    I didn't mean to discredit your efforts. Since you mentioned being unsure about your current logging, I suggested you test it out by having a very strict logging week, with foods and portions you can very reliabily account for, and see if you notice a difference. It may be that you are already are very good at logging, in which case the experiment will just confirm it.

  • jjtweb
    jjtweb Posts: 37 Member
    edited September 2016
    If your the cook this is all so much easier. I can understand your problem because my husband eats what is put in front of him.

    I would lean for the low side, smaller portions. When you cook without care of calorie intake and simply by taste you will always have a higher calorie meal and a very high sodium count.

    I will give an example that my husband could use to guess when I cooked before going on my diet.

    Chili
    Cheap Ground Beef (Lots more fat)
    Lots of cans of chili beans in sauce (Much higher calories)
    Can Tomatoes
    Unmeasured seasoning
    Lots of salt
    (543 calories per two cup serving)

    My low calorie version
    Lean Ground Beef (Mush more expensive)
    Pinto Beans
    Tomatoes
    Green Peppers
    Onons
    Water
    Chili Powder
    (336 calories per two cup serving.)

    He would typically eat two bowls and love those saltines. If he was trying to adjust his intake to that cooking he would need to eat 3/4 of a bowl of chili and no crackers.

    Low calorie version you get more but it's not thick and full of fat and as much salt. Also with getting more you get a thinner version with more liquid and more vegetables and less carbs.

    Hope that gives you a little insight on the cooking/tasting process when not watching calories.

    Last thought: Don't weigh daily I know it's hard. You get excited to see the changes. You can fluctuate daily by so many things. Water weight gain, clothing, time of day, body changes etc. Always try to weight at the same time under the same circumstances once a week.

  • pedermj2002
    pedermj2002 Posts: 180 Member
    @dreamsignals I didn't take it as discrediting my efforts. The reason for listing where I was and what I was doing now is because I'm so new at all of this. I genuinely don't know if I'm doing enough, or if I need to do more, or if I'm doing okay and just don't know it. Basically, looking for guidance from people who've already been through it to help me do things better. So you didn't do anything negative to/for me. I appreciate the suggestion, and will work to implement it shortly (probably starting on Monday, since the weekend is the hardest time for strict logging).

    @jjtweb Thank you. I'm still learning how to cook. Last night, I did fairly well with a simple meal, though I wound up taking much longer than I wanted due to screwing up the order of things/etc. But there's a process, so I'll improve. I'm still likely to weigh daily, mainly to try to catch any bad screwups more quickly (for instance, if I have a really bad and add on a couple pounds somehow), but I am also only going to count twice a month. I know it sounds weird, but the twice a month is how I'm doing overall, and gets recorded/etc. The daily is just to help me course correct if something goes haywire, and I miss it. Those dailies don't count, and don't discourage me. After all, they don't count :)
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